So, What’s Conscious Discipline? | Bright Beginnings Preschool

All About Preschoolers and Conscious Discipline

We have all had that moment feeling like the kids are driving us crazy. One has just thrown his sippy cup on the ground for the fourth time but when you don’t give it back he cries. Another one is drawing on the floor with the food they spilled and the third one won’t eat the meal you slaved over. It can be so easy to lose your cool and nobody would blame you for being frustrated. But Conscious Discipline strategies are here to help.

There are 7 powers of Conscious Discipline that help us to help our kids. They are: perception, unity, attention, free will, acceptance, love and intention. The idea behind these seven powers is that kids need a mindful adult leading them in the right direction.

Implement some of these strategies to help yourself engage in Conscious Discipline:

Take a breath: It feels like you can’t breathe but that is when it is most important to do so. Take 3 deep breaths before saying anything so that you can be proactive about what you want the message to be. You are in total control of the situation and taking a deep breath before responding is a great way to model to your kids how to handle conflict.
Regroup: It is not the end of the world. You got this mama! Take a moment to carefully think through how you are going to approach the situation. The way you respond sets the tone for your kids actions as well.
Remember: You love these little creatures and they are probably as tired as you are and getting kind of rowdy, and it is your special skills needed to help them to regulate themselves by regulating yourself. If you yell, they yell. Remember being quiet can oftentimes be more powerful than being loud.
Lead by Example: This is key to conscious discipline. Kids pick up and mirror the way that you act. If you have steam coming out of your ears, so will the kids. So this is your time to shine by maintaining your emotions. Conscious Discipline states that if the adults are able to identify and regulate their emotions then the kids in their care will be able to follow that example and do the same better than if the adults are losing control.
Show your kids how you want them to act: Cool, calm, and collected is the name of the game. Take the opportunity to teach and guide your kids in what you would rather be seeing. Use ‘I statements’ such as “I love it when you help your brother pick up the juice he dropped” or “I would really appreciate if you would use your inside voice.”

The beauty of Conscious Discipline is that it makes us better as family units. We are training our brain to respond to situations in a better way than our first emotional response. By being consciously aware of how we are feeling we can take a step back and instead of giving into our first instinct we spend our energy acting in ways that we want our children to emulate. This doesn’t mean that you have to be perfectly calm all the time – that isn’t reasonable. But hat Conscious Discipline does preach is that we act as role models for the little ones in our lives. By modeling ourselves as a person that is in touch with their feelings, and having healthy discussions around our feelings, we are helping our kids to better understand and identify their own actions.