Permanent Impressions Begin Today

Preschoolers remind me of wet cement. Their receptive minds are imprinted with the interests and values of their parents. As the parent of a 3 or 4 year old, you have a hand in impressing your child with a lifelong affection for books. Here are two daily strategies:

Read Everything Aloud.  Your mail, magazine articles, recipes, the bills, street signs, and greeting cards make for teaching moments.  As your child hears you read he becomes aware that print has a purpose.  Since he wants to imitate you, his favorite person, he wants to be able to read.  By your example, at 4 he will “have begun to understand that printed words have meaning. By age 5, most will begin to know that not just the story, but also the printed words themselves go from left to right.  Many will even be identifying some capital and small letters and simple words.”

Good Discipline is Developmental

Skillful parents - and anyone who works with kids - know that discipline takes into account a child's developmental abilities. The best discipline is adapted to each child's age, needs, and abilities. For example,

Infants fuss and cry when their needs are unmet, want attention, and cannot share.
Toddlers are curiosity-driven, self-absorbed, and struggle for independence and power.
Preschoolers are fickle in friendships, have wild imaginations, want power, and try out new words.
Schoolagers are peer conscious, compare themselves to others, and competitive.
Teens are toddlers in bigger bodies.

To be successful in your daily discipline, I encourage you to consider the normal, albeit challenging, developmental behaviors of kids. Then adapt your expectations accordingly.
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