And the Award Goes To
Behavior Bear is just one of the nine Characters of Character! Have you ever rewarded your child for their good behavior? Have you ever encouraged their good behavior? Does your child know what good behavior means? Has your child met Behavior Bear?
Tips for Encouraging and Teaching Good Behavior:
Talk with your child what your expectations are for having good behavior
Communication is important. Discuss with your child what it means to have good behavior. Perhaps make a poster or visual as a reminder what good behavior looks like, sounds like and even feels like. Go through old books or magazines and make a collage of others having good behaviors. Visuals are a great reinforcement and reminder and supports teaching good behavior.
Be consistent on your follow through
It’s important to be consistent! Once you have a plan in place you must follow through. Talk is cheap! If you have a plan in place such as a Time Out if your child is modeling poor behaviors, then you must follow through with that Time Out. If you don’t your child will test you!
Acknowledge all the feelings your child has
Allow your child to show their feelings. We all have good days and bad days. Talk through them, let them have the feels and learn what causes them to feel the way that they do. You know your triggers, now learn what your child’s are.
Practice coping skills
By allowing your child to have all the feels also gives the opportunity to learn how to cope with them. Don’t punish them for having a bad day, discover the why and figure out how they can cope with this feeling. It may be a redirection. It may be eliminating something which triggers this poor behavior. Once you figure it out with your child you’re able to practice how to cope and get through these feelings. It may be the need for a hug!
Have fun together
Trust me when I say your children are only little for a short time, it goes fast! Enjoy them! While you’re their parent or guardian, also be their friend, have fun with them. Life isn’t always just ‘telling’ them what to do. Have fun exploring different activities together. Always point out their good behavior which will support teaching them coping skills.
Encourage and praise good behavior
Some may feel that this may spoil a child. We all have our own opinion. I like to put myself in a situation to understand the feelings, issues, etc. So, think about how you feel when you are acknowledged for something positive you did or said. It feels good, right! It encourages you to keep trying, to do it again and to try to do it better and consistently. This helps to form a habit of good behaviors, too.
Introduce your child to Behavior Bear! They will want to be like this character, encourage them to do so. You’ll notice this character being referenced in conversations. You’ll notice your child asking questions like, “how would Behavior Bear act?” Behavior Bear opens up for a discussion on what it means to have good behavior. Communication is so important with children. Please, don’t just say, “BEHAVE” you need to explain this to your child. A child wants to learn, they need guidance, structure, consistency, explanations and such just like we do. Be a role model for them. When you say something like you must sit criss cross apple sauce. Get on the floor and show them! When you say something like put on your good listening ears, pretend to put on listening ears! Make some fun foam ones to get the point across, have fun teaching this trait! Once you put a plan in place with your child what your expectations are for good behaviors you’re building a foundation and with a foundation you are now building and growing! Let Behavior Bear support you with a Certificate of Achievement for your child, click here.
