Parenting Skills Blog ~ How Specific Praise Helps Kids

"Building Character Starts with Getting Your Kids To Talk."

Parenting Tips by Jean Tracy, MSS, for grades K-6:

This Parenting Skill Comes from my Parenting Skills Kit:

Praising kids offers them the 3 things all children crave, attention, appreciation, and affection. General praise is lukewarm praise. Lukewarm praise fails to satisfy the craving that kids want. Specific praise satisfies those cravings. Why not give specific praise?

Parenting Skill – How to Give Specific Praise:

Focus on a specific act to praise. Instead of saying, "Good game, Seth," say, "Seth, you hit that ball with such power, no wonder it flew out of the ballpark." Can you see the difference? The first praise was lukewarm and general. The second praise was specific and positive.

One more thing, use completely positive praise. Some parents stick on handles like, "You usually strike out." Knock off negative handles because they deflate your kids and leave them feeling angry.

If you liked the above parenting tip, pick up our Parenting Skills Kit at http://www.kidsdiscuss.com/parent_resource_center.asp?pr_id=kd003

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Here's to your parenting success,

Jean

Jean Tracy, MSS