Preschool Behavior Part 3: Choose Your Battles

When discussing preschool behavior, it is important to remember to CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES! It is important to reward and give positive encouragement for appropriate behaviors, but it is important to decide what behaviors you are going to focus on. Children are criticized so often and corrected even more. They are corrected for making wrong choices that should be corrected immediately and those that are probably not as important that are corrected as often as the immediate behaviors. We want our child to act appropriately, but we don't need them to be perfect. If you child is constantly asking for something at the grocery store, which they do, it may be better to ignore it. If they are screaming and hollering over the same item, it may be something to correct immediately. If you child is refusing to share a toy with a sibling, it may be something to let the children work out themselves. If they are hitting the sibling because they are mad that they want it, it may be something to correct immediately.

Preschoolers need encouragement and correction. Make sure your day includes more encouragement that correction.