Hopefully, you have had some time to notice and work with your kids on our first Project of "Being asked to do something one time.". Judging from the kids' reactions in class, it seems that things are better but not where we want them to be regarding having to "nag" kids to get the simple things in life done... Brushing their teeth... Turning the TV off... Getting ready for bed... etc.
We will continue to work on it in class and hope you will join us in reinforcing this important behavior at home.
The next Project we are working on with the kids is "Not being Fresh." Now, "fresh" is a term from our generation and not necessarily theirs. I invite you to supplement whatever word you use with your children. Some parents use "sassy", "rude", "talking back", "having an 'attitude'" and a variety of others.
The more important behavior that I have noticed over the year is not so much what comes out of their mouth, but their body language. Everyone has heard the phrase, "Its not what you say but how you say it." Another way to put it is, if you were viewing a child and parent across a parking lot, could you tell simply by the child's body whether or not they were being "fresh"? I can and I believe you can too.
I would argue that the physical "being fresh", like an eye roll, or crossed arms precedes the verbal. Meaning, the verbal follows the physical. This is why I pay very close attention to my children's body language. I tend to be able to head off this type of behavior before it becomes a problem.
I invite you to try it for yourself and again, I hope that these Projects are making a difference in the children's behavior at home.
Thank you for your support and for partnering up with us to raise Better Behaved Kids!
Master Dan
President
Stryker Martial Arts Inc.
