Love and Be Loved
I love each and every child that I care for and I often tell all the children that I love them because I do. I love spending time with them and exploring the world from their points of view. I love their curiosity about everything that they see and do. I love how they love everyone and everything that they hold dear with unconditional love.
With this loving environment, as well as a few discipline and re-directing techniques, I believe that every child who comes into my care feels right at home. It is very rare that a child doesn't want to leave mom and dad. Rather they are excited to be here and spend their day with me, which is a huge accomplishment for me in my eyes. Every time I see the smile on a child's face when they walk through my door in the morning, I think of it as their way for giving love back to me.
With this loving environment, as well as a few discipline and re-directing techniques, I believe that every child who comes into my care feels right at home. It is very rare that a child doesn't want to leave mom and dad. Rather they are excited to be here and spend their day with me, which is a huge accomplishment for me in my eyes. Every time I see the smile on a child's face when they walk through my door in the morning, I think of it as their way for giving love back to me.
Positive "Discipline"
This is from an article from Canadianparents.com which describes my philosophies surrounding positive discipline very well. To see the article on the website click here.
Positive Discipline
By Family Service Canada
Positive Discipline
By Family Service Canada
- Look for underlying needs.Give your child something to play with while waiting in line.
- Give information and reasons.If your child colours on the wall, explain why we colour on paper only.
- Look for underlying feelings. If your child hits his baby sister, encourage him to tell you why he is upset, and to express his anger and jealousy in harmless ways.
- Change the environment. (It's easier than trying to change the child.) If your child repeatedly takes things out of the kitchen cupboards, put a childproof lock on them.
- Find acceptable alternatives and redirect your child's behaviour. If you do not want your child to build a fort in the dining room, tell her where she can build one.
- Be playful. Turn the situation into a game. "Let's pretend we're the seven dwarfs while we clean up."
- Give choices rather than commands. Decision making empowers children; commands invite a power struggle. Try: "Would you like to brush your teeth before or after putting your pajamas on?"
- Make small concessions. "I'll let you skip brushing your teeth tonight because you are so tired.
- Provide a period of preparation. If you are counting on company for dinner, tell your child how you expect him to behave. Be specific. Role-playing can help prepare for potentially difficult situations.
- Let natural consequences occur (when appropriate). Don't rescue too much. A child who does not hang up her bathing suit and towel may find them still wet the next day.
- Use logical consequences (only if necessary). If while holding your child, he wiggles so much that he kicks you, explain that it hurts. Set him down and offer to hold his hand instead.
- Give I-messages. "I get so tired of cleaning up crumbs in the living room."
- Hold, hold, hold. This expression of love enables children who are acting aggressively or obnoxiously to channel their pent-up feelings into healing tears.
- Remove your child from the situation, and stay with her until she is ready to act appropriately. Use the time for listening, sharing feelings, moving toward conflict resolution.
- Demonstrate how you want your child to behave. If your child pulls a cat's tail, show her how to pet a cat. Do not rely on words alone.
- Make a deal, negotiate. If you're ready to leave the playground and your child is having fun, reach an agreement on the number of times she may go down the slide before leaving.
- Defuse the situation with laughter. If your child is mad at you, invite him to engage in a playful pillow fight. Play your part by surrendering dramatically. Laughter helps resolve anger and feeling of powerlessness.
- Revise your expectations. Young children are naturally loud, curious, messy, willful, impatient, demanding, forgetful, fearful, self-centred, and full of energy. Try to accept them as they are.
