As our kids grow, their ways of understanding things and their behavior change. You might have found yourself shouting behind them, and they were not listening to you at all. We keep scolding them, saying “why don’t you listen?” or “did you hear? I told you the same thing several times now, “etc. Children between the ages of 6 – 9 are mostly irritating rather than cute and lovable. This is because they are growing and they want their boundary to be much bigger than earlier. Parents need to understand this, and change the tactics to deal with them.
Children of this age are very curious about learning various things. They might argue with you, want to play a little more, or watch TV for some time. They might also lie. But we, as parents and elderly, need to know how to deal with such issues effectively. Try to discipline your kids with the below strategies, which can help them be good individuals when they grow up.
Give specific instructions.
Most of the time, we keep shouting behind our kids, saying “don’t do this and that,” but they won’t listen. In fact, try instructing them on small points to let them know what they should do. For example, they can create places in their room to keep things in their proper place. These places can be labelled as saying where to keep books and where to keep toys. This can help them to keep their room clean as well as understand the importance of cleanliness.
Focus on positive behavior.
When kids behave badly or make some mistakes, we just start shouting at them. It is important for them to understand what is wrong with them, but it is also important to make them feel good for every good thing they do. Try praising them for anything positive they did while also telling them when they were wrong and why they were wrong. Explaining things in this way can keep your cool as well as help them discipline themselves.
Try to show them their positive things first and then let them know their area of improvement.
Use Time-Outs
Time-outs are usually used for toddlers, but they can be used for older kids too. Once you find them doing something wrong, stop them then and there and help them understand where they are wrong after they calm down. School aged kids always indulge in arguing with their siblings, parents, and friends. In such cases, it is important to help them understand where they are wrong. If you find them saying something, don’t ask them to go to their room. The moment they go to their room, they realize their mistake after some time. As parents, it also becomes our duty to help them face their mistakes and improve them accordingly.
Power struggle
Kids of this age might wonder why parents always instruct them. Why can’t they too instruct? This is the age where they may say “no” to your instructions. Tell them what they can do rather than what they can’t. For example; “Complete your homework then go to play” is much better than saying, “you can’t play unless you complete your homework.”
Give a logical explanation.
Often, I find my kid asking “why” for every small instruction. Kids of this age always want to know the logical reason behind everything. We can give them logical consequences as well to discipline them. It would not work if they were watching television for a long time and you said you were not going to take them out for the weekend. Anyhow, during the weekend, we feel tired and exhausted, and we may forget the given punishment. In such cases, let them know that they are not going to watch television the next day as they have broken the rule of watching TV.
As kids grow, they change both physically and mentally. In the same way, parents also need to change their tactics when dealing with their growing kids.
