Tips for Happy & Effective Parenting
- Encourage your child to take responsibility and accomplish the given task independently.
- Help your child learn how to express frustration, disappointments and anger without hurting others.
- Speak to your child in the tone along with the words that you wish he/she would use with others.
- Clear statements and instructions are understood easily and effectively by children.
- Listening with your heart allows you to be empathetic, take your child’s perspective / see the world through his / her eyes before coming to any conclusion.
- While interacting with your child it is important to make the child feel that he / she has your complete attention and to achieve this you need to turn off your laptop, keep your phone down and make eye contact with him / her.
- Help your child learn about new words or content in a variety of ways. Talking about the new vocabulary word over the week in various settings will be a helping hand in enriching the child’s understanding of the world.
- If your child has an assessment / revision coming up, help him / her study a little bit each day rather than cramming it the night before. An hour or so every other day with spacing out the learning, is a better way to learn the material.
- Ask your child about his / her day in the school, and see whether the school work is completed or not. Tell your child that you are proud of the work he / she is doing.
- Praising accomplishments, however small, will make them feel proud; letting kids do things independently will make them feel capable and strong.
- Find out what the homework rules are. If your child has a problem completing or understanding homework, talk to the teacher about the issue.
- Set routines for meals and bedtimes that will establish stability.
- Have your child help around the house and gain responsibility instead of waiting to be served.
- TV viewing is not “bad” but critical choices of what to watch should be made. Involvement of the child in other activities gives a positive reinforcement to the overall development of personality.
- Model the traits you wish to see in your kids: respect, friendliness, honesty, kindness, tolerance. Exhibit unselfish behavior. Do things for other people without expecting a reward. Express thanks and offer compliments. Above all, treat your kids the way you expect other people to treat you.