I was just talking to a parent who is taking my course about ignoring their child’s tantrums and it reminded me of a 4 year old girl that attended the nursery where I worked. When she arrived at nursery she would throw herself on the floor and scream and cry in the clock room in a very dramatic fashion in probably the worst way I had seen before. But it wasn’t just when she arrived at nursery that was the problem, as she would also throw herself on the floor at times when she did not want to do something such as tidy up or do activities she didn’t like. This behaviour had to stop so I decided that as well as ignoring the tantrum I would start to teach her exactly what I wanted from her, after all I really think she didn’t know how else to behave.
So at the end of the day at nursery I sat down with her and gave her direct instructions for coming to nursery the next morning. I explained that I wanted her to come into nursery smiling and happy to see her friends, I said that when she gets to nursery, that she was to come and sit by me in the book corner (where I took the register) and sit in the chair that I will have waiting for her next to me. I told her that she would feel happier if she came to nursery ready to play with her friends and she shyly looked at me with her fingers in her mouth, smiled and nodded in approval.
I then told then her mum of my plans and we arranged that she would bring her daughter to sit by me in the book corner in the morning, instead of leaving her in the cloak room.
When the next day arrived I was ready and waiting as arranged and I took her hand from her mummy and showed her where to sit. I asked the little girl if she remembered what I had said about coming to nursery with a smile and she nodded in agreement managed a little smile and remarkably there was barely a sniffle from her.
I gave her lots of praise and encouragement and stickers and it was truly amazing how fast she settled into her new routine and within a few days she was walking up to her friends and chatting when she arrived. She also responded really well when I directly asked her to be in charge of a certain job when it was tidy up time, which meant she was better behaved throughout the whole day as well.
So remember if your child is misbehaving use direct instructions and tell them exactly what you would like them to do and see the positive changes happen quickly.
For more tips download my book here
I was just talking to a parent who is taking my course about ignoring their child’s tantrums and it reminded me of a 4 year old girl that attended the nursery where I worked. When she arrived at nursery she would throw herself on the floor and scream and cry in the clock room in a very dramatic fashion in probably the worst way I had seen before. But it wasn’t just when she arrived at nursery that was the problem, as she would also throw herself on the floor at times when she did not want to do something such as tidy up or do activities she didn’t like. This behaviour had to stop so I decided that as well as ignoring the tantrum I would start to teach her exactly what I wanted from her, after all I really think she didn’t know how else to behave.
So at the end of the day at nursery I sat down with her and gave her direct instructions for coming to nursery the next morning. I explained that I wanted her to come into nursery smiling and happy to see her friends, I said that when she gets to nursery, that she was to come and sit by me in the book corner (where I took the register) and sit in the chair that I will have waiting for her next to me. I told her that she would feel happier if she came to nursery ready to play with her friends and she shyly looked at me with her fingers in her mouth, smiled and nodded in approval.
I then told then her mum of my plans and we arranged that she would bring her daughter to sit by me in the book corner in the morning, instead of leaving her in the cloak room.
When the next day arrived I was ready and waiting as arranged and I took her hand from her mummy and showed her where to sit. I asked the little girl if she remembered what I had said about coming to nursery with a smile and she nodded in agreement managed a little smile and remarkably there was barely a sniffle from her.
I gave her lots of praise and encouragement and stickers and it was truly amazing how fast she settled into her new routine and within a few days she was walking up to her friends and chatting when she arrived. She also responded really well when I directly asked her to be in charge of a certain job when it was tidy up time, which meant she was better behaved throughout the whole day as well.
So remember if your child is misbehaving use direct instructions and tell them exactly what you would like them to do and see the positive changes happen quickly.
For more tips download my book, A Parent's Guide to Children's Behaviour here using paypal http://bit.ly/hde2ig
Best wishes
Ruth
If you use these ideas, please come back and let us know how you get on:)
