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A child watering plants as part of practical life activities, fostering responsibility and care for the environment.

Building Cranium Character – Raising a Respectful Child

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Parents (and school teachers) often focus on developing a child’s academic and cognitive skills. Sometimes we overlook the importance of social and emotional development, which can be equally important. While cultivating a child’s reading and math skills is essential, instilling a strong sense of values and character traits that improve social and emotional wellness can be key in helping children succeed.

This is where character education comes in. Character education helps build a moral foundation for children, teaching them valuable social-emotional skills that they will carry with them throughout life. One important element of character education is teaching respect, which can be a complex concept for kids to grasp. To put it in simple terms for your child, you can teach your child that having respect for someone means you should act in a way that shows you care for that person’s feelings and well-being.

Here are some simple ways you can teach your child about respect:

Give examples.

After you explain the concept of respect to your child, it’s important to give them real-world examples. For instance, you can tell them that being quiet in a library is a sign of respect because it shows that you care about others who are trying to read without noise or interruption. By being quiet in the library, you are acting in a positive way towards others which shows that you care about their well-being. This is respect.

Expect disrespect.

There are times when your child will be disrespectful, it’s a natural part of growing up. When these moments arise, it’s important that you have a plan for dealing with them. If you don’t respond properly and consistently to these initial moments of disrespect, the moments are likely to repeat themselves.

Stay calm and earn your child’s respect.

When moments of disrespectful behavior arise, it’s important to stay calm. Don’t overact to the behavior by lashing out and yelling, because you’ll be sending the wrong message and modeling more negative behavior. Instead, ask yourself if your child is even aware that this behavior is disrespectful.

Gauging how to respond to your child will help you with the next step, and give you time to breathe and calm down. Responding calmly during these moments is a good way for you to exercise control over the situation, and earn respect from your child.

Identify the cause of the disrespect.

Sometimes disrespectful behavior is the result of your child’s inability to articulate a specific need, which results in frustration. It’s important for you to ask your child questions to help them express their emotions with words, also helping them understand where their anger is coming from. These heated moments can be great opportunities to show your child how to deal with their emotions in a healthier way. Show your child that, even in difficult situations, you can keep calm and respond respectfully too.

Set a good example.

There’s no better way to teach your child a valuable character trait than by modeling it yourself. Being a respectful role model involves you showing respect to others you encounter throughout your day. You should also try to treat your child with the same respect that you would treat other adults. One way you can do this is by accepting their preferences and independence in little ways.  For example, you can accept their decision to wear an outfit that they put together on their own, even if it’s a little wacky!

Raising a Respectful Child at Cranium Academy

At Cranium Academy, we take character education seriously.  Our exclusive character education program is built around the idea that essential character traits can be developed during early childhood. We believe that respect is one of the core character traits that should be cultivated in each child. One of our goals at Cranium Academy is to find fun, real-world scenarios that help preschool or elementary school age children develop creative strategies surrounding the value of respect. Reinforcing respectful behaviors both at school and at home helps build your child’s character, which will serve them well throughout their life.

 

Montessori practical life shelf displaying objects for care of self, including brushes and water pitchers.

Kicking the Bad Habits: Nail Biting and Picking

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If your child is about to start preschool or daycare, it’s time to start breaking some of their bad habits. In this series, we will cover some tactics that will help you kick those bad habits to the curb. Today’s bad habit is nail biting and picking. 

Nail biting and picking is the most common of the bad habits. Your child might bite her nails because of boredom, stress, or even just to imitate you. Nail biting is a bad habit that is also likely to continue into adulthood, so you should try to break this habit now while your child is still young. To nip the nail biting habit in the bud, try applying the following tips:

Address the anxieties.

Oftentimes nail biting can be a sign of stress. Figuring out what is causing your child’s stress is important so you can help him ease his anxiety. Sometimes it’s something as simple as the thought of growing up, or it could be a big change like moving into a new house or switching schools. You can help your child by talking him through his worries and reassuring him.

Keep their nails trimmed.

Long nails are almost always more tempting to bite and pick on. When they grow too long, they also have a tendency to catch on to things with their ragged edges. To reduce the nail biting or picking temptation, keep your child’s nails trimmed and filed down.

Offer crunchy snacks.

Chewing on food can be a good substitute for biting on nails. Offer your child crunchy foods like raw carrots or cucumbers to munch on.

Set goals.

Setting realistic goals with your child can also minimize their nail biting or picking habits. Set a goal of 24 hours without nail biting. If your child meets this goal, then you can reward her with something special, like an extra bedtime story.

At Cranium Academy, our goal is to build character and leadership in every student. To provide consistency between school and home life, we work hand-in-hand with parents to help children break their bad habits. If you’re working on kicking the nail biting habit, let your child’s teacher know so that we can help you with the process. One less bad habit is one step closer to building good character and being a leader!

More in this serious: Thumb Sucking, Hair Pulling, Nose Picking

 

 

 

Montessori teacher observing a child's progress as they work on practical life activities.

