1

To explore the concepts of guidance

and discipline
To examine anticipated difficulties
throughout each developmental stage
To identify appropriate guidance
strategies and techniques for dealing
with children of all ages
2

To lead or to
show
someone the
way to reach
a goal

Involves ways of helping children learn to behave

appropriately
Teaches children to control their actions and to make
decisions
Combines support, encouragement, and setting limits
Encourages appropriate behavior and helps stop problem
behavior
Promotes the development of self-confidence and selfcontrol
Needed to keep children safe and healthy
Helps children to like themselves and to get along well with
others. When combined with love and respect, children
develop an inner sense of self-control and self-confidence

To train someone physically, intellectually,

emotionally and socially
When combined with love and respect, it
helps children to develop self-esteem and
responsibility
Parents, teachers, caregivers and others
train children when they talk, teach, hold and
spend time with them
5

EMPHASIS
ON
CHILD OBEYS
BECAUSE
OF
PARENTS
ATTITUDE IS
PURPOSE IS

INEFFECTIVE
Stopping
behavior

EFFECTIVE
Learning
proper
behavior

Fear

Love &
respect

Control &
anger
Suffering &
pain

Love
Self-discipline

Divert attention
Set limits
Offer choices
Redirect
Timeouts
Reinforce behavior

These tools can be thought of as a group of tools

used to help shape childrens behaviors and their
personalities
Tools this powerful are often hard to use
because they take a great amount of practice

 When children have self-control they

know
1.
2.
3.

What to do
When to do it
Can behave appropriately even
when caregiver is not around
Self-control helps children

feel safe
feel confident
be able to think for themselves

Negative tools like spanking, hitting, yelling or

making fun of children tend to

make them timid and withdrawn or rebellious and mean

lead children to feel bad about themselves and to
develop fewer feelings of self-control
lead children to question parents love and discount
the times they really do want to talk, hold, or spend
time with them

Constant questioning and discounting of children

leads to discouragement, and a discouraged child
is more likely to misbehave
9

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Curiosity
Illness
Boredom
Angry feelings
Need for attention or love
Low self-esteem
Anxiety

results from caregivers who are not familiar with

ages and stages of childrens growth and
development

8. Confusion
10

results if caregivers are not familiar with family

and household rules

 Understanding child
development helps a parent
or caregiver to guide
behavior
Physical, emotional, social,
and intellectual
development influence
guidance techniques that a
caregiver or parent can use
11

1.

12

Infants
What to expect:
cry when they need something
want their needs met by their caregivers
explore their bodies
curious about everything
sleep less as they grow older
learn by using their senses
play with their food and eat with their fingers
When babies cry they need something
If ignored or punished each time they cry, needs
are not met. Therefore they learn to mistrust their
caregivers and think of their world as an unsafe
place.

Diverting attention
babies have short attention spans, so their
interests are easily shifted from item to
item
an example of a diversion tactic is to catch
a childs interest with a favorite toy if he or
she is upset about something else
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2. Toddlers
What to expect:

14

say no to be independent and in control

enjoy messy activities
curious about everything, want to explore
begin walking and talking
possessive of belongings, saying my or mine
take their time eating, dressing and picking up toys
restless; short attention-spans
cry or scream when asked to take turns or share
temper tantrums

Set limits

make rules in order to manage childrens

misbehavior
a rule or limit should be clear enough so children
understand what part of their conduct is misbehavior
and how they can change it into acceptable behavior

Offer choices

15

allowing toddlers to choose between two activities

that are acceptable may be more effective when they
refuse to behave by the rules
allows them to be in control

3. Preschoolers
What to expect:
o
o
o
o
o
o

16

many questions
need physical activity
interested in same age friends
exaggerate or make up stories
bossy
say no when asked to help
clean up

Redirection

suggest acceptable behaviors to replace

misbehaviors
turn a problem activity or action into an acceptable
one

Time-out

17

remove child from activity for a specific period of

time until they calm down, think about what they did,
and realize they will not be allowed to misbehave
a set time in a safe place away from other children,
activities and distractions
be sure to talk to children about how time-out works

4.

