“Another child was upset Golden shared his toys with the child and made them happy.”
I logged into Golden’s parents app to see this. Apparently, two children were fighting over a particular toy, child A manage to grab the toy from child B and child B started to cry so Golden shared his own toys with him.
Recognizing and acknowledging a child’s wow moments is a way of encouraging and reinforcing the good behaviors we want to see in our children. Wow moments are unique to every child, for some children, it could be asking for a wee for the first time, putting their coat or shoes on by themselves, but the most important thing is for parents to pay close attention so as to recognize it when it happens. Wow moments are moments when a child does something remarkable on their own. For Golden, it was empathy and kindness. Celebrating and appreciating him will reinforce and improve the desired behavior.
As a parent, what I did when he returned was, I said to him Golden! l was told you shared your toys with a child who was crying at nursery, I really appreciate that, what made you share your toys? He said, ‘’because he was crying’’, so I said, ‘’I’m really glad that you did that, keep it up’’.
Dear parents, I encourage you to always recognize and acknowledge your child when you see them do good rather than focusing on their challenging behaviors only, doing this will help your child feel more comfortable, your child will show same positive behavior another time. It will create internal motivation for your child and will also improve child parents’ relationships or child and caregiver relationship. If you want your child’s behavior to keep improving on a daily basis, then pay attention to it so it can flourish.
Also, I invite parents to keep modeling positive behaviors, remember your child learns more from what they see you do than what you say to them. The more you model positive behaviors in your day to day life, the more your child will see it and exhibit it even outside the home. Be intentional in every little thing you do because your child is watching.
