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Final Week: 8 Weeks To A Well-behaved Child

Welcome to the final week of 8 Weeks To A Well-behaved Child. I know you are probably still recovering from Christmas (I know I am!) but we’re going to try and move on. Last week we talked about removing rewards and privileges to eliminate serious misbehaviors. We learned that this method is an alternative to time-out and generally grows more important as the child ages. For homework, we were supposed to decide which behaviors would be punished using this method. And to also decide, in advance, which privileges would be removed. How did you do? I actually did better than … Continue reading →

Taming Tantrums: Take Your Child on a Dry Run

As parenting experts go, John Redmond in my opinion, is one of the best. I just recently starting reading his columns in my local paper and was so impressed with his down- to- earth advice and his somewhat comedic style of writing that I picked up one of his latest book, The New Six-Point Plan for Raising Happy, Healthy Children, and devoured it in about two days. It’s full of advice for parents on a variety of topics but what I like best is it includes many questions similar to ones you would find in his column. In upcoming blogs … Continue reading →

Week 7: 8 Weeks To A Well-behaved Child

We’re entering the home stretch! It’s week 7 of 8 Weeks To A Well-behaved Child. This week we learn how to remove rewards and privileges to eliminate serious misbehavior. Before we move on, let’s review last week. In week six we talked about using effective punishment to discourage problem behaviors. We talked about using punishment effectively as well as the proper way to use time-out. For homework we were supposed to use reprimands as a mild punishment and also use time-out to discourage a menacing behavior. How did you do? Me? With the holidays it was frantic at my house … Continue reading →

8 Weeks To A Well-behaved Child-Week 6, part two

Part two continues. (4) Frequency– punishment works best when it is infrequent, otherwise the child will become immune to its effects. (5) Follow-through– if you issue a warning or threat you must always carry it out. (6) Context– the atmosphere within the family is very important when administering punishment. Your relationship with your child is also important. If the atmosphere is hostile, the punishment will more than likely be taken differently from the way it was intended. The kids are also more likely to consider the punishment as meanness, rejection, etc., if their relationship with the punishing parent is cool … Continue reading →

8 Weeks To A Well-behaved Child – Week 6

It’s week six of 8 Weeks To A Well-behaved Child . Last week we learned about discouraging misbehavior by withdrawing attention. In a nutshell, we were supposed to ignore misbehavior. This has always been one of the hardest things for me to do. I suppose I am one of those active interveners, a parent who feels that those little troublesome behaviors can’t be ignored or they will get worse. Of course, it’s just the opposite. Last week I tried really hard to ignore some of Tyler’s more irritating behavior. I succeeded about a third of the time. What made it … Continue reading →

Week 5: 8 Weeks To A Well-behaved Child

Well, we’re almost to the end of our 8 Weeks To A well-Behaved Child program. This is week 5 and we’ll learn how to discourage misbehaviors by withdrawing attention. But first a review of last week. In week 4, we learned how to use reminder praise and increase compliance with expectations. Our assignment for the week was to use the five-step method of increasing compliance at least five times this week and to also describe any instances when we used any of the previous weeks’ methods during this week. The one thing I can vouch for is that small kids … Continue reading →

8 Weeks To A Well-behaved Child: Week 4

It’s time for week 4 of 8 Weeks To A well-Behaved Child. We’re at the half-way mark and this week we will learn about using reminder praise and increasing compliance with expectations, but first I want to review last week. In week three, using rewards and privileges to strengthen behavior, the assignment was to select a behavior and a reward and to keep a tally of how many times each day we used the reward or privilege to strengthen the behavior. For me this was a tough week. With Thanksgiving and Tyler’s birthday plus the fact that Tyler had school … Continue reading →

Week Three: 8 Weeks To A Well-behaved Child

Here we are at week three of 8 Weeks to A Well-Behaved Child. Last week we talked about giving praise and attention. Our assignment for the week was to give praise and attention five times each day. I started the week out doing really well but slipped about mid-week and had to remind myself what I was supposed to be doing. When things get hectic it’s so easy to forget to praise our kids but this kind of encouragement is exactly what they need. During week three we learn how to use rewards and privileges to strengthen behavior. Just like … Continue reading →

8 Weeks To A Well-behaved Child Week Two, Part Two

Continuing with part two of week two. When you make a descriptive comment about your child’s behavior you’re not necessarily verbally praising but simply letting your kids know that you are paying attention to what they are doing. Once you get the hang of giving attention, then add praise to your descriptive remarks. So in the previous example from part one, “you straightened your room all by yourself,” you would simple add a comment that praised the act. Adding a praise as simple as, “thank you so much”, is enough to do the trick. Here are a few more tips … Continue reading →

8 Weeks To A Well-behaved Child Week Two

It’s week two of 8 Weeks To A Well-behaved child. Last week’s homework was to spend time monitoring the critical remarks and negative statements we make to our kids. How’d you do? Me? Well, I found out that I give Tyler lots of positive praise for all his good behavior but it’s the seemingly harmless statements I sometimes make, that I need to work on. Yes, I found myself saying stuff like, “you’re not trying,” and “stop acting like a baby,” and “when are your going to start listening to me.” These seemingly harmless statements are in fact very harmful … Continue reading →