How to Handle Your Child's Challenging Behavior

Disciplining your child can be challenging and frustrating if what your doing is not working. I have worked, as a preschool teacher and have two children were I had to go through a lot of trial and error before finding a disciplining technique that worked. The following are some tips on what you can do to successfully discipline your child.

Pick and choose your battles. I found especially with my own children that every minute I can open my mouth and till them what they should be doing. Within a few hours I would feel exhausted and drained. Sometimes my energy would get all used up that I would give up and let my kids do whatever they wanted to do. I have learned over time that telling my children what to do doesn't work and I should be selective in what behavior to discipline. When I did this I became aware that many types of behaviors are really not that bad I was just being controlling. For example, dropping play dough on the floor while playing on the table is not as bad as throwing a toy at another child.

Educate your child about the behavior of concern. Children are not born knowing what is wrong or right. A parent needs to educate their children about the consequences of the behavior, how it makes others feel and what they could do differently. This is a true form of discipline. Telling my child what to do doesn't help prevent the behavior. Let me give an example. If your child threw a toy at another kid you can take them to the side and talk with them. You can say something like; "We don't throw toys at other children. What happens when you throw a toy at another child? How does it make that other child feel? What can you do instead?" Help your child brainstorm some other ideas that would lead to constructive behavior.

Give lots of positive verbal feedback. Compliment your child when they are doing a good job. This will motivate your child to make good choices. Some examples are "I love the way you are sharing the toy with your sister." " I like how you are putting your toys away."