We’ve all heard the saying, “you attract more bees with honey than vinegar.” A positive comment is your attractive honey, and negative comments are your vinegar.
A positive comment or request can go a long way with a child. We have a tendency, as humans, to focus on the negative or to correct a behavior. As parents, that’s what we do to help our children learn. So we focus on correcting undesirable behaviors. Unfortunately we say things like, “don’t run, get off the table, out of my chair.” All our children are hearing is the negative, the behavior we don’t want them to do. If we reverse what we say to the positive, or the action we want them to perform, we will get a different result. Just changing how we communicate we can achieve a much better result.
Examples
Don’t run —> Walking feet or Walk in the house
Get off the table —> Feet on floor
Out of my chair —> Mom’s chair
Stop touching —> Hands to self
With this change our children are hearing the positive, expected behavior, and can more easily comply with our requests. This also aids in their social emotional learning.
If you are looking for more tools for your preschooler or kindergartener you may like my new book, Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten fun and educational activities to give your child a jump start to success. Click HERE or on the cover to view.
Until next time, be happy, and stay safe.
