How to connect with your child

Bonding with your preschooler
These are the years when your child really seems to be enjoying life and is even more fun to be around. He thinks you're pretty terrific and wants to be like you, following you around and copying you. So setting a good example for your child becomes even more important at this age. Try these tips to enrich the bond with your preschooler:
 
• Be a model for good problem solving, negotiating and understanding of others, as well as all the other skills you want your child to have and ways you want your child to behave. Teach and lead instead of using force – but expect what's appropriate for your child's age, not perfection.

• Praise his efforts. Each time he learns a new skill, right from the earliest days, let him know how well he has done.

• Play with your child. When your child plays, he is practicing skills in every area of his development. He thinks, solves problems, talks, moves, cooperates and makes moral judgments. Play helps to get him ready for the real world. Playing with you has the added benefit of cementing your bond.

• Make the time to have a one-to-one talk. Don't try to talk in the middle of family confusion. Find a time and place where the two of you won't be interrupted.

• Don't interrupt when your child is speaking. The better you listen, the more likely you are to respond in a way that is helpful.

• Express your love for your child in words and actions. Knowing he's a good, lovable person is the most important way to build your child's self-esteem. 
 
Young children are consummate imitators, constantly looking to their parents for guidance in how to handle life’s challenges. As the parent of a preschooler, being a model for your child is important. To be an excellent model, parents must know themselves – their emotions, values and beliefs – and how they appear to others in the family, on the job and in their community.

Read more:
• Active family games
• Playing with your toddler
• Examining your toddler's sleep problems

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