What is Positive Discipline? by The Goddard School E.A.B

What is Positive Discipline?

The Difference between Discipline and Punishment

Contrary to popular belief, discipline and punishment are not equal. Discipline is positive and should prevent the need for punishment. In fact, the word “discipline” is derived from the Latin “disciplina” which means teaching or education. Discipline helps to guide children toward positive behavior, promotes self-control, encourages children to think before acting and is not damaging to their self-esteem. Punishment, on the other hand, is negative – whether physical, verbal, withholding rewards or penalizing.

Positive discipline teaches children rules and behaviors in a respectful, loving and considerate way. It requires thought, planning and patience from parents and caretakers, such as:

• “No, don’t run inside!” becomes, “What happened to our walking feet? Where do we use our running feet?” or “We will go outside soon and you can show me how fast you can run.”
• “No, don’t throw the blocks!” becomes, “When did our blocks grow wings?” or “Let’s try building a castle and see what happens!”

Use positive discipline to redirect your child’s behavior, and you validate the legitimacy of your child’s desires and shows you care and understand. Redirecting endorses your child’s right to choose and begins to teach that others have rights, too.

Children also respond to reasoning – it just needs to be put into their language.

• ‘Inside feet’ versus ‘outside feet’
• ‘Soft hands’ versus ‘hard hands’
• ‘Inside voices’ versus ‘outside voices’

Create a Positive Environment

• Show the love; smile, touch, hold, caress, kiss, cuddle, rock and hug your child! This will not only make your child feel secure and happy, but is essential for normal social development.
• Listen and answer as an equal – not as an instructor. This will help build your child’s self-esteem and foster respect.
• Spend time with your child every day. Make time every day to drop everything and play with your child – even if it’s only for a couple of minutes. Your child will realize they don’t need to have a temper tantrum to gain your attention.
• Catch your child doing something good – praise and compliment! “You’re doing a great job feeding yourself and keeping your food on your plate!”
• Provide simple rules and state them in positive terms.
• Demonstrate the behavior you want your child to adopt – actions speak louder than words.

The Goddard School located in Snellville, GA offers a year-round program for children from six weeks to six-years-old. Children are encouraged to develop at their own pace in a warm environment supported by a team of dedicated teachers. The Goddard School FLEX Learning Program™ is based on a unique learning continuum that encompasses developmental guidelines, formative assessments and child-focused lesson plans that are delivered in a creative and fun environment with a child-centered approach to meet each child's individual needs.

Kyle D. Pruett, M.D., is an advisor for The Goddard School®. Dr. Pruett is an authority on child development who has been practicing child and family psychiatry for over twenty-five years. He is a clinical professor of child psychiatry at Yale University's Child Study Center.The Goddard School has become the first preschool program to join P21—a national organization championing 21st century skills. Through the fusion of reading, writing & arithmetic with the 4Cs—critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity—Goddard School graduates are well equipped and ready to succeed in school and in life.Visiting our School is a great way to see our programs in action, introduce you to our teachers and answer your questions.

For more information on why The Goddard School located in Snellville, GA is the place for fun and learning, please contact The Goddard School Snellville!

The Goddard School Snellville
1565 Janmar Rd. Snellville, GA 30078
(678) 344- 0042