At Parent Circle, we believe young children are inherently valuable and deserve kindness and respect. We appreciate that kids are developing emotionally and socially as well as physically. With limited life experience and communication ability, they need our guidance.
Just as we instruct children in academic fields, such as pre-reading, mathematics and science, we direct children’s social and emotional development. We do this through the experiences we offer as well as activities such as mentoring and teaching.
The Parenting Circle website provides parents and others, including teachers and carers, with information towards positive guidance and child development. Using our parenting guide, you can discover ideas and best practices to enhance the important influence you have on the next generation.
Guiding Children at Home
Parenting is incredibly rewarding but can also be very challenging at times. Each child and every family is different. The ways we parent – in both practical terms and philosophy – vary in many ways. There is no particular “correct” way to parent. Nonetheless, many parents find that children respond well to:
- Loving, nurturing relationships
- Structure and consistent expectations but with room for adjustments and growth
- Logical and predictable consequences
- Opportunity to make personal choices
- Parents modeling appropriate behavior.
Guiding Children in the Classroom
At Parent Circle, we believe a foundation for healthy social-emotional development in the classroom includes:
- Trusting, nurturing relationships
- A peaceful, secure environment
- Positive teaching and guiding practices that are effective.
Teachers should strive to:
- Devote quality time daily talking and listening to each child.
- Establish realistic expectations for children. Inflated expectations set children up for failure, causing frustration and behavioral problems.
- Create a classroom environment that encourages independence and natural engagement.
- Pay attention to children and discern the root causes of behavioral issues, such as tiredness or frustration.
- Help children define problems and find solutions.
- Model and teach communication and positive social interaction.