Author: root

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Behaviour and Discipline

How to Promote Positive Behaviour in Your Toddler

The first few years of a child are vital for teaching positive behaviour. Daycare personnel and teachers play a major role, but the duty of promoting positive behaviour in toddlers is on the parents. To teach your child to be a caring, understanding and helpful individual, a constructive teaching approach will prove to be more effective than a punitive one. Your child needs to grow into an adult who is filled with these qualities and is positive towards life.

To Promote Positive Behaviour, Lead By Example

Children learn more by observation than by instruction. They tend to emulate their parents’ behaviour and attitude. If you, as a parent have a positive view of life, the child will naturally develop a similar attitude. Some of the steps you can take towards this goal are:

Politeness – Being polite can do a lot of good to your toddler. The child will imitate your behaviour and learn to be polite and respectful towards you as well as others. Speaking gently and using words like “please” and “thank you” will inculcate polite behaviour in your child’s responses too.

Praising – You could praise your toddlers for doing something good. This is the easiest method of building a positive attitude in a preschooler. But, simple compliments for a little bit of good work will boost their self-confidence and self-esteem.

Listening–When your kid is speaking, listen attentively and respond positively. This way, your child will also develop the habit of listening when you speak. Attentiveness also possesses the power of preventing toddler tantrums.

Sharing–Another easy way of encouraging positive behaviour in a toddler is by sharing time, space, and possessions. If your kids have access to the entire house rather than few designated play areas, then you must remove items that are unsafe for toddlers and keep them out of reach.

Teaching Positivity In Negative Situations

Being teased by an elder sibling, having to share a favourite toy, losing a race to the dinner table, rough-and-tumble behaviour of older siblings, tripping and getting hurt, etc. are few of the very common examples of negative situations around your toddler.

They might look simple on the outside, but they could prove to be one of the most stressful situations when it comes to your toddler. Promoting positive behaviour in early childhood is a good way to help your pre-schooler to deal with negativity.

If you jump to your child’s defense every time there is trouble, it might weaken your child and make him or her incapable of solving their own problems. This will have a long term effect and will be carried forward into adulthood. Letting your kids solve their problems will strengthen their resolve and teach them to cope with stress. As long as safety is not compromised, you kids should have the freedom to manage their relationships independently. It helps them grow into emotionally stronger adults.

Toddlers learn more by observation. Your toddler can learn the right values automatically as long as they live in a friendly and positive environment. Lowering the number of instructions and negative feedback, you can create an aura of positive thinking and good behaviour within the household. All of these ways can promote positive behaviour in a pre-schooler.

Categories
Development

What Are the Cognitive Milestones in Early Childhood Development?

In 1936, Jean Piaget, a world-famous psychologist, propounded the Theory of Cognitive Development. According to his theory, a small child creates a mental image of the world. The child’s academic and emotional development is not a sudden or one-time activity. It is an ongoing process that is affected by the level of maturity and the environment. This theory will help us understand the cognitive milestones for children. With these milestones, we can help them grow into smart and confident kids.

Piaget’s theory describes four stages of cognitive development in children, which are:

Sensorimotor stage

This cognitive development milestone occurs between the ages of birth to 2 years. During this stage, your kid will recognize objects and persons. The child will also know that the object or person exists even if not in the room.

Preoperational stage

This cognitive development occurs when your child is between the ages of 2 and 7 years. This milestone is manifested in the form of symbolism. Your child can not only recognize things and people but can also identify them by their name.

Concrete operational stage

Children between the ages of 7 and 11 go through this stage. Logic and operational thought become a part of a child’s cognitive development process. Concepts like weight, size, numbers, stature, shapes, colours, etc. develop now. Children also learn about how quantities can remain the same even if they change in appearance.

Formal operational stage

Cognitive development of a child after the age of 11 stretches between teenage and adulthood. At this level of cognitive development, the child also understands abstract concepts that cannot be seen with the eyes. The child can also hypothesize and test the hypothesis in a logical manner.

Ways to Encourage Cognitive Development

Promoting cognitive development in your toddler will help your child in his/her academic life. There are some beautiful ways in which you can encourage cognitive development in your child depending on the age.

Newborn to 6 months old:
  • Talk to the child
  • Show picture books
  • Point out things in nature
  • Change playing activities
  • Keep toys just short of reach but within their sight.
1 to 3 years old:
  • Play hide-and-seek
  • Show colours, shapes, objects
  • Teach sounds of animals and things
  • Play with the ball
  • Give step-by-step instructions in simple sentences
  • Indulge in role-play games
  • Encourage your child to take the lead in games
  • Sing and dance together.
4 to 7 years old:
  • Teach them easy chores
  • Encourage your kid to tell stories and/or read aloud
  • Increase the counting of numbers (more than 100)
  • Teach currency
  • Encourage your child to ask questions and answer them properly
  • Provide colouring books, drawing materials, and other artwork materials
  • Take your child to the zoo, park, nature trails, amusement parks, etc.

Developing your child’s cognition is not a difficult task. Kids are naturally curious and have a profound thirst for knowledge. The more time you spend with your toddler the easier it will be to recognize your kid’s cognitive milestones.

