New or New Extremes of Behaviors at Home?

All of this home schooling is new to MOST of us, and with this 'new normal' you may be experiencing new or new extremes in behaviors with your child.  In times like these it is best to remember to remain calm and understand your child is dealing with some unusual feelings.  

As I noticed these past few weeks my own children have had new behaviors, new extremes in behaviors and also a lot of big feelings.  With their behavior changes I have realized I needed to change my behaviors; these feelings, emotions and behaviors have come up as my children are dealing with their 'new normal and trying to manage all that they are experiencing and feeling'.  Listen to your child, monitor what may trigger the new or new extreme behaviors and develop ways to support them through this 'new normal' with something different.  

Here are some ideas to look into to help you and your children have a more positive day:

• Give more hugs, more time to interact and more conversation about feelings and changes
• Make sure you give your children plenty of time in the morning to wake up, eat and get ready for the day before you set demands and expectations.  
• If you find out what is triggering the behavior then you can find ways to prevent it or adapt to it quicker. For example, my daughter always throws a fit when she wants me to help her and I'm in the middle of a meeting or something I'm doing and can't stop right away.  She is used to me doting on her when it is the weekend and not having much to distract me from what she may need.  So I gave her sticky tabs to mark where she has a question and asked her to move on and work on something else until I have time to check in with her.  Almost like raising her hand in class and waiting for the teacher to check in.  
• Make a predictable schedule so that your children know what is expected of them and also what to do and when and know what is coming up next.  Schools have schedules and their day is predictable, so try to make your day as predictable as possible, like school.  Make your schedule visual. You could even have them help with the schedule of the day or plan out their day with you.  
• Ask your child's teacher for ideas and suggestions and/or tools that work with them at school.  
• Here is a link to a behavior chart that can be adjusted and used to fit your needs and schedule. 
• Give your child positive feedback and encourage them when they are doing things right. Promote positive reinforcement as much as possible, even for little things in hopes to encourage more of what you want to see in behaviors.    

Currently our behavior department is working on some videos to offer training to parents on ways to deal with behaviors as they have stepped into this new role as teacher, we will post them on the Blog.