A lot of parents find it difficult to choose the best parenting tips for child discipline. Most disciplinary strategies rely on either too much punishment or very little punishment. When these strategies don’t work, it’s easy to become frustrated. At this point, raising a well-behaved child is becoming a far-fetched dream for many. If you find yourself struggling to discipline your child, read up on how to handle it like a pro (even if you’re just getting the hang of it).

Punishment is not the key

What most parents don’t know is that punishment is actually the least effective form of discipline. Raising a child with the use of punishment and fear is not a good parenting style. Sure, your children may not misbehave as a direct result of the punishment, but there will be a large chance that they will be rebellious in the long run and that’s the last thing that you want to happen. Punishment used as a form of discipline allows the parents to appear as  being both angry and frustrated, but this won’t equip the child with a better way to behave. The negative behavior will only continue to occur. 

Be clear and positive

Most children are more receptive to discipline that is easy to comprehend and is done in a positive tone rather than a punitive one. Children will likely learn to behave appropriately when discipline is proactive rather than reactive. Although proactive discipline can be more difficult to implement, one of the most effective parenting tips suggests that it is still the best way to raise a well-behaved child. In the long run, your children will embrace this strategy as being both loving and optimistic and they will be motivated to behave better

Proactive discipline works best

While it takes more time and effort to achieve this strategy, it is still the best way to achieve your goal. Make sure to set aside time to focus on adjusting your child’s behavior. When you are hands-on, they will eventually value what you teach them. 

Make the rules clear

When creating rules for your kids, make sure to be as consistent as possible with both application and reinforcement. When parents create strong routines that support a rule, the rule is  likely to be followed. One of the good parenting tips could be explaining clearly the rules for appropriate behavior. Make sure that you are consistent in all situations and that no exceptions are made. Children are more likely to adhere to a rule if they know that it’s unbendable. Remember that when set rules are not clear enough, children will have more reasons to defy you and will justify their bad behavior with loopholes. 

Create consequences for breaking the rules

No matter how difficult it may be as a parent to create consequences for breaking the rules, it is still necessary in order to encourage your child to demonstrate good behavior. In creating these consequences, you are setting the tone that when they misbehave, they serve what they deserve. So come next time, they are already aware that there’s a consequence waiting for them. When implementing a consequence, be firm about it as children will really test your boundaries. Make sure to create reasonable consequences so that your children won’t be spiteful in the long run. Anticipating these given consequences will have your kids rethinking their actions and thus will lead to them having a better attitude the next time around. 

Raising well-behaved children won’t happen overnight and if your patience is already running low, try these strategies. Who knows, your child might just be waiting for this push. 

Find these tips helpful? Allow us to further help you with your parenting journey. Read more at https://weecarepreschools.com/ 

Parenting can be a daunting task. There’s no guidebook that can give us definitive answers for the challenges when raising kids, especially as they are growing up. Unwanted behaviors may begin to develop as early as the first few couple of years of childhood, and enforcing rules and boundaries can be tricky yet necessary. We may react instinctively and resort to discipline through yelling or punishment as our parental figures may have done in the past, yet there’s a more effective way to enforce discipline on our kids, and that’s Positive Discipline. 

According to Dr. Jane Nelsen, Ed.D., author of Positive Discipline: The Classic Guide to Helping Children Develop Self-Discipline, Responsibility, Cooperation and Problem-Solving Skills, Positive discipline aims to develop mutually respectful relationships between us and our children. It teaches us to employ kindness and firmness at the same time, while respecting the needs of our child. We want to allow them to make good choices for themselves by letting them recognize the reasons for their behavior; and work on changing those beliefs instead of attempting to change or punish them for something they believe was okay to begin with. 

We aim to help develop effective communication and problem solving skills in our kids and positive discipline focuses on offering solutions through respect and encouragement for showing improvement. This helps build self-esteem among our children in the long term, which to a lot of us, is ultimately the measure of success as parents. 

Several scientific studies have confirmed the practice of positive discipline to be effective in decreasing behavioral problems. So if none of your methods are working right, it might be worth giving this a shot! Here we have outlined 10 Ways to Practice Positive Discipline with your Kids.

Always Get to the Bottom of Things

Your child’s bad behavior can be caused by underlying causes that trigger negative emotions in them. The repeated cycle of a child’s temper tantrum, for example, could be used to cover up deeper feelings of loneliness and pain. Understanding this allows us to get to the bottom of things and take action on the cause, rather than the behavior itself. 

It always helps to keep an open conversation with your kids about their feelings, spend as much time with them as you can, and learn how to view things through a wider lens.

Diagnosis is the key in practicing positive discipline. This eliminates the need to focus our energies on curing the symptoms repeatedly. It instead allows us to pay attention on resolving the root cause and not just the surface-level issues. 

Meet Misbehavior with Empathy

It is unlikely that anyone’s dream is to live in a home filled with chaos and mismanaged anger. We don’t want to fuel negative emotions with more negativity through lectures and yelling every time this happens. 

If your child has a meltdown and starts to break things around the house, positive discipline involves acknowledging what they have done, allowing some time for them to figure out the consequences on their own and talk about it at a later time. 

“No” Isn’t Always the Way to Go

The simplest word used to express disapproval can quickly lose its essence when used over and over again. Soon your kids may no longer take it as a serious command and this may lead to a power struggle, where they end up testing the limits of your patience.

Positive discipline is all about finding solutions and steering away from punishments. So, instead of saying “no” over and over to your children, show them what they can do, rather than what they cannot. 

