How can parents help their children cope with growing up and testing their limits? How can you be a positive role model for your child and keep them calm? These are some practical tips for positive parenting. The development of their child is dependent on the parents.
Remember that discipline means to teach. To help children grow, one suggestion is to practice positive discipline. These methods are different from violent, hurtful, threatening or revengeful discipline. These methods involve the conscious making of positive choices by the parent in order to help the child develop positive behaviors. The goal is to help the child become better behaved while maintaining a positive relationship. This article will focus on two tools that parents can use:
Positive parenting is about practicing mutual respect and encouragement
Mutual Respect
Parents who model respect for their children will show it to their children. It’s a win-win scenario. Parents can communicate positively by avoiding negative talk such as nagging, yelling and judging. Parents’ non-verbal behaviors should be evaluated.
Be aware of your facial expressions and body postures. Even a casual look or a rolling of the eyes can send a message that you are disrespectful to your child. Remember to speak politely to your child and respect their feelings. Respect is shown by asking your child for their opinion. This is a positive aspect of parenting. (Even though the final decision is up to you, the child was asked.)
Positive Parenting: The power of encouragement in influencing children
Parents can encourage their children by saying at least five positive words each day. This will not only boost their self-esteem, but it can also lead to more cooperation. Dr. Michael Popkin warns us to be aware of four traps that could discourage a child from learning:
- Negative expectations.
- Focus on mistakes.
- Perfectionism.
- Overprotection.
What can parents do instead of letting their children down?
Parents can transform negative expectations into statements of confidence. An example of this is “You’ve worked hard on the book report.” You can still get the grade you want with just a few edits. Dr. Popkin suggests that instead of focusing on errors, build on strengths. “The book report is excellent. Although I am sure you are an expert in computers, it still needs some proofreading. Even “spellcheck” doesn’t catch all the errors. Perfectionism is the third discourager. Instead of trying to make your child perfect, accept him as he is, and then teach him ways to improve.
One example: “Congratulations, I knew that you wanted an A. But this B+ is a significant improvement on the previous book report. Remember that your English teacher suggested that you should draft several papers before you can create a final paper. Perhaps you can get one more draft for your next book report! Overprotecting children is the last thing to avoid.
Overprotecting children can lead to increased dependency on their parents. Encourage your child to be independent. This is a positive alternative. A parent could say, “Congratulations! I’ve done some rewriting in the past for your book reports. But that’s not helping.” I’d be happy to proofread your final draft for spelling and grammar errors.
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