Positive Parenting Techniques

Positive parenting techniques will help to build your child's self esteem and therefore build a strong foundation to their life. Here are a few practical ideas to help make your parenting more positive.

1.Set a Good Example

It is vital that we set a good example to our kids. They learn behaviour by copying the adults around them, especially their parents and carers, so we need to behave as we want them to behave.

2.Understand Your Child's Personality

It may be that you will need to modify your approach according to the personality of your child. Different types of personality will need different approaches. For example and child with a strong personality and very self-confident will need a different approach to the shy and timid child.

3.What's The Root Cause

Another of the great positive parenting techniques is to have an understanding of the root causes of common unwanted behaviors. It may be that certain behaviors are just a normal part of that stage of development, or it may be that there is something upsetting the child that is causing him to behave that way.

4.Give Time For Free Play

Free, child directed play is great for kids to be able to develop in so many areas. It helps them in their social development, negotiating with their friends in what and how to play. It helps them in their physical development, being active and using their bodies. It helps them in their emotional and cognitive development, they act out circumstances in their lives as a way of thinking through and understanding them.

Food And Your Child

When your child is small, one thing that most Parents are almost paranoid about is his diet or the food he eats. They are forever worried whether their child is eating enough, even if the child is eating well. Or whether the child is eating too much for his age!

Personally speaking, we haven't worried about our child's food. In the first place, we never got worried about the hygiene aspect, in the sense that if she dropped something she was eating and picked it up and put it in her mouth, it didn't worry us unduly. Our child has probably picked everything off the ground and eaten. I have always allowed it unless it was something, which could be poisonous. I never bothered about germs, because I know that the body automatically takes care of some germs that enter the body thus, making the body's immune system that much stronger.

When you are pregnant you must have lots of fruit so that you inculcate 'fruit-habit' in your child from that time itself. It's important for the mother and child to have fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts.

The quantity of food a child may eat depends upon his individuality and is different for each child. One needn't unnecessarily worry about the quantity the baby eats especially if he shows an optimum energy level. If your child has a medium to high energy level, is very bright and playful then there is no need to worry about any other parameters like his weight, height etc. As long as the child is healthy, strong and energetic, the child is eating well. But however, there is a cause for concern when your child is dull, listless and lacking in energy. Then you need to take some action (may be show him to a Doctor).

Another thing that worries most Parents is 'junk-food'. They are most upset when their child eats pre-packed potato chips, chocolates, sweets, ice creams etc. I would say that it's not such a bad idea to allow the child to have these in controlled, limited quantities every day, like a sweet or a piece of chocolate everyday than to suppress his craving, which may compel him do it on the sly, behind your back.

If your child is at an age where he has started understanding the days of the week, Monday to Sunday, then you can easily set up a timetable for him to fit-in such 'junk food', something different each day. Junk food is not all that bad. For generations we have all eaten some form or the other of junk food. So don't cut it out totally and immediately from your child's food-schedule. In fact, I would say a little bit of junk food is healthy food.

                            - By Manoj Lekhi (Key Disciple of Guruji Rishi Prabhakar ji)

Children's Social Skills

1. Be Polite and Kind

When children's are kind, courteous, and respectful, people enjoy being around them and reciprocate with the same behavior. Be polite to your child. If your child hands you something, say "thank you" to him. If you ask your child to do something, always preface it with a "please". Practice saying "please" and "thank you" with your child from a very young age. Those two simple terms will become a way of speaking for him. Manners need to be taught and teaching your children manners gives them "lifelong survival skills". For kids to develop values that essential to being courteous, they need to see those same qualities in people whom they respect, parents have the power to exert powerful positive influences.

2.  Join In and Play

It's fun to make friends and play with others, but it's not always easy to do. You have to make an effort, and you have to know the rules like ask before joining in, take turns, play fair, and be a good sport. Games help children experience how to lose, how to win and playing games with friends and parents gives them the support they need to still be willing to try again. Children who play with their parents develop broader social skills, especially when they play in a positive and peer-like manner. Children who play socially with same-age peers are at an advantage when they enter daycare and preschool. These advantages are increased when children maintain these social-relationships over the long term, thus making good friends.

3. Listen And Learn

The first few years of a child's life are key to the development of speech, language and cognitive skills. For this reason it is important to create activities and strategies that give them all the stimulation, positive role modeling and human contact that they need. For a normally developing child learning is easy and creating opportunities for learning is also not difficult. Through play and simple daily interactions and experiences we can help the child acquire new language and skills. Knowing how to listen is essential to learning, growing, and getting along with others. Simple words and inviting illustrations help children develop listening skills, understand why it's important to listen, and recognize the positive results of listening.

4. Respect and Take Care of Things

Everything has a place. Things last longer when we take care of them. Respect, responsibility, and stewardship are concepts that even young children can relate to because they have things they value. When children are first beginning to help out around the house it is important to focus on their effort, not how well the task is completed. Encourage the children's to pick up after themselves, put things back where they belong, ask permission to use things that don't belong to them. Kids can do a lot of chores at an early stage, including getting clothes to the laundry or cleaning up after dinner, put toys away, fill pet's food dish, put clothes in hamper, wipe up spills, pile books and magazines.