Parenting For Three Year Old

Five teachers using a combined 90 decades of experience share tips for parents of 2- to 5-year-olds. Finding the Best from Your Child I fear that my 3-year-old, Sophie, has a split personality. At school she cleans her toys up, puts on her sneakers, and is completely self-sufficient at potty time. At home, she whines when I ask her to pick up anything, insists I join her in the restroom whenever she must go, and recently has begun requiring that I spoon-feed her dinner. Certainly, her teacher knows something I don't. But , what parent hasn't occasionally wondered: Why is my child better for everyone else than for me? The easy answer: Your child tests her limits with you since she trusts you'll love her no matter what. But that doesn't mean you can't borrow a few strategies from the preschool teachers' playbook to get the best from the little one. We asked educators from around the nation for their hints so listen up and take notes! .

Warn of alterations

If your child pitches a fit whenever you announce it's time to change gears --whether that means shutting off the TV, stopping play to come eat, or leaving a friend's house -- it might be that you're not giving enough advance notice. At college we let kids know when alterations are coming so they have the time to finish whatever they're performing, observes Cohen-Dorfman. If you need to leave the home at 8:30 a.m., remind your kid at 8:15 that she's five minutes to play, then will need to cease to put her toys away. Set a timer so that she knows when the time is up.

Encourage teamwork.

If your kid is fighting over a toy with a different child, set a timer for 5 minutes, indicates Buss. Inform 1 child he can have the toy till he hears the buzzer, and then it will be the other child's turn.

Let them solve straightforward problems.

If you see that your kid trying to assemble a toy or receive a book from a shelf which she is able to achieve if she moves on her stepstool, pause before hurrying around to help. Provided that they are safe, these moments when you overlook 't hurry into, when you give kids a minute to address things for themselves, those are the character-building minutes, says Zebooker. It's natural to want to make everything perfect, but when we dowe cheat children of the opportunity to experience success.

Redirect.

If your preschooler is leaping on the couch or grabbing for her big sister's dolls, distract her by asking if she'd love to draw an image or read a brief story together.