Archive of ‘Positive Discipline’ category

Tips For A Successful Transition To Summer

The temperatures are climbing, school dismissal bells are ringing, and sandals are reclaiming their rightful place as a wardrobe go-to. Summer is around the corner! While summer is usually associated with fun in the sun, it’s not always popsicles and rainbows. Summer is also a big time of transition for kids and their families. The change in routine and lack of schedule can be challenging for some people. However, this is also a great season for rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation – especially after a tough school year like this one has been! Here are some of my favorite ways to make the most of your family’s transition to summer. 

Maintain A Routine

One of the toughest challenges I see is the change in routine for kids and their families. Within a matter of weeks kids go from a structured, time oriented lifestyle to a very loose and non-directive day. This shift in expectations and routine can be tough for kids and teens who thrive on structure, routine, and activity-based schedules. 

Consider maintaining a routine for summer that helps provide some parameters for everyone’s day to day experience. A great way to start this conversation is by hosting a family meeting. Bring the family together to discuss appropriate boundaries for wake up & sleep time, chores, and screen time during the summer. Ask each family member for input and find ways to meet everyone’s needs in agreement. Once or twice a month, consider revisiting this conversation in another family meeting to make adjustments as needed. As the months go on, the needs of the kids may change (and potentially yours will too!) This will help ensure a steady transition from spring to summer, and may make the transition from summer into fall easier as well. Find a local Certified Positive Discipline Parent Educator to learn more about the benefits of family meetings and how to incorporate them into your routine. 

Let’s Go Exploring!

One of the highlights of summer is the gift of time! Less time spent in school means more time for extracurricular activities and interests. It can be really hard to weave in hobbies and new activities during the school year. Use this time to get in touch with your inner explorer! 

I encourage families to find ways to try new things over the summer to break up the monotony of long unstructured days. It’s a great time for kids to explore new interests they may have. Ask your children if they have any new sports or hobbies they want to try over the summer and enroll them in a class or interest group. It’s an easy way to meet new friends with common interests and help encourage new neural connections in the brain. Another easy way to introduce new things is planning a Staycation in your own city. Maybe there are some cool new restaurants you’ve been wanting to try, or a local park you haven’t had a chance to visit. Take some time to collect ideas of different places or activities and write them on popsicle sticks. Take one or two sticks out of the jar each Sunday to see where the week will take you!

Keep Up With Your Therapy

The kids are out of school, children are taking breaks from our regular routine of after school activities, and adults are taking time off work for fun vacations and day trips. Without the regular stressors of everyday life, keeping your regular weekly therapy may feel a bit unnecessary, right? Actually, it may be the furthest from the truth! Summer is the best time to jumpstart progress and growth, especially for kids and teens. Less stressors means more opportunity for the brain to stay grounded, attuned, and ready for processing. This is a great time for teens to work on emotion regulation, peer relationships, and overall exploration of their mind, body, and soul. It’s so important to model the prioritization of mental health year round, and maintaining regular sessions over the summer is a perfect time to model this self care for yourself and others. 

In addition, summer is a great time to schedule appointments with other practitioners to help coincide with ongoing therapeutic treatment. Summer is the perfect time to explore new treatment modalities or complete in depth psychological assessments. The extra time off from school allows for time for kids to adjust to new medications, build relationships with collaborative practitioners, and develop a plan for success for the upcoming school year. Ask your therapist if they have any recommendations for collaborative care in your ongoing treatment plan. Your therapist should have a list of referrals available for local psychologists, psychiatrists, and dietitians who are ready and able to help work together to create the best treatment plan for you or your child. 

In the spirit of full disclosure, summer is my favorite season. With these tips (and a good amount of Air Conditioning!) it can become yours, too! Incorporating these areas of growth into your life will help ease the transition from season to season, and prepare you for an amazing and bright few months ahead. Consider reaching out to your favorite therapist for support in making summer 2021 the best one yet! 

Written By: Sara Balkanli, LPC-Associate Supervised by Lora Ferguson, LPC-S

Family Meetings are Great for Couples Too!

