Page "Temperament" Paragraph 35

Understanding a child ’ s temperament can help reframe how parents interpret children ’ s behavior and the way parents think about the reasons for behaviors.

By parents having access to this knowledge now helps them to guide their child in ways that respect the child ’ s individual differences.

By understanding children ’ s temperaments and our own helps adults to work with them rather than try to change them.

It is an opportunity to anticipate and understand a child ’ s reaction.

It is also important to know that temperament does not excuse a child ’ s unacceptable behavior, but it does provide direction to how parents can respond to it.

Making small and reasonable accommodations to routines can reduce tension.

For example a child who is slow paced in the mornings may need an extra half hour to get ready.

Knowing who or what may affect the child ’ s behavior can help to alleviate potential problems.

Although children obtain their temperament behaviors innately, a large part that helps determine a child's ability to develop and act in certain ways is determined by the parents.

When a parent takes the time to identify and more importantly respond to the temperaments they are faced with in a positive way it will help them guide their child in trying to figure out the world.