SELF DISCIPLINE

Help me to be responsible for myself.

Helping your children to learn how to take control of themselves is one of the most challenging parts of being a parent. We all want to be able to go about our normal lives knowing that we can trust our child to behave and cope with different social situations. You can create the circumstances for your child to develop self-discipline by following three simple steps:

1. Create an environment that fosters self-discipline

2. Connect your child to the life going on around her by involving her in practical activities and offering her choices.

3. Make time for your child to be involved in activities around the home, whilst working at her own pace and respect her work and play choices.

Practical Activities

You may not relish doing the cleaning or washing the dishes but young children love to do these things. Getting involved in the life of the home helps them to start to feel part of the family and become aware that they are responsible for their actions.

Making Choices

When young children are allowed to make some choices for themselves they start to be able to think for themselves and this leads them to make choices about their own actions. Making choices about their own actions is the first step on the path to developing self-discipline.

Making Mistakes

We learn much more from the mistakes that we make than we do from the things that go well. This is particularly true for children who are in the process of gaining control over themselves.

Setting Limits

Children need to know what they are allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do. Consistent limits help them to feel secure and give them a model for acceptable behaviour.

Awareness of Behaviour

Very young children are not conscious of how they are behaving. They are not able to think about whether or not they should be doing something. As awareness starts to dawn for your child you can help him to start to become aware of how his actions impact others and this will help him to start to reflect on his behaviour.

by Minh Thu

For more information about activities that can be done at home, please refer to the following link:

https://aidtolife.org/discipline/home-activities