Behavior Management Strategies

POSITIVE PHRASING

Children benefit more often from being told what they should be doing, instead of what they shouldn't be doing. Instead of reprimanding, such as "stop running around in the house" you can say "we walk in the house, and we run around outside."

Power of Positive Phrasing (credit: Behavioral Interventions and Solutions, LLC)

CONTROLLED CHOICE

Sometimes the power of choice can go a long way! Controlled choice is when you provide your child with two choices, instead of just giving a demand or command. There are a lot of ways to play with choices to make them very effective and easily redirect challenging behavior! Providing frequent choices to your child can give them a sense of control. These can be simple choices (e.g. Do you want the red crayon or the blue crayon? What do you want to wear today? Do you want a cracker or a yogurt for snack?, etc.) Basically, turn the demand into a choice. Instead of saying, "it's time to do your math work" you can say "do you want to practice writing numbers with crayons or markers" or "do you want to practice adding with mommy or daddy?" If you use a schedule, such as a daily schedule or a work-break schedule, have your child can choose the order of less preferred tasks. Or when breaks are built-in to the schedule.

Offering Controlled Choices (credit: Behavioral Interventions and Solutions, LLC)

BEHAVIOR SPECIFIC PRAISE

When you see your child doing something that you like, and would like them to continue, provide them with behavior specific praise. Examples include, "I love the way that you brought your dirty laundry to the hamper" or "Great job sharing your crayons with your sister."