The joy of any parent is watching their kids grow into the best version of themselves. Though many parenting strategies exist, each has a unique way of supporting the child’s emotional, psychological, and social development. This piece explores eight popular parenting techniques you can apply to improve behavior and outcomes in kids.
In This Article
- 1. Religious parenting
- 2. Positive parenting
- 3. Using education and learning to teach good behavior
- 4. Independence parenting strategy
- 5. Behavior management through authoritative parenting
- 6. Behavior development through unconditional parenting
- 7. Teaching relationship skills through attachment parenting
- 8. Maintaining healthy family relationships
1. Religious parenting
Spiritual parenting is a strategy that aims at raising inner awareness and building connections. Religious parenting enhances behavior in kids by teaching them about mindfulness, acceptance, and the interconnectedness of things around them. Kids learn about respecting each other’s individuality and creating room for others despite their unique personalities. It entails allowing your kids to be part of community activities that promote ethical values, teaching the values of respect, honesty, tolerance, and fairness. Religious development encourages mode acting in honorable ways while instilling the belief in something greater than humankind.
2. Positive parenting
Positive parenting aims to empower children by helping them discover their inner strength, skills, and desires. In positive parenting, the guardians give their kids unconditional support to help them make the most out of life and themselves. Instead of preaching do’s and don’ts or enforcing strict rules to improve child behavior, this strategy focuses on coaching, guidance, and counseling. What you do holds more significance than what you say when it comes to kids.
Here, the parent acts as a role model to their kids. Kids get cues on how to behave by watching their parents. Positive parenting strategies are effective at supporting kids’ development even in teenage hood. Besides teaching good behavior, this strategy empowers children by teaching them logic and decision-making.
3. Using education and learning to teach good behavior
The best way to improve parenting ability is through education and learning. By becoming a child development student, a parent can understand critical milestones in their child’s development while also learning about the best ways to teach positive behavior. Parent education and behavior coaching programs are an excellent starting point for first-time parents. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) sessions are beneficial to parents with special needs children. In these sessions, parents can learn standard ABA techniques such as positive reinforcement, task analysis, and social skills training in a way that will help their kids become valuable community members.
4. Independence parenting strategy
The relationships between kids and their parents significantly influence their self-discovery path. As a result, parents should strive to create safe environments where kids can be themselves. Parents should allow their kids to explore their surroundings, make mistakes and learn from them.
While it’s normal for parents to desire control over their kid’s affairs, discouraging individual expression can undermine their child’s development. What’s more, authoritarian parenting is likely to promote parent dependency because kids have no option but to conform to their parent’s desires. Instead, parents should step back a little and allow their kids to take risks and discover more about their environment. This way, your kids will learn about accountability and establishing personal boundaries.
Traditionally, authoritative parenting was the go-to strategy for raising children. This parenting style is famous for consistently bringing positive outcomes in kids. This parenting strategy teaches good behavior and discipline by encouraging obedience and adherence to set rules. If applied correctly, authoritative parenting can lead to kids with high self-esteem, good social skills, and emotional balance.
Authoritative parenting often relies on positive reinforcement to encourage good behavior. It advocates for flexibility and rationality when setting children’s expectations. While the parent will have the final say on most matters, it is advisable to encourage independent thinking. While it’s okay to set rules and boundaries for your children, parents should remain warm and responsive to their kid’s physical and emotional needs.
6. Behavior development through unconditional parenting
Love and affection are at the core of unconditional parenting. The unconditional aspect refers to the parent’s ability to accept and support their kids regardless of their personality or physical attributes. Treating kids in this manner gives them a sense of being valued for who they are. Unconditional parenting helps kids realize better overall growth and self-actualization.
This strategy aims to help kids develop into their character rather than setting conditions that determine the level of acceptance, appreciation, and admiration they receive from parents. This parenting strategy differs from many traditional child-raising strategies where kids believe they have to earn their parents’ affection by doing certain things.
7. Teaching relationship skills through attachment parenting
Kids first learn relationship skills from their interactions with guardians. Attachment parenting aims to reinforce the emotional and psychological bond between kids and caregivers. When parents respond to their child’s emotional and physical needs, they will develop a positive outlook on life. Furthermore, children are likely to trust when they believe they are unconditionally loved and appreciated.
What’s more, the better you understand your children, the more likely you are to fulfill their needs and unlock their potential. When your kids trust you, they are more likely to learn obedience and discipline than when the parental attachment is minimal or nonexistent.
8. Maintaining healthy family relationships
Guardians should maintain a healthy relationship with their spouses or other caregivers. Guardians should learn how to solve conflicts amicably without affecting their kid’s development.
Studies show that parental stress severely impacts a child’s development. Children are generally happier when their parents or guardians get along and suffer emotionally and psychologically when there’s family conflict. Poor stress and anger management can make guardians irrational and less empathetic towards their children.
Parents should model social skills by avoiding disagreements in front of children and not dragging kids into family issues. While it’s typical for parents to get stressed about life, managing stress effectively improves parent-child relationships.
