Parents’ worry and stress levels might skyrocket when their children exhibit disruptive behavior problems. Even if you hear from your child’s teacher or school frequently, you may not know how to encourage better school behavior at home.
Various disruptive behaviors are common among kids. Your child could be rude, act rashly, have frequent emotional flare-ups, treat other kids with disregard, or do several other things.
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Parents can help their children struggling with negative behaviors improve and have a more positive school experience. It’s certainly doable, given enough time and effort.
9 ideas to help improve children’s behavior at school
1. Think about the circumstances and environment
Good behavior is not an isolated event. When you, as a teacher, use management abilities to set your students up for success, you will find that maintaining order in the classroom is much easier.
Children benefit from having less stress and more motivation to succeed in school when their classroom is well-organized and peaceful.
Toy clean-up is simplified, for example, when children employ a method designed for their age group. Think about how your timetable can make it simple for children to perform at their best, such as scheduling calm activities like story time, when they tend to get anxious.
2. Praise your kids for proper behavior
Explain to your kid just what it is that has earned your praise. Children are more motivated to do the right thing when they receive praise.
Most kids respond positively to personalized praise because they genuinely want to make their parents happy. Many youngsters long for their parents’ undivided attention, and praise is a simple way to get it.
3. Be in constant contact with your child’s teacher
Your first step should be investigating what may trigger your child’s negative behavior. Do they tend to get into trouble like this, or was this unusual? If it’s the former, wait a couple of days to see whether the problem disappears.
If the second option applies, everyday communication with the teacher will provide the most up-to-date information on the student’s behavior.
In most classrooms, teachers already have a routine for communicating with parents about their children’s behavior. Some people may write a fast letter, while others may use smiling faces with colors like red, yellow, and green to signal good and poor behavior.
Ensure you receive daily updates on your child’s behaviour, not just when they behave badly. Your child’s day at school will have been much more positive if he receives positive smileys, and he will be proud to display them to you.
4. Setting clear expectations for behavior
It’s much easier to enforce regulations when children clearly understand what is expected of them. Children may become anxious and unsure of themselves when rules are unclear. They may believe that being punished for breaking an unclear rule is unfair.
Keep in mind that children are still developing their understanding of appropriate behaviour, so they require plenty of examples and explanations. For example, “be kind to others” may be too unimportant for toddlers, whereas “allow everybody to take turns” refers to a concrete action you can observe and evaluate.
You also don’t want to give kids a laundry list of rules they’ll have trouble remembering. Find a happy medium between very broad strokes and too narrow a focus, and help children by providing particular visuals and examples.
5. Encourage your child to take pride in their accomplishments.
This helps kids feel good about themselves, which is important for developing traits like perseverance, hard work, kindness, etc. They will achieve their goals if they believe they can.
6. Reward good behavior
Rewarding and reinforcing excellent behaviour is a great strategy to help your child behave in school. Appreciate and celebrate his accomplishments when he receives positive feedback from teachers to encourage him to keep working hard.
Creating a system of rewards to encourage positive behaviour is a smart idea. Set him up with daily behavioural goals and treat him when he achieves them. Getting three daily smileys or 5 check marks for good behaviour from the instructor is a reasonable and attainable target.
You don’t have to spend any money on his rewards. Rather, you can reward your child with special daily opportunities, such as more time to play video games or engage in any other activity he particularly enjoys.
He can stay motivated with daily rewards. If your child meets his daily targets throughout the week, you can reward him for his efforts. A fun weekly incentive could be a playdate with his best friends or a trip to his favourite playground.
7. Show an interest in what your kid is into.
Ask them about their interests, show enthusiasm for their work, encourage them to pursue their learning, solicit their thoughts and ideas, etc.
Parents, engage in academic or extracurricular pursuits with your kids that focus on something they’re passionate about, even if it’s not your top choice. Give them some say over the content of certain exercises.
8. Keep open communication with your child.
Don’t be quick to criticize your child if they have different beliefs than you do. While it is perfectly OK to voice your viewpoint (and inappropriate or harmful behavior is never tolerable), avoid labeling others wrong because they disagree with you.
Kids need to have someone they can trust and be honest with. Kids are more willing to confide in us about serious issues if they believe they will be heard and understood without criticism or reprimand.
9. Acknowledge appropriate conduct with positive gestures
Acknowledge appropriate actions with upbeat body language. Using upbeat gestures like a grin, a thumbs-up, a high-five, a pat on the back, etc.
Remember that not all kids enjoy physical contact and might prefer an alternative gesture, such as a pat on the back or a thumbs up.
Conclusion
Even though you are not physically present in your child’s classroom, parents are often the most influential factor in assisting children exhibiting behavioral difficulties at school.
Your child can overcome behavioral issues and have the greatest possible school experience with the support of tactics, including asking for help from other adults, rewards, routines, and clear rules.