An initiator or a respondent?

If a child learns to be reliant on somebody telling him what to do either through directions given to him, e.g. "pick up the book", or through questions, e.g., "what do you have to pickup?" the chid becomes a respondent. He does not have to think about what needs to be done and therefore, does not learn to initiate. If a problem occurs, e.g. juice spills, he will likely wait until he is told what to do. Given his extensive experience with input questions and specific directions, he will not think to solve the problem as that requires initiation. He will be passive and will wait till has has to respond to the directives and/or questions. On the other hand, if a child learns to respond to declarative language to figure out what needs to be done, he will be an initiator. He will be a problem solver and he will learn to act independently. While YOU can focus on something else!