Parenting Advice For Three Year Olds

Five teachers with a combined 90 years of experience share tips for parents of two - to 5-year-olds. Finding the Best Out of Your Kid 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 yells whenever I ask her to pick anything up, insists that I join her in the restroom whenever she has to go, and recently has started demanding that I spoon-feed her dinner, child care & daycare in Vaughan - Toronto. Clearly, her instructor understands something I don't. But , what parent hasn't sometimes wondered: Why is my kid better for everybody else than for me? The easy answer: Your kid tests her limits with you because she trusts you will love her no matter what. But that doesn't mean that you can't borrow a few plans from the preschool teachers' playbook to get the best from the little one. We asked educators from around the country for their hints so listen up and take notes! .

Promoting Freedom

While 3- and - 4-year-olds still need plenty of parental help, our schooling experts concur that children are generally able to do more than many of us believe. Here's Ways to promote them:

Disciplining Effectively

It struck me recently that I've never met a parent who doesn't use time-outs, and never satisfied with a preschool teacher who does. So what discipline strategies do teachers recommend?

Expect more.

Most people have a way of living up (or down) to expectations -- preschoolers included. At school we expect the kids to pour their own water , to throw away their plates, to hang their coats -- they do, states Jennifer Zebooker, a teacher at the 92nd Street Y Nursery School, in nyc. But then they'll walk out of the classroom along with the thumb goes in the mouth and they climb into strollers. Raise the bar and your little one will probably stretch to meet it.

Encourage teamwork.

If your child is fighting over a toy with another child, set a timer for five minutes, suggests Buss. Inform one kid he can have the toy till he hears the buzzer, and then it is going to be the other child's turn.

Utilize sticker charts and benefits judiciously

If a kid is always working for the benefit, he won't learn the real motives for doing things -- that he should pick up his possessions because family members pitch in, says Buss. Finest bet: Reserve rewards for finite endeavors, such as potty training, but prevent offering them for everyday items, like dressing himself or brushing his teeth.

Don't wait discipline

If you must reprimand your kid, do so when you see her misbehaving, advises Buss. Occasionally I will hear parents say, 'Wait till we get home...,' but at the time you're home, your child has forgotten the episode. Similarly, canceling Saturday's zoo trip due to Thursday's tantrum won't stop potential outbursts; it will only feel like random, undeserved punishment for your child.