Monday, July 30, 2012
Classes As Usual
Although the Adult School has had to make
budget cuts for the 2012-2013 school year, classes for Parents’ Place
students will continue as usual! The Adult School’s 44 week academic
year has been reduced to 40 weeks; however, The Friends of Parents’
Place, will be covering the costs of running Parents’ Place those four
weeks! July 30-August 3 (in our Summer Session) is the first of those
four weeks that will be “brought to you by The Friends of Parents’
Place”.
Physical Punishment Linked to Mental Disorders
The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly opposes striking a child for any reason. Parents’ Place offers suggestions and options to physical punishment in the form of positive discipline guidelines, encouraging emotional connectivity to your child, and a close knit community that supports and encourages parents to trust their instincts, yet question traditionally held beliefs that may not apply to their family.
A new study by Tracie O. Afifi, Natalie P. Mota, Patricia Dasiewicz, Harriet L. MacMillian and Jitender Sareen published on July 2, 2012 in the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Pediatrics”, explores the connection between harsh physical punishment and multiple mental disorders.
Currently the parent/caregiver’s right to use physical punishment has been abolished in 32 nations not including the United States and Canada. Previous literature has indicated that physical punishment is related to higher levels of aggression, lower levels of internalizing morals and overall mental health. This study specifically studies how harsh physical punishment affects a child through adulthood.
The study reviewed the responses of 34,652 adults over 20 years old living in households in the United States. After adjusting for sociodemographic variables and family history of dysfunction, the results showed that harsh physical punishment (i.e. pushing, grabbing, shoving, slapping, hitting, spanking) in the absence of more severe child maltreatment (i.e. physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, exposure to intimate partner violence) was associated with increased odds of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug abuse/dependence and several personality disorders.
Each family is unique. Every family faces challenges as a child grows and develops. It is Parents’ Place hope that each family will conscientiously follow a parenting path that speaks to the customs and beliefs of that individual family while still honoring and respecting the whole child as a member of our human community.
The online version of the full article, along with updated information can be found at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/06/27/peds.2011-2947
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Limit Setting for Children
15-24 MONTHS
WHAT TO EXPECT:
1.
Toddlers will
continually test limits.
2.
Your face and
body will probably say more than your words.
3.
By 18 months, a
toddler can understand plain and simple language.
4.
A toddler does
not respond well the lengthy dissertations.
5.
Can make choices
when presented to them.
TECHNIQUES TO USE:
1.
Tell them what
you want them to do, not what you don’t want. “Please keep your feet on the floor.” “I want you to sit on the chair.”
2.
Honor the impulse
if possible. If they are throwing
the ball in the house, say: “You want to throw, let’s go outside and
throw.” If they are climbing on
the table, say, “The table is for eating.
If you want to climb, you may go climb on the jungle gym.”
When
they are angry and hurt someone else because of a toy, say, “Hitting
hurts. It is NOT OKAY to hit
(Tommy). Be gentle with Tommy
(show her gentle). Let’s go find
another toy just like it.” Or “If
you want to hit, let’s go hit the couch.”
Pick him up and move him to the couch. Hit the couch with him. Show him where and how he can hit.
If
hitting continues: Remove him and
tell him you cannot continue to let Tommy get hurt. Stay with him.
You may have to hold him.
When he wants to go back, say, “So you are ready to go back and play
gently!”
3.
Give advanced
notice to ease the transition.
Talk to your child as you are about to change what he is doing, “Bye,
bye park…see you next time.”
4.
Motivate your
toddler toward the next activity.
Think of something appealing about what’s ahead. “Let’s go see your dog in the car.”
5.
Talk with few
words. They tune us out after 3
sentences. Be specific and give
short clear directions.
6.
Acknowledge your
toddler when he is following the limits you have established. Let him know how it impacted you or the
situation. “Thank you for picked
up your blocks. We can now walk
through without tripping.” Or
“Thank you for coming right away. It makes it easier to leave on time.” “Thank you for keeping your feet on the
floor. It helps keep the table
clean.” Or “It’s safer that way.”
7.
Encourage
independence by letting toddlers do things for themselves when they are ready.
8.
Patience and
repetition are essential. Children
learn a little at a time.
9.
Be compassionate
with gentle firmness. Avoid getting
angry. Anger will get in the way
of the child learning self-discipline.
10.
Be
consistent. It is better to have 4
rules enforced 100% of the time than 10 rules enforced 50% of the time.
11.
Sometimes a
toddler needs you to go at his pace.
This is used as part of the
curriculum developed by Parents’ Place.
Reprinted with permission from PARENTMAKING:
A Practical Handbook for Teaching Parent Classes About Babies and Toddlers
by Annye Rothenberg, Ph.D..et.al. ©1981, 1995, Annye Rothenberg, Banster Press, P.O. Box
7326, Menlo Park, CA 94026. May
copy for parent classes if this notice is included in full.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)