Engage Them with a Little Bit of Action

Kids love attention, just like adults. Let them feel their presence is appreciated by engaging them in activities and seeking help in tasks in which they can gladly participate in. It can be as simple as asking your child to help stir the pot when cooking, or wash the dishes together. When you ask for their help to do things, they will feel capable, and will likely inspire them to spend their energy doing productive activities. 

The Value of Your Time and Resources

Express to your children how their bad behavior expends your valuable time and energy along with its consequences. You can in turn, ask them to do the task you were meaning to to get done or wait until they are settled and explain that their behavior caused an energy drain. This can serve as the reason for the consequence you impose on them and it gives them an incentive to think through their actions and how it affects you and your time together. 

Be Kind yet Firm

Hold your boundary by refusing to argue. As kids turn 3, arguments can become the norm. Be sure to establish that this behavior is not tolerated within the household, and if such situations occur when your child angrily disagrees, you simply acknowledge them and walk away. This tells them that there’s no bending the rules when it comes to the limits you’ve set. 

Listen

Although arguing is not encouraged, be sure that you are also not just shutting them down. Children need to feel heard, so balance it out by taking the time to listen without judgement and arguing. This promotes healthy conversations within the family and helps develop their ability to express themselves openly with you. Giving them an opportunity to speak and present their case allows for a free exchange of ideas and find solutions as a team.

Mistakes are Okay

Mistakes can happen at any time and that’s okay. Positive discipline involves having respectful conversations with your kids about mistakes. Instead of focusing on the mistake as something negative, help them see it as an “area of improvement” instead, and together find things to learn from it. Take away the shame in making mistakes by openly talking about them within your family. 

Spend some One-on-one time regularly

A child’s confidence and self-esteem springs from the sense of belonging they feel from spending regular quality time with their parents. Carve out a bit of your time to spend with your kids doing activities like baking, painting or reading a book before bedtime. This helps boost their self-esteem by feeling secure about their importance in the family. 

Lead By Example

Phrasing sometimes is the key. You can either tell your children to “Go brush your teeth!” or ask them “What do you do to keep your teeth healthy and cavity-free?”. Both statements suggest the same thing yet one gives a cold, stern command while the other is a friendly, open-ended question. The bottomline of positive discipline is always respect. 

Take the path of least resistance by not using fear and intimidation to get them to cooperate. Learning through intimidation often does not sit well with kids and can cause lingering trauma which can last into adulthood. As parents, we want to offer sustainable compliance by giving them guidance and free will while teaching them responsibility for their actions. 

At Wee Care Preschool, we understand the challenge of teaching kids discipline. With three different locations throughout Southern California, help is just a click away. Visit us at weecarepreschools.com for more great parenting tips!

Gratitude is one of the best attributes parents can instill in their children as early as possible. It can bring joy in even the simplest situation. Raising your child to be grateful doesn’t just make them polite person – it can also set them up for a happy life in the future.

Most parents start teaching their child at a young age to say “thank you” when they receive something. However, gratitude for kids does not just mean being thankful for material blessings. Parents should teach their children a deeper sense of gratitude for the blessings they receive daily. Kids who are more grateful tend to be less envious of others, less materialistic, and less depressed.

Your preschoolers are never too young to learn to be thankful. It’s never too early or too late to create a habit. Everything starts at home, and it is best to teach gratitude to your kids even in infancy. Here are some simple activities to teach gratitude to kids:

Thank You Postcards

This is basically saying thank you to every person you are thankful for. You can get blank postcards from the post office or any craft store. Each day, ask your child to choose one person they are grateful for. Then, you and your child can pick out one postcard and decorate it. You can have it personalized based on the character of the person. This activity is better done in the morning. The idea of starting a day with a positive attitude makes the rest of the day more meaningful. Plus, you will definitely make someone else’s day when they receive your thank you postcard.

Family Gratitude Book

Create a family gratitude book regularly. It can be done weekly or once a month during a family meeting.

Gratitude Jar

Keep a “giving thanks” or gratitude jar on the kitchen table or in the living area. Dedicate or decorate a jar (if you are feeling creative), and have pieces of paper beside it. Every day, inform everyone to write down what they are grateful for and put it in the jar. Make it a daily routine or just let anyone drop notes as they wish with something they are thankful for. Once a week, or at a specified time you all agree upon, have a sit down with the family and read the notes together.

Thankfulness Tree or Gratitude Wreath

Create a make-shift tree and cut out leaves. Write what you are thankful for on the leaves. Being thankful is a reminder of how beautiful life is and it fills our soul. The same feeling is felt each time you and your child add leaves to the Thankfulness Tree. You can also create a wreath and add leaves to it.

“What Would You Feel Without It” Game

This is a  gratitude activity for preschoolers that can be done at any time of the day. It’s a question and answer game. Simply ask your child what they would feel if they did not have certain items. They will be shocked to know how different their life would be without a few of the things they consider “normal” to have. This can also be a way of starting a discussion with them about how others are still living without those items. Through this game, they can remember to appreciate the things that they normally take for granted.

Thanksgiving Time Capsule

Get a jar and let everyone write what they are thankful for on strips of paper. Place these papers in the jar and bury it in the backyard. On the next Thanksgiving, dig the jar up and read what everyone was thankful last year. 

Just like any other habits or skills, developing a sense of gratitude takes effort and practice. There are many gratitude activities for kids that you can try and incorporate in your daily routine. Remember, the more gratitude practice and activities your give your preschoolers, the more natural it will be for them to be thankful for every blessing they receive. Being grateful will eventually become part of their character and you will have a child who is not just polite but really happy and contented.

At Wee Care Preschool, your child is taught how to show gratitude even to the littlest blessing they receive. Contact Wee Care Preschool to learn more!