I wanted to share some great tips on the Parent SKILLZ word: PROMPTING. At American Family Martial Arts we believe in the “family” part of our name. And sometimes we all need a new idea or way to look at things in this hard job called parenting.
Setting your child up for daily successes is easier than trying to punish poor behavior.
Sometimes children make poor behavior choices simply because they are not paying attention. Other times they make poor behavior choices because they have built a habit of making poor choices.
So how can you foster PROMPTING good behavior as a parent?
I suggest you deploy strategies which help set your child up for success!
One suggestion is to ‘catch’ your child demonstrating good behavior and complimenting him/ her for it. 
For example, many parents have the habit of waiting for their child to misbehave before teaching them a lesson. Instead, build a habit of ‘catching’ them with compliments when they have great behavior. This simple strategy of praising a child when they least expect it is a great way to confidence in their behavior.
Another suggestion is to set your child up by giving him/ her a challenge to accomplish and reward him/ her for it. The karate program at American Family Martial Arts has a built in reward system with our weekly stripes and regular belt testing and promotions.
For example: tell your child to get ready for school in 10-minutes or less and you will give him/ her 10 extra minutes of play before bedtime. When children successfully accomplish challenges, they build a habit of enjoying challenges.
Notice these two strategies are about building good habits. The key is to focus more on building good habits versus focusing on bad habits. Children’s brains are moldable, and these strategies will help mold them into people who have self-discipline and accountability. We incorporate life skills into all our children’s karate programs-from Tiny Tigers (ages 3 & 4), Little Ninjas (ages 5 & 6), Core students )ages 7-9) to our Extreme Kids (ages 10-14) to help children become successful adults.
And one last tip: Enrolling your child in a martial arts program, particularly one that targets their age-specific physical, intellectual, emotional, and social stages of development can have a profound effect on your child’s ability to thrive in the midst of change. For more information about American Family Martial Arts classes for kids, click the button below:
American Family Martial Arts
Jessika Efferson, Master Tullier, Mr. Luckett, Rachael Tullier, Patrick Mehaffey