5 Things You Can Do in the Early Years to Help Your Child’s Development
How to help your infant grow into a confident, successful, healthy person.
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Encourage positive behaviors, no matter how small.
Instead of focusing on how to discipline your child after she’s gotten in trouble, Martin suggests focusing on the tangible ways you can teach your child to minimize and overcome these behaviors. If your daughter shares her toy with her little brother, make sure you praise her, so she knows these sorts of actions get positive attention. Even if she is simply working hard on a drawing, compliment the amount of colors she is using and foster confidence in positive behaviors instead of drawing attention to the negative ones.
Talk to your child about feelings.
Another way to contribute to fewer negative behaviors is by teaching your child how to react when he isn’t getting what he wants. Teach your child the words for different feelings, so he knows how to express himself. Take the time at the dinner table or when you’re driving together in the car to ask, “How did you feel today? Were you excited about what you learned in school today? Did you feel frustrated?” By using these words, your child will know how to handle conflict vocally rather than resorting to physical actions. Another way of doing this is by giving your child realistic alternatives to a situation if he isn’t getting what he wants. If he wants to play with the truck his sister is playing with, he can play with another toy, he can ask to take turns, or you can give him a timer and teach him to negotiate with his sister that it will be his turn once the timer goes off.