Techniques to Educate Children According to Their Age

It’s important to educate children according to their age. They need to learn that their actions bear consequences. And, that depending on what they’ve done, these consequences may not be nice.

You should bear in mind that punishment should be your last resort when children disobey or defy you. Furthermore, we don’t have to act in the same way when dealing with a little kid than in front of an older one. Next, you’ll find some techniques to discipline and educate children according to their age.

Educating children according to their age: how and when should you do it?

Parents want children to follow the rules and respect limits. In order to obtain this, you need to reinforce their appropriate behaviors, whenever it’s possible.

Sometimes, you need to teach the little ones that some of their actions bear consequences that may not be nice for them. This is why you only have to use punishments exceptionally. So, all your actions should be rational and with the following notions in mind:

• When you punish children, they need to understand why you do it. This way, they’ll learn that certain behaviors may result in particular consequences.
• Don’t damage their self-esteem. Discipline doesn’t have to make your children feel bad. It’s just about facing consequences from certain negative actions.
• Punishment should be seen as a kind of agreement. Thus, they’ll know what to do when they need something, and what not to do if they don’t want to face negative consequences.

Techniques to educate children according to their age

The basic key to children’s education is communication and positive discipline. However, depending on their behavior, sometimes it’s necessary to discipline them so they can see the difference between good and bad conduct. This is why it’s important to take into account their age, when educating children.

Children from 2 to 5 years old

During this period, it’s important to correct or even punish them right after they misbehave. Thus, they’ll relate the punishment to their actions.

Overcorrection

This technique is for children over 3 years old, because during that period, you can base your actions on reinforcement. This could be quite effective to modify behaviors you couldn’t change using other techniques.

Using a strong voice, one of the techniques to educate children

Little children are pretty sensitive to our tone of voice when we talk to them. Therefore, when they do something wrong, you must address them firmly and using a strong voice. As a result, they’ll understand that what they did was wrong. Of course, you shouldn’t overuse this technique and be serious all the time.

Removing privileges

Around this age, you can take their favorite toy as a punishment for their bad behavior.

Time out

This is an effective technique in cases of disobedience or aggressive behavior. To do this, you need to take your children away from the place where they misbehaved. Then, they’ll have some time to calm down, away from where it happened.

It’s important that you take their age into account when doing this. You have to send them away 1 minute per year of age. Remember to respect this and don’t exceed the specified time.

Children from 5 to 12 years old

During this period, children are more conscious of their actions. So, you can overcorrect them to set limits and remove certain privileges, such as:

• Watching their favorite cartoons on TV.
• Using their tablets.
• And you can keep using the time out technique until they’re 10 years old.

Over 12 years old

During adolescence, you can remove some privileges after bad behavior. Remember that you have to do everything according to their age. Here are some privileges you can remove from them:

• Using their cellphone.
• Going out with their friends during the weekends.
• Limiting their time on social media.

In conclusion, these techniques will help you educate children according to their age. When you discipline them, always bear in mind that consequences should be coherent, balanced and exceptional. So, if you’re having trouble with your children’s behavior, try to apply these techniques and they may help you.