Tips to Teach Discipline to Your Kids

Self discipline is one of the most important skills that parents must teach their children. It is a skill that needs to be taught, since children are not born with it and self discipline can help them achieve their goals as an adult. Children often behave differently at school and at home; this is because the way parents handle their tantrums. Most parents think punishing is the best way to teach discipline, however it is not. Teachers can help children learn discipline, but parents have to play an active role as well.

Here are some tips from seasoned early childhood education teachers that will help parents teach discipline to their children at home:

Do Not Punish

How well a child will behave depends on the type of relationship he/ she shares with the caregiver, whether the teacher, parents or grandparents. Establishing a routine and communicating with the child frequently is necessary affect the child's behaviour and his/ her ability to learn. Children often reciprocate what they see the elders doing, so if you spank your kids for doing something wrong, that is what they will learn to do with the others.

Be Vigilant

It is necessary to be vigilant about your child's actions. This is because you can correct the wrong doings instantly. Instead of saying, do not do it...explain why you are asking him/ her not to do it. It will give the child a reason to think about his/ her activities and how they can affect others. Oftentimes, you might not even have to say anything; just looking at the child with a disgusted look can curtail the behaviour.

Be a Role Model

Be mindful about what you say or do. If you act in a way that is contradictory to what you have taught your child, you might be confusing him/ her. So make sure you follow everything that you teach your child. If you accidently misbehave in front of your kids, say sorry and apologise for your behaviour. This will encourage them to do the same when they misbehave with someone.

Try Time-Ins

When nothing works with your child, try using the time-in method. This means you need to distract your child of the things or situations that cause distress or harm. Time-ins work best with school going children; similar to time outs the time limit should last one minute per year of the child (for instance, if your child is five years old, the time in limit should be five minutes).

Spanking or other methods of negative reinforcement lose their effect with time and the child starts resisting to your commands. Parents must remember, behaviours don't change overnight, thus you must be patient while handling your child. If nothing seems to work, parents can work with the school teachers to find out ways to teach discipline to their children.

Give a lot of attention and care to your child and create a positive environment at home, you can see the changes very soon.