If you do not behave by the time I count five, I will never again bring you to the garden or take you back home.
One….
Two….
Three….. Three and a half …………
If you are a parent then you may face such a situation with your preschoolers. As parents, you always worry about good nurturing of your child so that when he/she will grow up,he is a good human being.Here,positive parenting tips surely help you. I know it is not an easy task. As parents, you should take care of many things. As you play a vital role in shaping your child’s emotional, cognitive, and social skills during this formative stage. The preschool years are a crucial period in a child’s development, filled with rapid growth and exploration.
In this article, we will explore practical and effective positive parenting tips to help you navigate the joys and challenges of parenting a preschooler, fostering a positive and healthy parent-child relationship. First of all, let’s understand what positive parenting tips mean. Simply, I can say, “Different Kids/preschoolers/toddlers with different needs. There are no bad or good kids.” Positive parenting nurtures and reinforces only good behavior rather than punishing bad behavior. Let’s understand the real-life examples.
Case study on positive parenting tips – situations and challenges faced by parents.
Situation: 1 Parent with two kids. ( sibling problem)- A positive parenting tips
Ana and Marks are parents of two grown children, Jack and Jill. Jack is 7 years old and Jill is 5 years old. Jack as an elder brother always creates fights and conflicts with his younger sister Jill. The situation mostly creates tension in the family. And this type of behavior of the kids challenges Ana and Mark’s parenting. The situation is vice versa for both siblings.
You can surely connect with Ana and mark the situation. There are so many such situations in day-to-day life with kids. Again my positive parenting tips will surely help you.
Situation: 2 Parents with only one child :
Let’s think Ana and Mark have only one kid named Joe. He is a 4 years old preschooler. Ana and Mark are worried about his(Joe’s) behavior with other kids. Day by day he is becoming stubborn and indisciplined. Here, You can see the big challenge and you wonder How these parents address these behaviors using positive parenting tips, fostering a harmonious and supportive environment for their kids. Let’s see it in detail.
Strategies for positive parenting tips
- Communication and active listening
- Quality time and individual attention
- Setting clear boundaries and expectation
- Positive reinforcements
- Emotional validation
- Encouraging empathy
- Engaging in educational activities
- Nurturing basic social skills and good behavior
- Celebrating achievement and offering rewards.
- Collaborate on the problem, Offering support and guidance
Communication and active listening:
Communication gaps and passive listening skills are big hurdles between parents and toddlers/preschoolers/teenagers. It is one of the prime positive parenting tips for developing a healthy relationship with your kid. Listen to what does he/she say to you? Do not ignore your kids’ conversation rather do not take it so casually also. Sit with your kid and talk to them about daily routine like:
- How was your day?
- In the case of siblings, you can ask why you quarrel. Why do you beat your younger one?
- Today, what did happen in the school?
- Is there any homework?
- What’s good about the day?
- What’s the bad you felt today? Many more questions you can ask your preschooler/teenagers.
Make them comfortable to share their problems and happiness with you. Be an active listener of your child. I suggest you use communication as the most important tool for your positive parenting.
Quality time and individual attention for positive parenting :
Spending quality time and individual attention on your ward is one of the essential positive parenting tips. You can Plan a family a week and fix a family time a day. Where you can sit with your kids. Enjoy watching cartoons or playing games. Where you can introduce your kids to new words, and model good or bad behaviors while narrating stories. Start a healthy discussion where you can introduce expressing emotions. Which makes the children connected with each member of the family.
If needed you can pay individual attention to your kid so that we do not need to face the problem like Joe or Mark’s parents are facing. Remember if you ignore your child and do not pay attention to him/her. He/she surely tries to grab some attention from outside which may harm your child. Therefore I say sit with your child separately and listen to him/her and pay more attention. It seems so hard but when you make the daily routine it becomes easier to share and care. This one on one creates a sense of security and safety in your ward. I can say start a “Share and care” Session with your kid/kids.
Setting clear boundaries and expectations :
Find firm and positive ways to approach your children without being harsh. Set some specific rules during your family time. Explain to them all the rules positively. Also, explain the consequences they have to face if they do not follow the rule. There should be only a few rules which are easy to follow. Rules like ….
Some rules are :
- Remove your shoes from the shoe rack.
- Be closer to your parents in the supermarket.
- Wash your hand before your meal
- Do not yell
- Come timely at home after playing.
- Good greeting habits.
- Less screen time.
These are just suggestions you can make rules for your house. Which are few, and easy to follow. Apart from these you can keep in mind to use positive language and avoid using NO. For example :
- No running instead you can say walk, please.
- No hitting, instead keep your hands to yourself, please. Be gentle.