18

Early school-age children

What to expect:
o want to please adults, teachers and friends
o flip-flop back and forth sometimes seeming grown-up,
sometimes babyish, acting differently at home than at
school
o forgetful, messy, creative, and spontaneous
o enjoy playing more than helping
o interested in right or wrong
o misbehavior often happens when children are feeling
ignored, mistreated, or neglected
o misbehave to get attention- even if the attention is
negative

Threes types of behavior reinforcement

1. Positive: pay attention when children do what you
want
praise child when you approve of their actions
spend time with child while they do what you want
2. Negative: pay attention to children when they
misbehave and do what you do not want
using this method unintentionally teaches children to
misbehave in order to get attention
3. Ignore: pay no attention to misbehavior and attempts
to be noticed
do not use this method if child is in danger
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Direct Methods of Guidance

Talk to child at eye level and use simple,

positive directions

Use

dos instead of donts

Prevent child from hurting self or others

Assist child in dealing with conflicts
Give child a choice whenever possible
Demonstrate or model desired behavior
Touch, guide, or lead child by the hand for
further direction
Encourage child with positive feedback

20

Indirect methods of guidance

Provide an environment with appropriate
activities to promote acceptable behavior
Encourage independence by providing accessible
behavior
Arrange space of cues regarding appropriate
behavior
Provide a regular routine; schedule activities
according to childs needs
Provide appropriate adult supervision

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Tell children what they can do instead of

what they cant do
Dont
Dont drop the egg

Do
Carry the eggs in both hands, like this

Dont
Dont drag your jacket in the mud

Do
Tie your jacket around your waist, like this
22

If adults use many negative

words such as no, dont, stop
it, cut it out, or shut up,
children may decide to tune the
parent or caregiver out
Too many donts also cause
negativism in children

23

 Caregivers sometimes damage

childrens self-esteem

Situation

24

four-year-old Juan spills the milk

he was carrying to the table
destructive response: Cant you
do anything right?
better response: Thats a
hard job; well wipe it up and
you can try again

Situation

25

three-year-old Hannah runs away from you in the

store
destructive response: Whats the matter with you?
Youre acting like a baby; I thought you were a
big girl
better response: I need your help
pushing the cart

Offer appropriate choices to avoid problem

situations
Situation

26

you are having dinner in a restaurant and have a

limited supply of money
likely to lead to trouble: What would you like to
order?
instead, try: You may order the chicken dinner
or the spaghetti plate

Try to avoid power struggles between

adults and children
Behavior
six-year-old Jermain comes home from
school each day and makes a beeline
for the cookie jar, washing down a
handful of cookies with two bottles of
cola from the refrigerator
Environmental change
stock the cookie jar with graham
crackers and the refrigerator with fruit
juice, yogurt, and fruit
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Working with children instead of against them

helps when meeting the needs of children as
well as caregivers
Situation
eleven-month-old Savannah turns her head away
when offered food on a spoon, if the food is
placed on the tray she dives in with both hands
and eats with obvious enjoyment

Compromise-Solution
put newspaper on the floor, find a big bib and
stand by with a washcloth, let the child feed herself
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 Explain the rules and the consequences for breaking

them
When children do not follow the rules, follow through
with consequences
Situation
five-year-old Tong is having a screaming tantrum
because he cannot go out to play, he has been sick
and the weather is cold and windy
Setting/Enforcing Limits
tell him you know that he is very mad and
disappointed but he cant go outside today because
the wind might make his head hurt again, suggest a
card game
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Disciplining and guiding children is not

easy
All children misbehave or argue some of
the time
You can respond quickly when children
need guidance if you understand the
reasons for their behavior and know your
options
30

QUIZ
1. What is the purpose of guidance and
discipline?
2. List six tools that a caregiver can use to
guide and discipline children
3. Why do children misbehave?

31

4. What guidance technique should you use

with infants?

QUIZ
5. Toddlers are characteristically very _______
of their belongings and often say mine
6. The guidance and discipline techniques to
use with toddlers are:
a) do nothing
b) set limits
c) offer choices
d) both B and C
32

QUIZ
7. Give an example of using redirection with a
preschooler.
8. Early school age children respond well to
behavior that is___________.
9. An indirect method of guidance is:
10. What happens to children if you use too many
donts?
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New Mexico State University. Guiding Young Children. 2002.

http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_f/f-108.html
National Network for Child Care . Guidance and Discipline- A Developmental
Approach. 2002.
http://www.nncc.org?Guidance/guide.dev.apprch.html
The Curriculum Center for Family and Consumer Sciences
Texas Tech University. 2002. www.hs.ttu.edu/ccfcs
Additional Websites:
www.kidsource.com
www.keepkidshealthy.com
www.naeyc.org
www.cps.ca

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