Kicking the Bad Habits: Hair Pulling

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If your child is about to start preschool or daycare, it’s time to start breaking some of their bad habits. In this series, we will cover some tactics that will help you kick those bad habits to the curb. Today’s bad habit is hair pulling.

Yanking hair is usually a quick way for children to exert control over their environment, when they’re still too young to communicate why they are upset. Once children discover the reaction they get from hair pulling, they make it into a habit to get what they want. If your child has ever yanked on your locks then you know how painful this habit can be! Here are some ways to break the bad habit of hair pulling:

Stay calm

Remember that by pulling hair, your child is actively trying to get a reaction from you. If you don’t let your emotions overcome you when your child pulls your hair, or when you catch him pulling someone else’s hair, then you will find yourself in the right mindset to come up with a constructive way to handle this habit.

Work out the reason

Toddlers pull hair because their vocabulary is still so limited, so they are often unable to find the right words to explain what is making them upset. You should try to work out the possible reason behind their hair pulling behavior. For instance, you could tell them that you understand why they are angry and then correct their behavior accordingly.

Talk to your child

It’s important to demonstrate that talking – not hair pulling – is the proper way to solve problems. Make sure you tell her that hair pulling is wrong because it hurts people.  As your child gets older and her vocabulary starts to grow, teach her to solve problems through alternative means. For instance, you could say ‘Instead of pulling his hair, what could you do the next time your brother grabs your toy?’ Then help her express herself in words.

Never pull back

Don’t try to teach your child “how it feels” by pulling their hair back. This only reinforces the hair pulling behavior by teaching them that hair pulling is the way to get things done. Always use the behavior that you want your children to imitate.

At Cranium Academy, our goal is to build character and leadership in every student. To provide consistency between school and home life, we work hand-in-hand with parents to help children break their bad habits. If you’re working on kicking the hair pulling habit, let your child’s teacher know so that we can help you with the process. One less bad habit is one step closer to building good character and being a leader!

More in this series: Thumb Sucking, Nose Picking, Nail Biting/Picking

Group of children engaged in a collaborative science experiment in a Montessori classroom.

Chores for Children

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Getting your kids involved in household chores at an early age has so many benefits. When you give young children chores to complete, they begin to gain a sense of responsibility, self-reliance, and empathy. They learn skills that will carry with them throughout the rest of their lives, including time management, prioritizing tasks, and basic organizational abilities.

If you want your child to start developing these behaviors and abilities, then you should get them participating in household chores as soon as possible. Here are some age-appropriate chores that your child can do to help out around the house:

Toddlers

  • Put their toys away
  • Put their dirty clothes in a basket or hamper
  • Put clean clothes away
  • Feed the pet
  • Throw trash away in the wastebasket
  • Fold simple materials, like pillowcases or washcloths

Kids ages 4 to 5

Any of the above, plus:

  • Make the bed
  • Empty the wastebaskets
  • Bring in the mail or newspaper
  • Clear the table
  • Clean up spills
  • Water the plants
  • Organize items, such as utensils, clothing, or books
  • Hang up towels in the bathroom
  • Prepare their own snacks, like a bowl of cereal

Kids ages 6 to 7

Any of the above, plus:

  • Sweep
  • Fold laundry
  • Put away the clean laundry
  • Set and clear the table
  • Help make and pack lunch
  • Keep their bedroom organized and clean

Kids ages 8 to 9

Any of the above, plus:

  • Vacuum
  • Wash the dishes
  • Put away groceries
  • Help make dinner
  • Prepare snacks
  • Take pet for walks
  • Take the trash out
  • Weed and rake leaves
  • Dust the furniture
  • Clean the bathroom

Ages 10 and older

Any of the above, plus:

  • Mow the yard
  • Do the laundry
  • Mop the floors
  • Make easy meals
  • Clean the kitchen
  • Wash the family car
  • Clean the inside of the fridge
  • Iron clothes
  • Wash windows
  • Help take care of younger siblings
  • Change the bedsheets

Tips to consider:

Communication.

It’s important to remember that the way you talk about chores will directly impact your child’s willingness to participate in them. Children are more likely to respond to “Let’s do our chores” rather than “Do your chores,” because it emphasizes that chores are not just tasks but a way of taking care of other members of the family.

Focus.

By putting the focus of chores on taking care of the family, your children will be more likely to want to share the responsibility of the family. They will be more willing to do the chores because they feel that they are contributing to the family’s overall success.

Timing.

Scheduling a chore time is a good way to maintain consistency every day and to avoid the all too common “I forgot” excuse. Keep in mind that children will not always get it done right the first time and you will need to supervise them during chore-time until they get the hang of things.

Allowance?

Allowances are not necessary for completing chores, however, it is strictly up to you whether or not you think you should give one. Some parents believe that allowances are a good way to teach financial responsibility and are a way to simulate a job-type experience. Other parents believe that participating in chores is just another way of participating in family life and being a part of the family community is not something that should be paid off.

Cranium Values

Teamwork is one of our core values here at Cranium Academy. We believe that when parents and their children work together, both will benefit from the collaboration. Kids will gain a learning experience and life-long skills by doing their chores, while parents might have some of the stresses of housekeeping lifted off of them.