Categories
Development Technology

Media Effects on Children’s Social and Moral Development

We live in an environment surrounded by television, mobile devices, and other digital gadgets. Since the time of our tiny one’s birth, they are exposed to the world of media. It not only impacts their beliefs, values, and behaviour but also shapes their social interactions. The psychological impact of media violence on toddlers is profound and can cause irreparable changes in behaviour.

A research study published by the US National Library of Medicine has shown that exposure to violence on television, video games, mobile videos, etc. increases the possibility of violent behaviour in children. The subjects of this study range between the age of 5 and 13 but this holds for toddlers and pre-schoolers too.

How does digital violence influence toddlers?

Young kids are impressionable and cannot differentiate between fiction and reality. The violence depicted in cartoon films or TV shows will give the impression that this is correct behaviour. Digital violence affects toddlers in some of the ways listed below:

  • Aggressive behaviour
  • Unprovoked anger
  • Frequent temper tantrums
  • Rebellion
  • Nightmares and/or phobias
  • Loss of appetite
  • Poor sleep patterns
  • Other psychological disorders.

How can you reduce digital violence at home?

The first step towards helping our kids grow in a less violent environment is to restrict the exposure to digital violence. Here’s how you can implement some simple but effective measures at home:

Be media literate

Educate yourself about the type of TV programs/videos that usually show violence. Kids often see games and mobile apps that show battle scenes in a combative environment. Restrict your child from playing such games or watching these types of videos.

Watch together

Sit with your little one during TV or video time. Watch the entertainment together so you know what is going on. Most stories have the basic theme that shows the triumph of good over evil. These stories usually have a villain whose behaviour is negative. Explain to your little toddler that such behaviour is bad and hence the villain loses in the end. Emphasise on other qualities depicted in the video like cooperation, multi-tasking, friendship, loyalty, kindness, etc.

Child-safe logins

If you are permitting your toddler to watch Netflix or Amazon Prime videos, make sure that you use the Kid’s login and not your usual one. This login will automatically permit the child to only watch toddler-safe movies and shows. This way, Parental guidance will not be required most of the time.

Change your viewing time

You may be very fond of action thrillers but it is not appropriate to watch them while your toddler is awake and in the same room. With a small child in the house, you will have to adjust your timings so that the child is not inadvertently exposed to digital violence by just being in the same room. Also, your baby will start enjoying violent content too, that is something you must avoid at any cost. You could binge-watch all you want when your child is asleep.

Most importantly, as a parent, believe that you have the right to restrict digital violence and its influence on your toddlers.

Categories
Behaviour and Discipline

How to Handle Your Toddler’s Tantrums

Children between the ages of one and three have a limited vocabulary. Even at two years, the maximum number of words they understand is 350. Hence, it is difficult for Toddlers to construct proper sentences and communicate their thoughts and desires. When you do not understand what they want, they express their frustration in the form of a temper tantrum. Dealing with toddler tantrums daily can be extremely distressing, especially if it happens in public.

But why do toddlers throw a tantrum? It is because they cannot cope with anger, frustration, anxiety, weakness, boredom, hunger, delayed gratification, inability to communicate needs, etc. A pre-schooler suffering from depression, ADHD, or autism may have more episodes of tantrums than other kids.

Preventing a Toddler Tantrum Easily

If toddler tantrums are frequent, you are likely to be stressed as much as your kid. You can learn to detect the onset of a tantrum by implementing a few of these strategies:

  • Be more observing – Keep an hour aside from your daily routine to play with your toddler. Involve yourself in a pleasurable activity during that hour, something that the child will enjoy. Use this time to inculcate crucial habits like good behaviour, calmness, laughter, joy, etc. even when the child topples over or falls. Observe which incidents trigger anger and avoid the tantrums by not repeating them in the future.
  • Distract your little one – Which toy is your toddler’s favorite? Does your toddler like to watch birds flying in the sky or cars zipping across the roads? Or does he enjoy music more? You may use different ways to distract the child when you see temper building up.
  • Ignite Curiosity – Pique the curiosity of the toddler. Children are highly curious at that age. So if you observe a temper tantrum rearing its ugly head, piquing the curiosity of the kid will help in coping with toddler tantrums. 

Coping with a Toddler Tantrum

Your kid is naturally curious about everything. You dread going to the supermarket because your little one likes to pick random items from the shelves and put them in the shopping cart, probably trying to be helpful. Most of the items are pretty and colourful but definitely not what you need. If you prevent your kid from picking the stuff, you have a potential tantrum on your hands!

Here are some of the ways in which you can deal with a toddler tantrum quickly:

  • Have a clear plan of action to handle a tantrum.
  • Implement the plan of action quickly.
  • Listen to what your child is saying because a lack of attention is the biggest reason for temper tantrums in toddlers and pre-schoolers.
  • Never presume your child is throwing a tantrum deliberately.
  • Never lose your temper.
  • Ignore strangers who might give you a nasty look but focus on your kid and try to diffuse the situation pleasantly.

No one likes a grumpy toddler, they’re best when they laugh. But it is not always easy to know how to avoid tantrums in toddlers. Communication and attentiveness are the keywords that will work like magic! Your little dumpling only wants your attention. Your child has no one else to turn to, so a little TLC(Tender Loving Care) and attention are all that is needed to prevent and handle a toddler’s tantrums.