Tips to rewarding and punshing

Remember, discipline does not mean punishment. Disciplinining your children means guiding them. To promote or deter certain behaviors here are some tips to rewarding, or punshing.

Rewarding

Praise: Tell your child how much you like their correct behavior and that they're a good person for doing it.

Touch: Give your child a hug, massage, gentle pat on the back, or a high five

Freedoms: Give your child a new freedom she or he can do one time or all the time, such as stay up or out later, read an extra story at bedtime, have a second bowl of ice cream, or money for doing an extra chore.

Presents: Give your child a toy, stickers, a new phone, or some extra cash.

Note: Use freedoms and presents sparingly, it's hard to give too much praise and too many hugs. Make sure you will give a freedom or present before offering one. Don't say you'll give one for correct behavior and then not give it when you child does the behavior.

 

Punishing

Say You Are Disappointed: Tell your children you expect more of them, and thay you expect them to behave right away.

Pay it Back: Tell you child to make up for bad behavior, such as paying for breaking something, doing the behavior they were supposed to do in the first place, or saying they're sorry to someone they hurt.

Time Out: Tell your child to sit in a corner, on the couch, or go to their room for a short period of time. Time out works best with younger children under the age of 10.

Grounding: Don't let your child leave the house for some period of time. Grounding works best with older children, such as teens.

Take Away a Freedom: Remove a freedom for a period of time or forever.

Note: Make sure the punishment fits the crime. Don't take away a freedom, for example, when a child does something minor and telling them that you expect more of them the next time will do the trick.

 

This information and other helpful fathering tips can be found in our 24/7 Dad™ curricula.