Our Target: Our goal is to help our kids see the difference between the real danger of strangers and kids that they simply have not talked to yet. Let’s help our kids understand the safe places they should talk to adults and how that is different from talking to classmates for the first time could mean making a new friend.
Team Up! Try these simple ideas to help your child want to talk.
JUST ASK your child what they normally do at recess. If they talk about playing with a couple of the same kids all the time, ask about what all of the other kids are doing on the playground and if any of those things sound fun to your child. Let your child know that, even if they have a best friend, getting to know new people is a great thing. We grow as people when we learn with others about new things and new ideas.
Our Target: We’re focused on helping our young kids deal with hurt feelings, both their own feelings and the hurt feelings of others. Let’s let our kids know that if we try hard to be caring all the time, we will not have to fix hurt feelings as often.
Team Up! Try these simple tips to help your child want to talk.
Find your child playing alone sometime, and look at what they’re playing with. Ask how they would feel if you just came up and took their toy away from them. If they say “I don’t know,” tell them you know that their feelings would be hurt, because you weren’t being caring. Ask if they can remember a time at school when their feelings got hurt. Once you have their attention, it’s time to talk about how to act when someone’s feelings are hurt, including their own
Our Target: We’re trying to help ourselves and our kids to see what anger is and how to handle it. We all need to work together to control our anger so that it doesn’t grow into angry actions (aggression) that can hurt others’ feelings, or even hurt them physically.
Team Up! Try these simple ideas to help your child want to talk.
Just ASK your child: “Did anything make you angry today?” & “Did you see anyone else get angry today?” If they say no, that’s great! But, it doesn’t help get the conversation started. If they say no, you need to think of the last time YOU got angry and you have to be honest about it. Whether the talk is about your anger or their anger, ask:
-Why Did you get mad?
-Did you hurt someone’s feelings when you were mad?
Our Target: We’re focusing on helping our kids learn what a good decision is and how to always make those good choices. Since nobody is perfect, we also want to look at how to help our kids take responsibility for their actions and do the right thing even after they make a mistake
Team Up! Try these simple tips to help your child want to talk.
Grab an egg or a spoonful of mayo from the kitchen and go to where your child is in the house. Show them what you have, and ask them if they think it would be a good idea if you decided to drop that on the floor. They should say “no” so ask them why it would not be a good idea. Tell your child that it would not be a good idea because of the mess it would make and how much work it would take to clean up. Now that you have their attention, it’s time to talk to your child about how to look ahead to see what will happen before making choices.
Our Target: The point of this lesson is to get to know our kids more by learning how to listen to them. If we improve even a little, we will learn more about what is going on in their lives when they are not home. Let’s try to get rid of distractions and really focus on listening to our kids.
Team up! Try these simple ideas to make your child want to talk.
Figure out a good time to get rid of your distractions. Silence your phone and maybe even leave it in another room so that you’re not tempted to pay attention to it. Find your child and turn up a radio or TV that’s close by to a really loud volume. Start talking to your son or daughter over the loudness and try to ask them how their day was. You should be almost yelling and it will become silly to you and your child. Once you have their attention, turn down the volume and sit down together. Now that you have gotten rid of something in the way of you two talking try to make sure that nothing else gets in the way.
