Believe it or not, your actions communicate to your kids just as much, if not more, than your words do. What sort of behaviour do you display to your child? Children are incredibly maleable, and as parents, we can forget how impressionable our children can be! In the world of psychology, it has numerous names, but for the purposes of this article, we are going to call it programming.
Children mimick their parents behaviour. We see it when they become toddlers. They talk on their play phone while walking in and out of rooms, or they call their daddy darling instead of “daddy,” or they have the same walk as their mommy.
While these are funny examples, there are others which aren’t supportive to the growth and development of your kids. In fact, if we aren’t careful as parents, it can be detrimental to their progress! In short, your behaviour and actions are telling your kids something.
What Your Actions are Really Telling Your Kids
Because children learn by mirroring their parents’ actions, it is imperative to be mindful of how you are shaping your children’s behaviour. For example, being a helicopter mom or dad (AKA fussing over every little thing they do and doing things for them instead of allowing them to figure things out for themselves) has, in many cases, rendered a child depending on their mom and dad excessively as they get older.
Or, if you are prone to being very emotional and reactionary, your child may see this and take this behaviour on as their own. Something many parents don’t wish to experience when their children start going through puberty.
Hitting or spanking your child without explaining to them why they are being punished may also have interesting ramifications. They may go to school and hit other children or their teachers for no apparent reason.
Insulting them and asking them hurtful questions such as, “Are you stupid?! Why would you do that?!” Can not only impact their self-esteem, but they learn to talk to others in this manner. Your child or children will be like parrots – they will mimick all the words you use! Be aware of what it is you say around your children. Saying things like, “Shut up!” or racial slurs may be repeated in the school which can cause problems for your child.
If a child goes through trauma, the wounds may be there for years and decades to come. Whether it’s abuse, neglect, sexual in nature or emotional, if a child is exposed to the abuse over and over again, it becomes “normal” for them. This isn’t only unhealthy for them, but it can open up a world of abuse to their friends, peers, and eventually their own family.
How you treat your spouse is how your child will treat others. Do you act in a loving way towards your family and spouse, or are you agitated and frustrated most of the time? Whatever your mean emotion is becomes the norm for the emotional space your child grows up in. Make sure you do your best to create a happy environment for your child to thrive in!
In essence, the thing to ask yourself as a parent is whether or not you’ve provided a loving and kind environment for your child to grow up in, or a violent, agitating environment. Do you encourage your child when they try their hardest, or do you scold them for not making straight A’s on their tests? Ask yourself this question, and then ask how you would like your child to be as they get older.
As with many things, we can do things from joy, or we can do things looking for joy. One is a celebration and the other can become an addiction. You can discipline your child from the space of love and joy. Not only is this healthy, but it is important for the development and growth of your kids.
At Little Human Scholars, we come from love and joy in all that we do so that our students and children can grow up in a nice environment where they can grow and thrive!
About Little Human Scholars School in PJ
Little Human Scholars is an all-in-one childcare solution. It is a preschool, playschool, kindergarten, nursery and full day daycare centre (with extended hours) located in the heart of PJ.
In fact, the location is one of the things which makes Little Human Scholars so sought after – it is conveniently nestled near Jalan Gasing, University hospital, PJ Old town, PJ New town, Jaya One, Jaya33, and the PJ IT Mall.
The best part is LHS has premiere services many other schools in PJ don’t offer such as full-day daycare with extended hours, CCTV access for parents, and a nifty little phone app called Toddlytic which provides parents with automatic updates on their child’s development, behaviour and health checks.
With full-time guards always present at each of their locations, access to CCTV (which is in every room except the office, bathroom and kitchen areas), and very strict pick-up and drop-off rules, Little Human Scholars treats every child who walks into its hallways as one of their own children!
This place has it all: location, safety, health, IGSCE curriculum and play-based learning. What more could you ask for? Did I mention they also have transportation services and offer meal plans for students? It doesn’t get any better than that.
If you are interested in a tour of one of our centres (that’s right, there’s more than one), all you need to do is fill out the form here or call +6017-7303-025 and an LHS administrative staff will get back with you shortly!
Cheers,
Jana Moreno