I am a firm believer in the steps of positive discipline as a framework for effectively managing most discipline exchanges. An active step is offering your child choices about how, when or where they can do the behavior you want them to do. If you want them to put on a coat you might offer, … Continue reading Finding a Balance in Offering Children Choices
There are lots of ways to connect with me and have your parenting questions answered. Submit parenting questions to this blog – You are welcome to email your parenting questions to blog@parentingplaygroups.com. I often answer parents’ questions and posts them to http://www.parentingbydrrene.com. Ask shorter questions on facebook – You can join a parenting chat on … Continue reading 6 Ways to Ask Dr. Rene Your Parenting Questions
Question: Dear Dr. Rene, I have a two years and eight months old girl. I nursed her for 18 months. After that point, I slowly have faded into the background. If daddy is around, I am out. I can’t give her a bath and put her to bed without dealing with tantrums about why daddy … Continue reading When a Child Prefers One Parent
Grocery shopping with children can be quite a task. It takes a while to get through the store, there are lots of temptations and distractions at their level and most times, not a lot of fun. There are several ways to increase the likelihood of a successful shopping trip. The first line of defense is … Continue reading Successful Grocery Shopping with Children
Dear Dr. Rene, My daughter -who is three years old- has displayed a strong character since her first months. Now we are in the ‘no’ phase, anything whatsoever gets the ‘no’ response even if a few minutes later she decides to do/say what I’ve asked of her. How do I get her to become more cooperative, without … Continue reading The “No” Phase
Here are a few general tips to benefit sibling relationships: Fair is not equal, fair is everyone has their needs met – It’s okay that the discipline for a three-year-old is different than the discipline for a seven-year-old for the same behaviors. They are different children at different stages of development, meeting their needs may happen in very … Continue reading Helping Siblings Get Along
I’ve found another family mantra, bloom where you are planted. We’ve been discussing this one with our girls all week. We’ve touched on this over the years, but this week it hit home when we went on vacation with a few other families. This vacation included a day at a low-key amusement park, a dinner show, … Continue reading Bloom Where You Are Planted
Emotion language provides children a tool for managing social exchange. By the time they get to Kindergarten, I want children to be able to look at their friend and say, “I am mad at you. You took my block,” rather than clobber them. There are many ways to teach children emotion language, here are a … Continue reading Ways to Teach Children Emotion Language
As parents we tend to say “no” often. I think many of us say “no” to the things our children ask of us without even stopping to think. “No” is just the first thing or the easy thing to say. As a preschool teacher, I’ve learned to make “yes” my default answer. I stop and … Continue reading Say “Yes” Whenever You Can
Hi Dr. Rene, I have a third grader who, at times, seems to be paralyzed by indecision. Here is a typical situation: each week his teacher sends home a homework packet that requires two reading and writing activities. He is given ten activities to choose two from (e.g., write a letter to the librarian telling her why … Continue reading Helping Children Learn to Make Decisions
Parenting by Dr. Rene 