Parenting Three Year Olds

Five teachers using a combined 90 decades of experience share tips for parents of 2- to 5-year-olds. Finding the Best Out of Your Child I fear my 3-year-old, Sophie, has a split personality. At school she cleans up her toys, puts on her sneakers, and is completely self-sufficient at potty time, daycare in vaughan. In the home, she whines whenever I ask her to pick up anything, insists that I join her in the bathroom whenever she must go, and recently has begun requiring that I spoon-feed her dinner. Certainly, her instructor knows something that I don't. But , what parent hasn't occasionally wondered: Why is my child better for everyone else than for me? The simple answer: Your child tests her limits with you because she trusts you'll love her no matter what. But that doesn't mean that you can't invest a few plans from the preschool teachers' playbook to get the best from your child. We asked teachers from around the country for their tips so listen up and take notes! .

Promoting Freedom

While 3- and 4-year-olds still need plenty of parental help, our schooling experts concur that kids are typically able to do more than many of us believe. Here's how you can encourage them:

Involve her in righting her wrongs

If you discover her coloring on the walls, then have her help wash it off. If she yells over a playmate's block tower, then ask her to help reconstruct it.

Redirect.

If your preschooler is leaping on the sofa or grabbing for her big sister's dolls, divert her by asking if she'd love to draw an image or read a brief story together.

Lighten up

If your child refuses to do something, try turning it into a match. Humor and games are two great tools that parents sometimes forget about in the heat of the moment, states Zebooker. When her son, now 13, was in preschool, she had to convince him to put his shoes in the morning by enjoying with shoe store. I would say, 'Welcome to Miss Mommy's Shoe Store, I've got the perfect pair for you to try on today,' and that I 'd talk in a silly accent and he adored it. (I've had luck using this approach with Sophie, who used to clamp her mouth shut whenever I tried to brush her teeth. Now we play with the Let's Guess What You Ate Today match -- and she voluntarily opens so I can hunt her molars for cereal, strawberries, or mac and cheese.)

Prevent good-bye meltdowns

If your child is nervous about spending time aside, give him something tangible to remind him of you. Allow him to carry your image; kiss on a tissue or cut out a paper core and place it in his pocket. Having something physical to touch may help him feel less anxious -- and short-circuit a tantrum.

Don't delay discipline

If you have to reprimand your child, do this once you watch her misbehaving, advises Buss. Sometimes I will hear parents say, 'Wait till we get home...,' but at the time you're home, your child has forgotten the episode. Similarly, canceling Saturday's zoo trip because of Thursday's tantrum won't stop future outbursts; it'll just feel like random, undeserved punishment to your child.