How do I go about creating a behavior chart for my toddler?

Modeling a child’s behavior to the requirements of today’s society is a very important part of growing up into a responsible and reliable adult. While children are very sweet and very much the image of an angel when they are well behaved as toddlers, they are as much the opposite of that angelic image when they throw tantrums or develop a number of character flaws that could see them become socially problematic. Because of the fact that there are a number of behavioral problems that a toddler develops during the early phases of its life including whining, hitting, biting and tantrums, it is important for any parent to be able to correctly focus all his or her energy into correcting these flaws that are likely to not only cause significant social embarrassment, but also be a cause of substantial concern if the child is allowed to grow up with these traits without ever being corrected.

Given the many problems arising out of uncorrected character flaws, a number of child experts have developed behavioral charts that will help any parent imbibe the best qualities in every child as long as these charts are followed religiously.  The most important points to keep in mind when undertaking this task include selective ignoring, praise, humor, withdrawing privileges, motivators as well as a reward scheme. Whenever you ask your toddler to accomplish a certain task, praising them for a good job will help develop a sense of accomplishment within the child’s psyche. Moreover, it leaves the child with a sense of accomplishment and being appreciated.

Continuously change the praises you se in order to make them seem more sincere as repeating the same accolade over and over again will make the parent seem like the praise is being given as a source of habit. Selective ignoring is a little more complicated and requires the parent to ignore any of the smaller issues, but concentrate on the bigger issues with more focus. It is important to be able to correctly gauge between what is a smallie and a biggie. Essentially, a smallie can be termed as anything that does not harm property, humans or animals while the bigger issues will encompass one or more of these problems. Selective ignoring requires the parent to be able to identify issues that he or she should get involved in. for example, if two children are squabbling over a playtoy – simply telling them that it is an issue they can sort out on their own without the interference of an adult will probably let them know that there are bigger issues to be concerned with. Moreover, they will naturally arrive at a point where they are able to settle the issue between themselves – again giving them a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie when they arrive at an amicable resolution.

Submitted by P T on March 24, 2010 at 01:30

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