Parenting Strategies
Routines are extremely important for two year- olds. Work with your child’s need for “sameness” and repetition. Set up practical routines and rituals to help with the most difficult times during the day, such as getting dressed, ending playtime, and bedtime.
Play environments should be safe with reasonable boundaries. Because the two-year old child explores through touch, place “hands off” items well out of reach. Redirecting your child works well when you are unable to meet his or her requests. Distraction of any kind or a change of scenery is highly preferable to a battle of the wills. Ignore tantrums in order to avoid rewarding the behavior with your attention.
Offer simple choices to your two-and-a-half year-old. If it becomes clear that your child will not be satisfied with either of two alternatives, as will happen often at this age, it is best to move to a new activity or remove your child from the scene. If your two-year-old will attend an early childhoodprogram, besuretoselectonethat will view your child as an individual, with unique needs and abilities. To ensure that your child is active, engaged, and continually supported in his or her healthy growth and learning, curriculum should be versatile, thoughtfully planned, developmentally appropriate, and respectful of children, their families, and individual backgrounds. Visit www.naeyc.org for more information about developmentally appropriate practiceand indicators of quality preschool programs.
The purpose of this pamphlet is to provide an overview of the typical, normal behaviors of young children at different ages and stages of development. Not every child goes through these somewhat predictable stages, and those who do have their own unique styles and individual timetables. Our advice to parentsis to work with these stages, channeling behaviors and actions into positive outcomes with out trying to prevent individual behaviors or characteristics.
- 1
-
2
Reprinted with permission of the Gesell Institute. Copyright © 2010, Gesell Institute of Human Development. All Rights Reserved.
Add your own comment
Ask a Question
Have questions about this article or topic? AskToday on Education.com
5 Outdoor Games to Play in Under 5 Minutes 
Spring Fever! 6 Ways to Settle Kids Down Popular Articles
- Kindergarten Sight Words List
- The Five Warning Signs of Asperger's Syndrome
- What Makes a School Effective?
- Child Development Theories
- Why is Play Important? Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development, Creative Development
- 10 Fun Activities for Children with Autism
- Test Problems: Seven Reasons Why Standardized Tests Are Not Working
- Bullying in Schools
- A Teacher's Guide to Differentiating Instruction
- Steps in the IEP Process
