By: Rebecca Michelsen, M.Ed., MCHES, Penfield Children’s Center No parents ever want to get the call from school informing them that their child has been part of a bullying incident. Worse yet, finding out that your child is doing the bullying, can be even more difficult to digest. As a parent, we may instantly think …
Biting is a typical behavior often seen in infants, toddlers, and 2-year olds. As children mature, gain self-control, and develop problem-solving skills, they usually outgrow this behavior. While not uncommon, biting can be an upsetting and potentially harmful behavior. It’s best to discourage it and provide redirection from the very first episode. Why do young …
Interrupting is a natural, and healthy, part of a child’s development as they test limits with any and all adults. A young child’s job is to find the wiggle room in relationships, helping them determine boundaries and limits with others. Developmentally, a young child’s brain up until the age of six is working from concrete …
Dealing with challenging behavior can be frustrating and exhausting for parents. Using a combination of positive reinforcement and the appropriate discipline strategy based on the type of the behavior is necessary to improve behavior. But there is a preliminary step that is often overlooked when dealing with challenging behavior—understanding where it comes from. Coming to …
Social and emotional learning is an important piece of a child’s development. Many parents think of development in terms of a child learning to talk, walk, and become more independent during daily living skills. However, a child’s development is also characterized by learning how to interact with others and appropriately identify and express emotions. Here …
Raising children is perhaps the most challenging experience we can undertake as adults. There is no formula or technique that will work with every child and we often spend time trying to figure out what works with our specific child. While each child is different and each child has different needs, wants and desires, each …
When parents work with their children to set and enforce appropriate limits, they are teaching them skills for a productive future. If parents set and maintain limits, their children will learn from positive discipline and develop their own healthy sense of right versus wrong and self-discipline. Sometimes parents may want to spoil children as a …
It can be tough for parents to figure out effective discipline techniques that work best for their child. Patience can be tested when discipline is needed and it may be easy for parents to give in to a temper tantrum or try too hard to diffuse a situation. It’s important for parents to be ready …
Discipline is a good thing. This is how children learn which behaviors parents want to see more of and which behaviors should be avoided. There are a few things parents should remember when thinking about discipline. First of all, children are human beings. They have their own minds, desires and plans. That doesn’t mean that they …
A child’s early years are full of developmental milestones. While a child’s first steps have us running for the camera, a toddler’s first tantrums have us running for the hills. Even worse is when these tantrums occur in public. Ideally, most of the work done to control tantrums will happen at home, where ignoring an …
For many, acting defensive or aggressive is a natural response to conflict. However, it is important that children learn effective conflict resolution skills that promote peaceful ways of solving problems between individuals. Learning to deal with conflict in a friendly manner will help your child understand the importance of healthy interpersonal communication and take a …