Parents: remember to praise your child’s “good” behavior, that is, the behavior you want to see more of, rather than spending most of your time punishing the behaviors you don’t want. It’s so much more effective to increase behaviors you want to see, e.g., “great job playing nicely together” than it is spending a ton of time on punishing unwanted behavior. We tend to be quiet when our kids are “behaving”, but that’s exactly when we should be catching them being good, and praising that behavior to make it happen more often.
If you have concerns about your child’s behavior and need more help, please contact us at klass@utk.edu or 865-974-6395.