Proactive Parenting
THE ABC's of Behaviour Change
As a parent, you are an important partner in creating positive changes for your child. To create these changes it is essential to develop your understanding of your child's behaviour and how this changes across different settings (e.g., home, classroom, and playground).
One way to understand your child's behaviour are the ABC's of Behaviour.
The ABC's stand for
Antecedents - the event that happens immediately before the behaviour occurs
Behaviours - the behaviour that is a response to the antecedent
Consequences - what happens as a result of the behaviour
When your child performs behaviour that you find unacceptable it might be helpful to answer the the following questions:
1) The behaviour that worries me is [describe the behaviour] because it [explain the reasons why]
2) The positive behaviour i would like them to perform instead is [describe the behaviour]
3) I will reward this behaviour by [describe how you plan to reward the behaviour]
You can also look for clues about what might be causing the behaviour by looking at the situational context (environment around the child at the time) and what might be causing the behaviour to continue by looking at your response to the problem behaviour by answering the following questions
1) Just before my child does the behaviour, they [identify what happened]
2) When my child does the behaviour, I do [describe your response] and they get [describe what the child gets]
In some cases you might be able to add a Contingency to help your child respond more appropriately to the commands they are given
Contingencies are proactive strategies that help to limit or redirect behaviours
Rewarding Positive Behaviour
Once your child learns to perform the preferred behaviour, we need to keep it happening. It is important that you praise correctly and effectively to reinforce positive behaviours.
Correct and Effective Praise uses:
Voice
Attention
Affection
Proximity
Correct and Effective Praise does not use:
Back-handed compliments
delayed praise
Commands and Limit Setting
Only give your child a command if you intend to follow through with a consequence if the child does not comply
Good Commands are:
Made after eye contact has been established
Made free from other distractions
Remembered by the child
Monitor the child for compliance
Followed with immediate praise
Good commands are not:
Presented as questions
Given in a list
Tangiable Rewards
Some children do not respond to natural rewards such as (satisfaction, sense of achievement) as well as other children. These children need a reward they can see, touch, or hear. You may like to use token systems, behaviour charts, or immediate rewards
When starting a reward chart is important to do so with a positive tone: We are going to make sure that you get rewarded for all the good things that you do
Always
give praise for the positive behaviour as you give the token
Never
Take tokens away for problematic behaviour
As a parent, you are an important partner in creating positive changes for your child. To create these changes it is essential to develop your understanding of your child's behaviour and how this changes across different settings (e.g., home, classroom, and playground).
One way to understand your child's behaviour are the ABC's of Behaviour.
The ABC's stand for
Antecedents - the event that happens immediately before the behaviour occurs
Behaviours - the behaviour that is a response to the antecedent
Consequences - what happens as a result of the behaviour
When your child performs behaviour that you find unacceptable it might be helpful to answer the the following questions:
1) The behaviour that worries me is [describe the behaviour] because it [explain the reasons why]
2) The positive behaviour i would like them to perform instead is [describe the behaviour]
3) I will reward this behaviour by [describe how you plan to reward the behaviour]
You can also look for clues about what might be causing the behaviour by looking at the situational context (environment around the child at the time) and what might be causing the behaviour to continue by looking at your response to the problem behaviour by answering the following questions
1) Just before my child does the behaviour, they [identify what happened]
2) When my child does the behaviour, I do [describe your response] and they get [describe what the child gets]
In some cases you might be able to add a Contingency to help your child respond more appropriately to the commands they are given
Contingencies are proactive strategies that help to limit or redirect behaviours
Rewarding Positive Behaviour
Once your child learns to perform the preferred behaviour, we need to keep it happening. It is important that you praise correctly and effectively to reinforce positive behaviours.
Correct and Effective Praise uses:
Voice
Attention
Affection
Proximity
Correct and Effective Praise does not use:
Back-handed compliments
delayed praise
Commands and Limit Setting
Only give your child a command if you intend to follow through with a consequence if the child does not comply
Good Commands are:
Made after eye contact has been established
Made free from other distractions
Remembered by the child
Monitor the child for compliance
Followed with immediate praise
Good commands are not:
Presented as questions
Given in a list
Tangiable Rewards
Some children do not respond to natural rewards such as (satisfaction, sense of achievement) as well as other children. These children need a reward they can see, touch, or hear. You may like to use token systems, behaviour charts, or immediate rewards
When starting a reward chart is important to do so with a positive tone: We are going to make sure that you get rewarded for all the good things that you do
Always
give praise for the positive behaviour as you give the token
Never
Take tokens away for problematic behaviour
