HOW TO PROMOTE GOOD BEHAVIOR IN KIDS
The Boyceville Community School District, in partnership with Child Mind Institute, is excited to introduce resources for our families in an effort to support strengthening family relationships. These resources are designed to help address the trickier parts of parenting - using clinical expertise as the basis. If you are interested in accessing these resources directly to your inbox, access the subscription center by clicking on this link - Thriving Kids.
Here is a sample from the initial podcast - Eight Tips for Promoting Good Behavior in Kids
- Take care of your relationship.
Connection with your child is key to building a relationship based on trust and respect. Try to spend a little time each day fully engaged with your child in an activity they enjoy.
- Set clear and realistic expectations.
Pick calm moments to go over expectations for how you want your child to behave in certain situations. And review them when your child needs to demonstrate that behavior.
- Catch them being good.
Use specific praise when your child behaves appropriately, which will increase the likelihood that they’ll repeat the good behavior in the future. To reinforce your child’s progress, you can link positive behavior to rewards like family outings or daily privileges.
- Be thoughtful about consequences.
When you give a consequence, try to make it immediate, brief, and consistent. Try to return to “normal” as quickly as possible once the consequence is complete.
- Avoid harsh discipline.
Consequences don’t need to upset children to work — it’s more important that consequences are consistently applied when a behavior occurs. You don’t need to give them a time-out or take away something they like for it to be effective.
- Take a moment.
If you notice yourself getting frustrated or upset with your child’s behavior, it can be helpful to take a moment to calm down before responding.
- Be a detective.
Rather than focusing on the behavior itself, dig a little deeper to try to figure out what might be behind it. This can help you prevent problem behavior in the future. The reason is not always simple or obvious, so look for patterns if it’s an ongoing issue.
- Talk when they’re calm.
Don’t try to reason with kids in the middle of a meltdown. Instead, wait until things have calmed down to have a discussion in which you can actively listen to one another, share feelings, and hopefully arrive at a place of understanding.
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