Preschool is a crucial time to discipline your child because he is in the stage of learning and discovering things on his own. This is the formative years when your child usually grasps and learns to differentiate right from wrong.
Discipline Strategies to Remember
Choosing the right discipline strategies to fit your preschool usually takes time. Most parents experiment with various methods until they find one that suits the behavior of their child. Preschool learning takes time and patience is the key. Some practical discipline strategies that are proven to be both useful and attainable include:
- Setting Reasonable Expectations and Consequences. When you decide the suitable expectations and consequences for your preschool, you need to consider his age, personality, and the nature of his bad behavior.
- Stand by your Decisions. Say what you mean and mean what you say. This is probably the most important thing any parent should remember when disciplining their preschool. Being firm and consistent creates the boundaries that are needed to ensure that your preschool understand your expectations and consequences. It also helps establish basic house rules for your preschool to follow. But keep in mind that being firm doesn’t equate to talking on an angry voice but instead using a calm firm voice.
- Choosing the Right Battles to Fight. Not all inappropriate behavior of your preschool is worth your scrutiny. Take some time to decide what issues need your attention and the values you really want to instill in your preschool.
- Stop misbehavior before it happens. Preschool children are given to have limited attention span and therefore, it’s always a good idea to consider this when planning your preschool’s daily activities and environment. Keep some toys/books and snacks in your cars for long travel and plan your trips so you can accomplish what needs to be done in a short time since kids tend to be cranky at the end of a long day.
- Think before you speak. You need to be constantly aware of what you say to your preschool in the heat of the moment and make sure to express to your child that his behavior is wrong and not him. Hurtful words and actions are damaging to your preschool’s self-esteem and do not set a good example either.
Keep in mind that disciplining is really about guiding and teaching your preschool in order to help him shape his values and in turn make informed decisions about his future behaviors. Preschool children are simply young impressionable students who need guidance, training and lots of patience and love in order for them to become responsible, respectful, and grounded individuals.