Communicating with Toddlers
In our quest to be loving, kind and respectful with toddlers, there are lots of bumps in the road. How do you respond when a child ISN’T listening? There are so many parenting books that get into the philosophical reasons for taking a loving and collaborative approach to communicating with young children. Reading these books make teachers and parents feel good, but when the real world hits we wish for a tool box of strategies, not a world-view. When there are Cheerios all over the floor for the fifth time at breakfast, what do you say? When your child hits you after you said stop, what do you do?
Parent educator Janet Lansbury is busy filling in the gaps between the philosophy of being loving, kind and respectful and the real world situations that challenge us to stay in loving relationship with children. Her blog, Elevating Child Care, is a great read. Janet takes on real world examples from her readers about young children’s behavior.
Janet is trained in the Resources for Infant Educarers approach, developed by Magda Gerber. Incorporating a deep respect and appreciation of the baby as more than a helpless object, the Educaring approach encourages infants and adults to trust each other, learn to problem solve, and embrace their ability for self-discovery. When allowed to unfold in their own way and in their own time, children discover and inspire the best in themselves and in others.
You might start with a blog entry from January 2013, 5 Reasons Toddlers Won’t Follow Directions and go from there.