Blog Post
Catch Kids Being Good
Posted on 02/28/2022
Can we all agree that parenting is hard? We're all doing the best we can, but it helps to have a few pointers along the way. The most important thing you can do is to catch your child being good! Praise, positive reinforcement, and attention do much more to shape behavior than scolding, punishing, and yelling. It's easy to get caught up in monitoring your child's less-than-perfect behavior, but just a few minutes of praise can balance out the negative behavior.
You're probably already praising your child often. Keep up the good work! The first step is to identify what the desired behavior looks like. Describe to your child what they're doing right, and find different ways to encourage the good behavior to continue.
Be genuine with your praise, and be specific about what you're praising. Kids love to listen to you talking about them to someone else, so let them "eavesdrop" on your conversations about the wonderful things they've done. Be sure the praise isn't backhanded, such as "I wish you would always do it this way."
These techniques work well for all ages, adults included! Your efforts toward positive reinforcement will be rewarded in happy children!