Adopting the Right Parenting Style for Your Child and How to Practice It

Photo by Alexander Dummer on Unsplash

Parents often struggle to walk the fine line between loving their children unconditionally and making sure they follow your established rules and discipline.

According to researchers, there are four distinct types of parenting styles -

• Authoritative — Enforce rules and consequences while taking the child’s feelings into consideration, and use positive discipline strategies like a reward system to encourage and reinforce good behavior
• Authoritarian — Enforce rules without brooking questions from the child or allowing exceptions, and use punishment rather than discipline
• Permissive — Set rules but enforce them very rarely, behave more like a friend than a parent, and do not actively discourage poor behavior
• Uninvolved or Neglectful — Do not enforce any rules and do not spend time with children

Of these, the authoritative style of parenting is widely considered to be the most effective in raising children who fare well in academics and proceed to become well-balanced adults. Let us have a look at some techniques to practice authoritative parenting -

Encourage open communication and listen to them

Make sure that you convey to your child that you welcome their opinions and their ideas. Even if they repeat the same nursery rhyme ten times straight, pay active attention to them. Positive attention will help you prevent any behavior problems that might crop up in the future.

Don’t expect your child to follow rules just because you say so

If you want your child to go to bed early, explain to them how it is necessary for their physical and mental health. Understanding the reasons behind a particular rule will make them more willing to follow it.

Use consequences to encourage positive behavior

Whenever a disciplinary issue arises, use consequences instead of inflicting corporal punishment or verbally disparaging your child. For example, if your child hits their sibling, take away their video game privilege for a specific time period and think about how you can teach them to better manage their anger.

Try PACE

The modern education system makes it hard for parents to stay in the loop of their child’s academic progress. PACE (Parent and Child Engagement) promotes engagement between parents and child through a multidimensional approach.

Download the app on Android and iOS to see how you can view your child’s learning path, curate and consolidate content for specific subjects, set simulated tests across multiple categories, motivate kids through a reward-based learning system, and much more.

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