I moved to Japan and enrolled my child in a local school. It showed me a different way to raise an independent child.

The author moved from New Zealand to Japan and learned how to foster even more independence with her daughter. AzmanL/Getty Images I enrolled my daughter in a Japanese public school, and it changed how I think about raising an independent child. In Japan, kids walk to school, serve lunch, and clean classrooms daily. I've learned independence is about contributing to the community. When we arrived in Japan in 2023, we bypassed the expensive international schools and enrolled our daughter dir...