The Secret to Constructive Discipline

We all go through stages where our children produce behaviour that is less than desirable and we feel at the time that everyone is looking at you thinking, "Control your child will you!" But most of the time, everyone is just thinking, "Been there, dealt with that!" or "Been there, still trying to figure out how to deal with it!" I'm a teacher and have training on behaviour management strategies, but I am always looking for new ideas, and I have found when dealing with your own child. . .  its a totally different story! 
So i found this article titled, The Secret to Constructive Discipline. I don't totally like the way it is written, but I definitely like most of the sentiments of the articles and general approach to helping children recognize and move forward from the "less desirable" behaviour.


Quick points/quotes that I liked from the article:

• The secret to constructive discipline is a positive conclusion." - I totally agree with this, too often children are left feeling in discrace about what they have done or they are stopped in their tracks and moved away from the situation, so that the bad behaviour can't continue. When we respond this way, the issue or behaviour is never really addressed or dealt with.
• "The positive conclusion turns what otherwise might be punishment into a constructive learning experience." - So often, when we do the quick and easy "moving of behaviour" the child goes back and does the same thing all over again and the adult is left wondering, "Why do they keep doing this?" The fact is, the adult has fallen short in using this moment as a teaching moment, by talking them through it and helping them to see clearly what behaviour is acceptable.

4 things that I try to do when redirecting and addressing behaviour, which I feel fits in with both points above:

1. Get down at their level and get their attention (the first step in distracting them from continuing the bad behaviour).
2. Bring to their attention what  it is you want them to stop doing. 
3. Reinforce the desired behaviour. (You want to spend most of your time and effort on this step. This is what you want them to remember as they get back into play.) 
4. Praise when they behave well! (So often we forget to praise our children for their GOOD behaviour, so all they ever remember hearing, is us telling them off for their bad behaviour. If they know they will get attention for doing the good stuff, they are likely to do it more often.)

Read the article at the link above for a more in depth look at their approach to constructive discipline.