Slow Parenting and its Advantages

Gone are the days when parents would raise their kids with no prior thought of how they should be raised. They would rather go with the flow, guide them when needed, let them be when required..., raising children was something that didn't need a strategic planning!

But now, things are different, people are adapting to different kinds of parenting styles to bring up their kids in the manner they wish to. 

Speaking of slow parenting, it is a way of bringing up kids wherein the parents encourage more of self exploration rather than guiding the children all the way through, like what happens in case of authoritative parenting wherein the kids are always ordered to live their life according to the parent's will.

In slow parenting, the parents make sure that they encourage their children to solve their own problems and learn by discovering through curiosity. Parents are there to watch over, however, they try to make the least efforts to actually interfere in the learning process of their children.

While this parenting style is acceptable to some parents, there are others who question its efficiency in the growth and development of the child. Concerns like safety, surety, and voluntary guidance are questioned.

Like each and everything in this world, the slow parenting style has its advantages and disadvantages. We are letting go of the disadvantages for now and discussing the advantages only.

Slow parenting style is more or less similar to permissive parenting wherein the children are allowed to do whatever they want to, with no interference from parents at all. This gives the kids a chance to learn by exploration, curiosity, discovering, understanding by witnessing, and similar techniques.

It also allows to sink in a sense of freedom and self dependency in children. In simple words, while the standard parenting method would make you recite a story about the butterflies and the singing birds, slow parenting would actually make your child learn by actually playing with them.

Did you understand the example? These advantages are explained in details in the following paragraphs for a better understanding of the concept of slow parenting.

The primary approach of slow parenting resides in the fact that kids should grow and learn in a natural environment rather than being influenced by the materialistic way of learning, which never gives their minds a chance to develop naturally.

It wouldn't be wrong if slow parenting movement comes up with a motto like "Let Nature Take its Own Course in Child Development." This parenting style doesn't encourage kids to watch television as there is nothing natural in it. 

After school classes like ballet, swimming, or football are also not considered valuable as it results in influencing the mind of the child and not letting the child be himself or herself.

If you watch channels like Discovery and National Geographic, you would know how a young one explores its surroundings as soon as it is born.

It checks out the leaves, the branches, the other animals..., it runs, it jumps, it falls, and it learns! Parents who follow the slow parenting style, would actually want their kids to learn in the similar way, though not in a jungle, but somewhere in company of nature. 

Instead of sending their kids to ballet or football, they would actually want their children to play in the garden, chase the butterflies, hold the snails, learn, and explore. This way, the child's mind is not being influenced, rather it is learning through curiosity, which in turn, promotes creativity.

A modern parent would get a new toy or a game and instruct the kid on how he or she should play it, on the other hand, slow parenting would expect the parent to just give the toy to the kid, stand back and observe how the kid manages to figure it out.

The advantage of this approach is that the child will not be dependent on the parents for each and everything. In fact, the child will become self-dependent and self capable of learning and understanding.

Self-confidence is something that is very essential to live in a world, the way it is today! In fact, most adults who were raised under the influence of authoritative parenting style end up having problems in decision-making and self dependency.

It is mostly these adults that want their children to have the freedom to choose and to live the way they want to, and not live their life the way their parents wished for them.

Sources state that the children who were raised in an authoritative influence, or too much of interference from their parents, end up dealing with a lot of stress and behavioral problems. These children are also prone to suffer from personality disorders and dependency issues.

The slow parenting style gives the child the freedom and encourages them to learn through self exploration. This minimizes the children to have troubles in the future.

Though all parents may not completely agree to slow parenting and its advantages when it comes to raising children, you can also not ignore some of the key benefits that this parenting style involves.

Nevertheless, I believe that parents know what is best for their kids and a good parent is the one who understands the needs of the kid. Keeping a balance is what is needed to make sure that you are giving the best upbringing to your child.