Parenting Playbook

Logical consequences . . .

Consequences provide feedback for behavior, and when we provide logical consequences for our children, they will connect their choices to outcomes. Logical consequences fit a particular situation. A parent chooses a response that connects to a child’s choice, which...

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Regression . . .

When children regress—that is, when they act younger and less mature than they really are—their behavior can trigger annoyance in parents. Usually, regression happens when children (and parents) are feeling stressed, as when a new sibling has arrived to join the...

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Natural consequences . . .

Natural consequences can be quite instructive for your child, and all you have to do is sit back and let the laws of nature do the teaching. The feedback your child receives from natural consequences can be less than pleasant, such as when he or she learns that going...

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Cultivating patience . . .

Patience refers to our ability to accept or tolerate delays, troubles, inconveniences, or distress without getting angry or upset. As any parent knows, parenting provides an opportunity to examine the meaning of patience on a daily basis. Though it is true that some...

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Teaching concentration and focus . . .

Playing on the floor with your child is a wonderful way to enhance your child’s attention span. Attention requires practice, and practice will occur naturally during “floor time” for a child who has been blessed with the ability to concentrate and focus. Floor time...

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Movement and learning . . .

As scientists learn more about how the brain works, they find extensive links between movement and learning. No wonder kids move so much! For example, some research has revealed that gesturing and pantomiming speed up the process of learning to talk. They also...

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Tears and connection . . .

Tears can be an opportunity for connection between a parent and child. Your child gives you a sign that the tears are an effort to connect when he or she “peeks out” and looks for you. If you see your child peek out for you after a good cry, he or she may want and...

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The age of reason . . .

Children develop their ability to reason at different chronological ages. Some children arrive at the age of reason when they turn four while others are seven or eight years old before they have reasoning powers. It makes sense then to instruct children accordingly....

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Storytelling . . .

Telling stories is one playful way to help children address important themes in their lives, particularly those that children might prefer not to talk about. Discharging powerful feelings connected to memories and experiences is important, though, so residual feelings...

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Transformation and play . . .

When kids play, they are not just having fun. Play allows kids to try out new ways of being, behaving, thinking, and feeling. When kids play, they are allowed to break out of established patterns and experiment with being a new self with new ways of interacting with...

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