While I’ve heard the term “family meeting” all my life, it was often in relation to someone being in trouble or there being a problem that parents had deemed out of hand and the meeting was called so that parents could voice their concerns and set expectations, or even scold. Such family meetings don’t sound fun at all. When I was trained in Positive Discipline, family meetings took on a whole new meaning. Instead of an experience reserved for the most pressing of problems, they became a way to connect, bond, give voice to all family members, teach problem solving skills, and have fun. Still, for over a year I thought, “we’ll start family meetings when our son is old enough to participate…they’re called family meetings after all.” But then, between figuring out how to parent a toddler and with little free time to connect as a couple or problem solve, I decided that it was time to implement regular family meetings. My husband and I picked a weeknight after our son goes to bed when we can talk without distraction, and we roughly follow the “9 Steps for Effective Family Meetings” included below. Here are some of the things that I found most helpful.

Building a culture of appreciation.

Family meetings are a great way to build a culture of appreciation in your relationship. When life gets hectic and tensions are high, it is often easy to notice what your partner is doing “wrong” or those personality traits that get under your skin. However, when we focus on those we can get caught in a loop of frustration, criticism, and defensiveness. That’s why it’s important to begin each meeting by sharing the things we appreciate in our partner. Giving and receiving appreciation helps us relax and move from a place of vigilance to a place of openness. You can work appreciations into your daily rituals as well, maybe right before bed or during dinner each night. 

Consistent, dedicated time for relationship and/or parenting concerns.

Every relationship (parenting, romantic, etc.) has its challenges. Sometimes these challenges are predictable and other times they seem to pop up out of nowhere. Family meetings provide an opportunity to really listen and respond to each other’s concerns. This dedicated time has been great for our relationship too. Instead of feeling like our only options are to address a concern in the moment or just let it go, we know we have a time when we are committed to listening to each other. Knowing that we will have an opportunity to be heard allows us to pause when needed without feeling dismissed. If one of us is busy when the other wants to talk, we can ask that the conversation be tabled until our meeting.

Planning something fun.

The last part of any family meeting should be to plan a fun activity for the week. For a couple, this could be a date night (or during COVID times a treat and a movie, a backyard fire, or a weekend walk). Again, this is all about connection. I encourage you to plan something as a couple, but you can also think of something to do with your whole family. 

While I look forward to the day when our son can participate in family meetings, I hope that my husband and I continue to have our own. We have always talked things through, but there’s something comforting about knowing we have that specific time. I’m also glad that we’re practicing now so that when our son does join us we’ll be better able to model connection, communication, and problem solving skills.

9 Steps for Effective Family MeetingsDownload
9 Steps for Effective Family Meetings – ContinuedDownload
Written by: Magdalen Marrone, LCSW

The Misbehaving Student…and How to Help Them

It is the most difficult children who often need us the most.  We hear from people working in schools that consequences and suspensions do not seem to change their behavior.  Core curriculum, testing and other requirements are putting an incredible burden on teachers. These challenging students are often the tipping point for a class.

What these misbehaving children are really looking for is to feel like they belong in the class, and that they are cared about.

Many of the misbehaving children have had things happen in their young lives that cause them to distrust others.  They may not have been fed or had their physical needs taken care of as babies, so they do not understand “if-then” thinking – if I cry, I get fed.  If I act out in class, then there are consequences. Some may be dealing with abuse or neglect of them or a parent, drugs or alcohol in the home, or violence.  They may feel they always have to be “on guard”, to protect themselves. 

All it takes is one adult to make a difference a child’s life.

So what can be done to help?  Here are some ways to build relationships with these most difficult children:

  • Get to where you can speak face to face with them.   Speak calmly and slowly. If you remain calm, it will help them to calm down.
  • Express an understanding of how they are feeling, saying “It seems like you are really angry.  Tell me more.” And then listen.
  • Ask them what you can do to help them.  They may need a break from being in the class, so asking if they would like to bring something to the office or another class may help.
  • Focus on building the relationship.  As trust is built, they may question it, as they may not have had a trusting relationship with an adult before. 

It is important to have patience and give it time.  These children likely have had years of bad relationships with adults.  As the relationship builds, the whole class benefits. There will be less disruptions, and more teachable time.  You can be that “one adult” for this child!

Written by: Carol Dores

Carol is a Certified Positive Discipline Trainer. She has worked with educators and staff of preschoolers through high school, as well as hundreds of parents of all aged children (prenatal to adult). She co-founded Positive Discipline of Connecticut, and served as Co-Chair of the international Board of Directors of the Positive Discipline Association. Carol has worked with schools in bringing Positive Discipline to whole school settings. She has two adult sons and a husband of over 35 years. Their relationships continue to grow and benefit from Positive Discipline.

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