SOME POSITIVE DISCIPLINE GUIDELINES

Misbehaving children are discouraged children who have mistaken ideas on how to achieve their primary goal...to belong. Mistaken ideas lead to misbehavior. To be effective we must address the mistaken belief rather than just the misbehavior.
When your child is misbehaving imagine them looking up at you saying, “I’m just a child and I just want to belong and don’t know how.”

Use encouragement to help children feel a sense of belonging so that the motivation for misbehavior will be eliminated. Celebrate each step in the direction of improvement rather then focusing on mistakes.

Teach children that mistakes are wonderful opportunities t learn. A great way to model this is by using the 3 R’s of recovery after YOU make a mistake:

1. Recognize your mistake with good feelings
2. Reconcile. Be willing to say “I apologize for _____. “
3. Resolve. Focus on solutions rather than blame.
4. Make amends, do something to make up for your mistake.