The 1st Anti-Bully Technique to Teach

Enjoy this ad-free post from early childhood rocks, nonprofit org

Some people feel that when a young child mistreats another young child, they need to receive immediate punishment to teach them a lesson. Others think they need to be reasoned with and gently told what the right thing to do is over and over again until it sinks in.

But there is another question to consider.

Could we teach young children to problem-solve instead? Is that even possible?

Problem-Solving

Professionals in early care and education and smart parents know that it is. It happens in stages, starting with emotional connection and co-regulation.

We guide young children through the problem-solving process, gradually reducing the support we provide based on the child's age and developmental level.

Problem-solving is the most essential anti-bully technique we can teach. To begin problem-solving, young children first need to understand their own emotions. Then they can start to learn about others' emotions. We, at early childhood rocks, call this Laptime and it's a simple way to explore many different topics with young children.

What is Laptime?

Laptime is time spent reading or talking about emotions in close physical contact with your child. It's time spent together, looking at books or magazines, reading and speculating how characters, ourselves, or others in the world might feel.

It's also about facial, body, and language expressions that help us understand what others are experiencing beyond ourselves. It's based on this premise that all feelings are OK, all actions (and words) are not.

Laptime is a time for questioning and reflecting on human interaction in the presence of a nonjudgmental, trusted person. It's an excellent way to teach kids ages 0-8+ about emotions.

And it's information they'll need when talking about bullies. They'll eventually need to be able to "read" people well in the world they'll be growing up in.

There's more to teaching children to solve problems in their first few years. Specific techniques have been scientifically proven to work. Reading to young children is one of them. Teaching about emotions is another.

We've identified 3 more fun and easy techniques that are essential in teaching problem-solving . These techniques are critical for anyone who regularly interacts with children ages 0-3—especially those who want to see a more peaceful world.

Click the button below to get your free problem-solving 0-3 toolkit.

It only makes sense.

PS I Love You Problem-Solving Institute 0-3

Children who learn problem-solving are at an advantage when they:

• Want a turn with a toy

• Have to deal with bullies

• Need to point out an injustice

• Want to stand up for another child

• Get accused of doing something they didn't do

• Have to decide something under peer pressure

• Have to move on from a relationship

• Need to decide what's right and wrong and act on it

It's possible to build the brain architecture needed to solve problems without resorting to blame or violence. We've broken it down into four simple steps. Get your free membership below, and we'll send you the steps one week at a time for four weeks.

PS I Love You, Problem-Solving Institute 0-3

Nanci J Bradley is an early childhood and family educator, author, teacher, SELF-care facilitator, family aerobics instructor, and an all-around fun-loving person. She believes in the power of sleep, healthy eating, lifelong learning, and most of all, PLAY! She studied early childhood ed at Triton College and received her BS in education in 1986 from NIU. She received her MA in human development from Pacific Oaks College in 2011. She lives and teaches in Madison WI.