Preschoolers need boundaries that guide their natural enthusiasm but that don’t dampen their passion for life. Boundaries and routines offer security. They protect pre-schoolers from getting overwhelmed by too much responsibility before they’re ready.
Preschoolers need boundaries that guide their natural enthusiasm but that don’t dampen their passion for life. Boundaries and routines offer security. They protect preschoolers from getting overwhelmed by too much responsibility before they’re ready.
Preschoolers are trying to understand the world around them, so we need to forgive them for being a bit distracted. A good rule is to always budget for another 30 minutes when doing things with your preschooler.
Preschool children are also still learning the everyday things that we take for granted, like how we talk to each other. For example, you might think your preschooler isn’t listening to you – but he might still be trying to figure out what someone said five minutes ago!
You might also still have some eating battles with your child. If so, a good rule to keep in mind is that, as the parent, you’re responsible for making healthy food available on a regular basis. Your child can be responsible for deciding how much of the food gets eaten.
Some fights are a fact of life when kids get together. A few factors affect fighting – temperament, environment, age and skills. You can work with these factors to handle fighting in your family.
Habits and lying
Lots of children have habits. Your child’s habits might bother or frustrate you, but usually it’s nothing to worry about. Most habits go away by themselves. But if your child’s habit is interfering with everyday activities, has become embarrassing, or is even causing some harm, there are things you can do to help your child break the habit.
You might have caught your child telling the occasional lie. Lying is part of a child’s development, and it often starts around three years of age. Children aged 4-6 years usually lie a bit more. Generally, it’s better to teach children the value of honesty and telling the truth than to punish them for small lies.
Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal part of children’s development, and preschoolers often fear being on their own and in the dark. If your child shows signs of anxiety, you can support her by acknowledging his/her fear, gently encouraging him/her to do things he’s/she’s anxious about and praising him/her when she does, and avoiding labels like ‘shy’ or ’anxious’. Step in to help him/her only when he/she actually gets anxious.
If you would like some help with some of these strategies, the help of a counsellor who specialises in parenting could be something to consider. Get in Touch.
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