The way to educate children at an early age is certainly very different from later teenage years, Bun. This is because the child's brain development is not yet perfect, so sometimes he is not able to understand what the mother wants. So, mothers need to understand how to properly educate children so that your little one can grow optimally, have a good personality and be ready to learn.

What is the right way to educate children at an early age? Come on, find out more tips here!

How to Educate Children Well

Every parent certainly wants their child to grow up to be smart and have a good personality. However, this cannot happen immediately.

Mother and father and other family members who live in the same house need to work together to educate their little one in an appropriate and consistent way. Because, the home and nuclear family are the first figures who become role models for children to learn.

Check out how to educate children well and correctly in full by reading the following explanation until the end, Mom!

1. Make Rules Consistently

The first thing you need to discuss with your father is the rules in the family. Implementing rules in the family is very important to help your little one:

· Understand which behavior is good and which is not good.

· Learn to follow the rules in accordance with applicable norms.

· Recognize the consequences of bad actions.

For rules to work well, all family members (including grandparents) need to understand, agree to, and follow the applicable rules consistently.

That way, your little one can differentiate between things he can and cannot do well.

For example, Mother knows that young children need to limit screen time so that they can learn optimally in the "real world". So, Mother set a rule, "You cannot eat while playing on your cell phone or watching television."

If just one family member is busy with their cell phone while having dinner together and doesn't get a warning or experience the agreed consequences, your little one will be confused about the rules that have been made.

If this inconsistency continues, your little one will tend to be defiant or not care when Mother reminds him about the rules that apply in the family.

So, for early childhood, mothers can start with 2-3 family rules to follow. If your little one can follow it well, then add new rules to learn.

2. Waiting for the child's readiness

When educating children in any field, the first thing you need to pay attention to is the child's readiness to learn something new.

For example, mothers want to teach their children potty training, aka using the toilet to defecate and urinate on their own. When your child is too young or doesn't seem to understand the concept of urinating in the toilet, don't force him or scold him.

Instead of doing that, it's better for mothers to provide stimulation first. For example, get used to telling your child that his diaper is dirty and must be changed every time he urinates. Or, by reading a story book about potty training.

3. Don't be too harsh

At an early age, apart from being seen actively playing, your little one also likes to explore the world around him, so sometimes he feels difficult to control and doesn't want to obey his parents. As a result, Mother becomes impatient and gets angry easily.

Don't make your child's learning process something burdensome, okay?

For example, Mother is teaching your little one to be more independent. So, mothers deliberately let their little ones do several things without help, such as eating, combing their hair and dressing themselves.

However, there may be times when your little one longs to be fed by Mother or stroked on the head while combing after an afternoon bath. Don't immediately scold your little one, Mom.

This is normal, really. Occasionally feeding or combing your little one's hair does not mean that you have failed to educate your child to become an independent person. He just missed and wanted to feel closer to Mother.

4. Build Positive Relationships

Mother, children will develop very well when they have a strong and loving relationship with their parents.

The reason is, a positive relationship between children and their parents will make them feel loved, more confident and safe in exploring the world around them.

To have a positive relationship with your little one, mothers can do the following things:

· Show your love for your little one in various ways, such as saying it directly, giving a warm hug, or giving a kiss on the forehead.

· Making time for quality time with children. For example, by chatting together before bed or reading a book together.

·  Show that you listen seriously when your little one tells a story or expresses an opinion.

· Respect the opinions expressed by your little one. Don't immediately show rejection, judge, or look disappointed when your little one's thoughts don't match your expectations.

· Keep promises that have been made so that your little one knows he can trust his parents.

· Always there when your little one needs emotional support or help. For example, when your little one really doesn't dare to pay after buying ice cream, you can help by accompanying your little one to the cashier and handing over the money.

· Provide opportunities for children to lead. One way is to let your little one lead the game.

5. Give praise to the process

As a parent, you definitely want to make your little one feel confident in their abilities. One way is to give praise.

However, mothers need to be wise in giving praise. Because excessive praise will actually make children experience a decrease in motivation to learn and have difficulty understanding their abilities.

When giving praise to your child, make sure you give the praise with a clear description. So, your little one can really understand what he has done well.

For example, "Wow, you are so cool that you dare to try eating boiled green beans!" By saying this, your little one knows that daring to try new foods is a good thing.

Meanwhile, praise that focuses on the process will help your little one understand that the learning process is more important than the final results achieved.

That way, he will grow up to be a child who never gives up and believes that every failure is a valuable learning process.

So instead of saying, "You're really smart on your bike!" Mother can say, “You are very brave, aren't you? Not afraid to fall many times until you know how to ride a bicycle!"

6. Let Children Try

So that your little one grows up to be an independent child, you can let him try to do things that are appropriate for his age group.

For example, Mother lets your little one take vegetables from a serving bowl and then eat it himself. Or let your little one try playing on the slide without being held.

Mothers can observe from a distance and only offer help if your little one really seems to be having difficulty.

Even though it takes a long time just to eat or their clothes get dirty because they fall down the slide, the child will feel very proud because he learned a new skill and tried it without the help of others until he succeeded.

7. Provide Clear Directions

Early childhood generally has a high curiosity so they really like to explore. However, sometimes children don't have the parameters for what they can do and what they can't do.

So that your little one wants to listen, you need to give clear directions. Directly say what kind of behavior you want.

For example, when your child runs down the stairs, you want them to stop and walk slowly. Avoid saying, “Don't run up and down the stairs!”

Your little one's brain will not protest the word "don't" that you say. He will focus on the words "running up the stairs" only. As a result he won't stop running.

So, it's better for Mother to say, “Just walk, OK, when you go down the stairs. Come here, Mother, accompany us while we count how many steps there are."

Or when your little one is seen scribbling on the wall and Mom wants him to stop. Hold back your anger and say firmly but still in a soft tone, “Our little brother scribbled on paper, okay? Here, Mother, help prepare the paper."

8. Using the Time-Out Method

Children love to seek attention from their parents. Therefore, sometimes he does this and that so that Mother and Father will pay attention.

When your little one does this, Mother can give directions or distractions first. If these two methods don't work, you can try using the time-out method.

According to American Family Physician, this method aims to give a child time to reflect on his mistakes.

When your little one often engages in bad behavior such as throwing tantrums, whining, fighting and arguing, then not talking to him for some time will make him rethink all his actions. This method is considered effective compared to physically taking action against children.

So that the time-out goes well, beforehand you need to do the following things:

· Explain and show children directly what time-out is using language that is easy to understand. This may need to be repeated several times for him to understand.

·  When you and your little one are in a good mood, invite them to practice time-out.

· Make sure your child knows what kind of behavior will result in him facing a consequence in the form of a time-out.

· Be consistent in implementing time-outs as a consequence of agreed upon unexpected behavior.

· Initiate use of time-out as a consequence of 1-2 unexpected behaviors. For example, shouting while talking.

· Time-out must be implemented immediately when your little one breaks the agreement and does not heed Mother's directions.

· Don't threaten your little one with time-out. Use time-out according to the agreement that has been made.

Those are some ways to educate young children that can be applied at home. Implementing new habits consistently is not easy. However, Mom and Dad need to stay enthusiastic, OK?