common Q&A
FAQ: Jungle Behaviour Board Game
What is Jungle Behaviour?
Jungle Behaviour is a unique board game that promotes positive behaviour in children. It has been designed especially to facilitate learning opportunities for kids aged 4-10.
Kids learn better by repetition, and Jungle Behaviour was purposely designed to be played over and over. Kids just LOVE to play games with their parents so the more you play, the more opportunities you’ll have to reinforce positive behaviours in a fun way.
Jungle Behaviour has been used very successfully to help children with every day issues like getting dressed in the morning or doing homework! Read the rest of this entry »
Bedtime Problems
Tracy and Brad came to see me at ‘Laura’s Place’. They were experiencing problems with their two boys, aged 7 and 5 years at bedtime. The boys came up with all the excuses in the world as to why they didn’t need to go to bed from not being tired to needing an extra hug!
Does this sound like something you have heard in your house?
Poor Tracy was exhausted by this as she was often on her own at bedtime for the boys. She was up and down the stairs all evening, going between the boys and their various requests. By the time Brad walked in the door Tracy was very stressed and the boys were still awake. Read the rest of this entry »
What do Children think about when their Parents Separate?
What do Children think about when their Parents Separate?
When there is a history of parental conflict, despite best intentions not to argue in front of the children, the reality is children can sense tension between Mum and Dad.
This can present as poor behaviour, problems at school and anxiety.
Over my years of working with children, I have encountered similar worries and questions from them. Here are a few age appropriate answers I have found ease their worries.
Grief after a parent dies Q&A
Q) My husband passed away 9 months ago. At first there were so many people around, the phone never stopped and the kids and I seemed to be coping.
Now everyone is busy and the children seem to be fighting and arguing all the time. My 5 yr. old daughter has started wetting the bed and my 9 yr. old son is getting into fights at school and refusing to do his homework. School are being supportive but they are not sure what to do either.
He seems angry all the time, with everyone, including me. He answers back and I seem to be shouting at him and I don’t mean to. I am not sure what to do to help us.
Difficult Behaviour Q&A
Q) I thought my son was doing well at school, but when I got his school report the Teacher said his behaviour was causing a problem. He was being disruptive and disobedient in class, often staring out of the window in his own world. Sometimes he appeared ‘zoned out’.
I feel under pressure to ‘’do’’ something but I don’t know what. I really need to sort this out as he is yr. 3 now, I don’t want him labelled a trouble maker. What can I do?
Social Skills Q & A
Q) My son has always been shy and found making friends hard. He always seems to be on the outside watching his peers play. I thought it would get better when he started school, but it hasn’t. He tells me he doesn’t have any friends and that breaks my heart.
He can be very ‘in your face’ when he wants to tell you something and I feel that this is off putting for his peers. No matter how often I tell him to give people their personal space it seems to go in one ear and out the other! Sometimes he appears to be missing an empathy chip, so that’s not helping either. I want yr. 1 to be better for him, how can I help?
ADHD & Aspergers Q&A
Q. I have a child who has Aspergers and we really struggle as a family to help her learn the social skills she needs to make moving to Kindy easier for her. Her elder brother finds her very annoying and is extremely negative towards her, how do I help them both?
A. With families siblings can sometimes find it difficult to accept the differences between them. It is important to help them understand if their brother or sister has special needs. Sometimes it helps to get a clear understanding of your child’s problems and then explain it to their siblings. Remember that it is normal for brothers and sisters to argue! Read the rest of this entry »
Behaviour Problems, common questions answered.
Q. My new Partner and I have moved in together and I have 2 children aged 5 and 7yrs. They have gone from being well behaved to such awful behaviour that I am embarrassed and I am scared that he will change his mind!
A. The key to this one might be the fact that your Partner has moved into your home now and therefore is around more and perhaps the children are feeling threatened or lacking in ‘Mummy attention’. Try to set a time when you spend some time with the children on a one to one basis. Do this regularly, daily if you can, this will help with consistency during this new phase of their life. Kids don’t like sharing Mummy at the best of times, but with a new partner they may resent the attention you give him. If children feel that they are not getting enough positive attention then they go for the negative type instead, any attention from Mummy is better than no attention!
How do I get my kids to listen to me?
Question: How do I get my kids to listen to me? I spend all day trying to get them to do things!
As a parent there are days when you feel you have repeated yourself all day long, and only you have been listening!
If you feel this way you probably need to think about:
- What exactly you are saying over and over again?
- Are you sure you have got their attention?
- Are they engrossed in something and they don’t ‘’hear” you.
- Are you just issuing command after command?
- Do you yell at them so much that they just tune out? Read the rest of this entry »
Biting and Hitting
Question: My child has started biting and hitting at preschool and this is causing me great embarrassment. What is up with him? How can I manage this behaviour?
Hitting, biting or fighting behaviour is unacceptable at any age.
Dealing with this depends on the age of your child as to how you handle it.
Very young children can be told ‘no’ and removed from the situation to play somewhere else.
Slightly older kids need telling ‘no’, and explaining that hurts and he shouldn’t do it. This type of behaviour is almost always either attention seeking behaviour or a result of frustration. Read the rest of this entry »
