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Child Care News for Parents & Carers
September 7, 2016 |
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Welcome, this week learn how to inspire and motivate your children to make great choices (rather than bribe them) and learn why nursery rhymes are such an enduring part of early childhood across the generations.
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| The value of nursery rhymes |
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Nursery rhymes have been a much-loved part of childhood for generations. The poems and stories they share date back to centuries passed: Old King Cole, may refer to an ancient Welsh king who drowned in a swamp 1700 years ago; Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses may refer to the Black Death of the 1300s; and Mary Mary Quite Contrary could be referring to a Queen beheaded for her Catholic faith, or Mary Queen of Scots.
Though the stories have morphed as years have passed, and many weren't originally intended for children, these rhymes have become an intrinsic part of the younger years. And despite many of the stories being largely nonsensical in life today, nursery rhymes still have an important part to play in early childhood.
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| Motivating kids without bribery |
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As an immediate behaviour changer, bribery is one of the easiest and most effective forms of motivation around. Whether it's a toy to avoid a tantrum in the supermarket or a lolly for every goal scored, prizes and rewards are a great way of getting instant results. However, what does this teach kids? And does this work in the long term?
Though rewards work in the short term, when the behaviour becomes dependent on reward, the system stops working. Take the child who gets a jellybean every time she does a wee on the toilet. Before long, that child is doing 'pretend' wees to get the jellybean and the reward has lost its purpose. Motivated only by the prize – whether it's a treat, or the removal of a privilege – kids don't learn why they are doing something, only that they do that thing for a result. Rather than take responsibility for their actions they look to a reward or fear of punishment as a reason for their actions.
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