Behaviour

I have noticed a difference in children's behaviours over the years. When I started teaching over thirty years ago if I had a class of over 40 children (and I did on one of my teaching practices before qualifying as a teacher) then the children at least respected the teacher enough to do as they were asked. Or maybe they were too afraid to do anything different? After thirty years teaching I observe that this is not the case.

These days some children come into school (kindergarten) expecting to be the king-pin and to be able to do what he/she wishes. That child has little or no respect for adults or for the wisdom that they have acquired over their years. I realise that I am being very generalistic here and as always there are those children that do not fit into this behaviour. In fact the majority come into the classroom with behaviour that is positive to all. However it is the minority who can affect the class by their anti-social behaviour. This must have happened thirty ago but I believe it was much rarer then and not a problem like it is these days.

However, saying that, the children adjust very quickly to school regime and realise that there are others who have needs too. That they have to learn to share, and take turns and wait at times. It is the child that does not recognise that they need to do this that are the ones who seek attention, and are demanding to the detriment of the class. Because they do not get the attention they are craving they often revert to behaviour that WILL get them the attention.

More and more children these days are labelled ADD or ADHD. More and more children these days have allergies or problems with certain foods and E food colourings. And more and more children are being put onto drugs to "cure" them. However I believe that drugs will only mask the symptons, not cure it.

Some tips for getting the best out of your child:

1. Praise the behaviour that you like in your child.

2. Ignore the behaviour that you do not like. This way the child will only get the attention he/she craves when behaving well.

3. Give them chores to do that they enjoy when young enough to help... like baking, or polishing, or brushing, or dusting. The younger you get them involved the better. My little 19 month old grandson loved to help me vacuum when I stayed with his family a while back. He would get the brush out and help me to clean up. In fact if I didn't vacuum one day he would get the brush out ready to help anyway! He just wanted to be involved with what I was doing.

4. Play with them and get involved.

5. Be interested in them.

6. Do things together.