- The truth is that your child will always need your guidence, encouragement, and love, but parenting does take different shapes as he grows and changes. Providing a balance between guidance and indepedence requires that your role in his life adapt as he grows and acquires new skills to prepare him for successful living when he leaves your nest.
- It is crucial to your family's well-being to work through your differences in opinion and remember to respect one another's parenting styles. Consider your differences as opportunities to learn and grow (for everyone involved), as well as the means to exhibit valuable life skills. Learning to give and take, respect one another's ideas, and try out new ways of doing things will lead to true family cooperation.
- Kind and firm parenting is called for. Kindness shows respect for the humanity of the child and emphasizes the teaching of valuable skills. Firmness backs up your words with necessary action, helping children learn that you mean what you say (which also means you must be careful of what you say).
- Parents do a lot of ineffective and even harmful things all in the name of love. But love is the easy part. The real issue is whether you can show your love in ways that nurture accountability and self-esteem amd that encourage your child to reach his full potential as a happy, contributing member of society. It is knowledge and skill that give the legs to the love you feel.
- When you truly understand that mistakes are opportunities to learn, you can create a sense of fun and wonder around mistakes and what you can learn from them and, thus, instill a healthy attitude about mistakes in your children.
- Discipline is meant to teach, and mistakes are opportunities to learn. Focus on solutions rather than on blame. Instead of asking who made the mess, ask if the child needs help cleaning it up, or ask if the child has ideas about how to solve the problem.
- Explain the need to accept responsibility for his action: "We all make mistakes, but blaming others, even imaginary people, does not take away responsibility for what we did".
- Talk about the meaning of trust. Help a child see the connetion between telling the truth and having others trust what he says.
- Special stimulation is not necessary, what children really need to grow and develop is unhurried time with caring adults, people who will focus on the child and follow his cues without distraction or expectations.
- How to grow a healthy brain:
- Demonstrate affection, interest, and acceptance
- Practice the art of conversation
- Read, read, read
- Encourage curiosity, safe exploration, and hands-on learning
- Limited television time
- Use discipline to teach, not to shame or humiliate
- Recognize and accept your child's uniqueness
- Provide learning experiences that use the senses
- Provide time for your child's learning through play
- Select child care carefully-and stay invovled
- Take care of yourself
- One effective way to invite conversation with a preschooler is to ask curiosity questions which often begin with the wold why and how. When they answer these questions they also call for focused and attentive listening from parents, something that demands a surprising amount of energy and patience. Just remember, relationship and connection support brain development.