Discipline

Discipline Policies

As I will be caring for these children in my home, I must have some sort of discipline system. I will have a standard of discipline but if you desire something else, I will discuss it with parents on a case to case basis. I must note however that regardless of your personal method of discipline in your home, I will maintain a "no negative physical contact" policy. That is, I will not agree to enforce corporal punishment on any child.

I must also note that my method of discipline is not through punishment. I attempt to teach the children under my care a basic set of morals. So, my discipline policy is as follows:

Infants below 18 months: Redirection and a gentle, “No thank you.” and occasionally I will do a time-in with an older infant if they aren’t willing to be redirected or if they throw a tantrum because those are teachable and connection moments even for the littlest of children.

Children ages 18 months and up:

Stickers: I use a simple sticker system where at the beginning of every day, every child starts the day with 3 stickers on their sticker charts and as we go through the day, their choices determine whether they get to keep the stickers or lose them. Then at the end of the day, they are able to redeem their stickers for prizes from the prize box (I have 2 separate boxes of prizes for older and younger children) and the number of stickers they have left determines how many prizes they get to pick. The timeline of losing stickers is like this:

First Offense: Warning to not repeat the behavior or they will lose a sticker.

Second Offense: They lose a sticker, are given a time-in, in which we have a conversation about the behavior, and I give the child a chance to earn the sticker back but if the child persists in the behavior or is defiant about it, the sticker stays gone for the day.

Third offense: If the child has earned the sticker back and then does the same behavior again, the sticker is also gone for the day.

Time In: I do time-in with the children in my home because I find that it helps to calm tantrums faster and correct behavior more effectively if I hold a child in my lap or sit down next to them while coaching them on how to calm themselves down by breathing slowly, talking softly, giving them the words they aren't able to communicate, etc. Time-in is not a punishment but rather an opportunity to teach little people how to handle big emotions and it is also a chance for me to communicate to them how precious they are.

See the TBRI Page under the 'About' Tab for more info on Time In and my philosophy here.

Please also read the Extreme Behavior Policies for more information on how I handle extreme cases.