Parents are always on the lookout for better ways to bring up their children. Have you heard about time-out? If you haven’t, consider this as your helpful orientation. If you have, let this be a refresher. As a child care provider in Anaheim, California, we recognize the myriad of challenges of molding a kid for the better. Because of our years of experience in the field, our team at Happy Hearts Preschool and Childcare knows which techniques of discipline work and which don’t. Time-out is one of the strategies that work and we will tell you why.
Understanding Time-out
To assure that time-out is a safe practice for your kid, no less than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discusses its definition and essentials. Kids relish attention and, unfortunately, they can do the wrong things just to get this. With time-out, they are not being given the attention they want. As a result, time-out is a dreaded moment no children would want to undergo.
When to execute time-out
The time-out can be given when your kid does any of the following:
- Dangerous or risky activity
Some risky activities are running across the street alone or running away from you when you’re shopping together. The time-out will let your child know that these actions are not good at all.
- Hurting another child or creature
When your child bites another kid or is the first one to start a fight, time-out is an ideal consequence. When they’re also abusing animals or other living things, you may give them a time-out to teach them that hurting others is never okay.
- Breaking family policies
Enforcing family rules helps your child to understand and embrace the protection of regulations around them. They can more appreciate this when their disobedience is merited with time-out.
- Not following directions after being warned
Following instructions result to praises. Not following directions will get a time-out. With the ideal consequence, your child will grasp that you’re serious about complying with directions.
Issue the time-out warning
Every disciplinary action should not be given immediately. It has to be preceded by a warning which should come out as a statement, not a question. Right before you let them do the time-out, make sure you’ve warned your child first. The warning has to be clear, simple, and consistent. When you only serve the time-out as a threat and don’t carry it out accordingly, it will lose its potency in providing a good discipline.
Tips in giving time-out
You will need these tips when you want to issue a time-out:
- Explain what time-out is in a way that your kid can understand.
- Try practicing time-out when there’s no misbehavior yet.
- Ensure that your kid knows which actions can lead to time-out.
- Let time-outs be predictable to train their obedience.
- Use time-out right after a misbehavior was done.
Do you find this helpful? Feel free to share. If you’d like to know more information about child care services in Anaheim, California, don’t hesitate to contact us.