- No yelling, say talk / say calmly
- Stop playing rather you say we will play tomorrow.
So, As a parent, you have to take care of the language you speak and the environment you provide your child. These behaviors help you to nurture your child’s growth positively.
Positive reinforcements as positive parenting tips:
Provide your child with positive reinforcement for their good deeds. Like…
- Very good to keep it up.
- Keep doing good work.
- That’s great
- Very Intelligent you are.
- So nice of
- I am glad for what you did just now.
- You can use facial gesture
- Give high five
- Thumbs Up
- Give tight hut
- Pat the back.
This type of verbal and non-verbal reinforcement gives positive attribute development to your wards. Mark Shares toys with Jill then as a parent you have to acknowledge his kindness. Give positive reinforcement to do so again and again. Which implants the habit of sharing. This is a simple example. But as a parent of a single kid or siblings, you can nurture your child’s development in many ways by using just positive reinforcements.
Emotional validation for positive parenting tips:
When your child is upset, sad, happy, or angry, you should validate his/her emotions. Let him /her be allowed to express their emotions. Tell them it’s okay to be upset or sad or angry. But we need to find a positive way to present ourselves rather than being angry or arguing.
You can even provide a feeling chart to your ward. Where they everyday display the feeling he/she has. It can be multiple. But slowly and gradually he /she can understand how he/she has to express the feelings positively. During the activity encourage them to use a positive mindset.
Encouraging empathy as a positive parenting tip:
Let’s take the example of Ana and Mark. Case Study 2. Where we can imagine many conflict situations between siblings. But as a parent, you can ask these questions to make them more empathetic.
- How does Jill feel if you yield to her? Then How would you feel if someone treated you the same way? How bad is Jill feeling? Can you just Imagine?
- How bad is Jill feeling? Can you just Imagine?
Try to make kids understand how actions and words affect them emotionally. Encourage them to use positive gestures and words.
Engaging with educational activities :
Preschool is the age when they just started learning so many things at a time. So as parents, we must provide positive, engaging, and educational activities for preschoolers. Which supplements our parenting. Make our parenting journey easy. It helps to develop:
- Positive mindset
- Emotional balance
- Problem-solving ability among the kids.
These ideas and activities you surely find here. Click the above link to make parenting easy.
Nurturing basic social skills and good behavior :
Nurturing basic social skills and good behaviors is a crucial task. You wonder how I would do this at the age of my child. Once the pot is framed you can not mold it again. The same good virtue you can nurture at preschool age only. Because they observe and learn many things at this age period. So make sure you can provide the best activities and lead by model. So you can take help from this article HOW TO DEVELOP SOCIAL SKILLS IN THE KIDS? – 15 BEST USEFUL WAYS.
Celebrating achievement and offering rewards. :
Celebrate even very little achievement of your child. And also reward them with small toffee, a cup of their favorite shake, favorite little toy. All these small rewards encourage your child to do work in a better way. I think this is what parenting is all about. Celebrating a small victory or a small good deed is a sign of good parenting.
Let’s see with an example :
If Joe completed homework timely, the parent must appreciate that. Shows gestures of pride and appreciation. Like that’s a great job, you did it, you can give a hug and say well done. Also, you can watch a cartoon or take him to the garden as a reward. These kinds of gestures encourage the child to do work timely and establish regularity and confidence. Which are again essential for child growth and nurturing good well-being.
In a way, you chose to make your discipline over punishment. That’s a great key feature of positive parenting.
Collaborate on the problem – a positive parenting tip :
Neither solves the problem of your ward alone nor ignores their problems. But sit with him/her. Be the support system, guide him /her on what to do and what do not. Let him/her try to find the solution to the problem. Let them understand that Mistakes can also be learning opportunities. In a way, you can collaborate on the problem with your guidance and support to find the solution.
Conclusion:
Positive parenting and nurturing kids focus on:
- Parent-child relationship
- fostering emotional well-being
- promoting healthy development
- It emphasizes active listening, empathy, problem-solving, clear boundaries, and positive reinforcement.
- Parents can create a safe and loving environment where children feel valued, understood, and supported.
- Positive parenting teaches some essential life skills, social skills, and communication skills.
- They develop a sense of self-worth and confidence, enabling them to navigate challenges and build healthy relationships.
- Positive parenting also strengthens the parent-child bond, fostering trust, respect, and open communication.
- By focusing on a child’s needs Positive parenting promotes positive family dynamics and creates a foundation for lifelong well-being.
Ultimately, positive parenting tips help children grow into resilient, compassionate, and responsible individuals who can thrive in all aspects of their lives. It is an approach that recognizes the power of love, support, and encouragement in shaping children’s futures, and it lays the groundwork for a positive and fulfilling parent-child relationship.