Being a parent can be hard work- it is so rewarding but sometimes very challenging! You worry about all the things you’re doing wrong and rarely notice the things you’re doing right. Developing good parenting skills isn’t hard and most of they time they come easily right from your heart. Loving your child and acting in a loving manner toward your child is more than half the battle of getting it right. Luckily, parenting is an ongoing process so you can keep evolving and growing as a person and as parent as your child grows. Here is a fun, good parenting skills quiz to help you gauge what areas of your parenting skills you may want to work on improving. It is followed by a list of good parenting skills so you can brush up on the basics.
Short Good Parenting Skills Quiz
This good parenting skills quiz is short and easy. It will just take you a few minutes and it isn’t meant to judge you. It is meant for you to evaluate yourself objectively and then allow you to easily improve on any good parenting skills that may have come to your attention as areas of opportunity.
- When it comes to how you perceive your role as a parent, do you think you are doing a pretty good job overall?
- When you explain things to your kids, do you focus on the opportunity for your kids to learn to do something better or on the mistakes they made?
- Do you find yourself yelling in an angry way at your child(ren)?
- When you do charity work, do you encourage your child to volunteer for community service work?
- Do you encourage your child to take responsibility for themselves through managing their own school work and doing chores?
- Do you encourage your child to use good manners and to develop close friendships?
Good Parenting Skills Quiz Answers
- The answer for most of us should be a resounding yes. Go ahead and give yourself some credit. Having a positive attitude makes your job of parenting a whole lot easier and more fulfilling. More about this in the Good Parenting Skills List below, see Focus on the Positive.
- Teaching your kids to have a positive attitude starts with you and it is a huge gift to help your child find happiness and success in life. Kids need to begin to think of challenges as opportunities for growth. You both need to be able to accept their mistakes and you can help them look at how they can prevent future mistakes and do better next time. More about this in the Good Parenting Skills List below, see Focus on the Positive.
- Yelling in an angry way at your child is something that should rarely ever happen. This doesn’t mean you should correct your child’s behavior but it does mean maybe you should take some deep breaths and think about you really want to communicate before you just let off steam. More about this in the Good Parenting Skills List below, see Stay Calm.
- Teaching your child to be a part of the community will help them to value themselves, understand their importance, and be happy. More about this in the Good Parenting Skills List below, see Stay Teach Them To Give Back.
- You don’t wan to be a helicopter parent. A great way to encourage independence is to give your child chores and set clear expectations for your child. More about this in the Good Parenting Skills List below, see Give Them Responsibilities.
- Good manners will serve your child well in school and in getting ahead in their career in the future. Close friendships will help your child to be happy and well adjusted as well as help them relate to co-workers and potential mates. More about this in the Good Parenting Skills List below, see Teach Them Social Skills.
5 Good Parenting Skills To Develop
These research backed tips for good parenting skills will help you improve your parenting game.
Focus on the Positive
Life is full of down days and challenges. Getting through them is all in how you look at them. A problem can be something that keeps you stuck or an invitation to make a positive change. Help your children see the brighter side. Things may be difficult sometimes, but with a positive attitude they’ll be able to think more clearly about a solution to get them through. You can model this behavior yourself and this is how they will learn it best.
While it’s important to point out bad behavior that you want your child to improve on, it’s more important to point out what they’re doing right. This builds their confidence and lets them know they’re loved. If they’re constantly being scolded, they won’t feel like they can do anything right so they’ll stop trying. Make a point to let your child know when they do something good.
Stay Calm
When you’re feeling frustrated, it’s easy to slip into raising your voice and even shouting at your kids. But yelling isn’t beneficial to their self-esteem or for getting them to do what you want them to do. Instead, try using your “mom or dad voice,” you know the one. Where your voice is low, firm, and steady. The one that lets your kids know “I’m not kidding.” Reason with your child and let them know there are consequences for their actions. By keeping your cool under pressure you will also teach them to do the same.
Teach Them to Give Back
It’s natural to focus only on our own needs, but that’s not what we want to teach our children. Helping others makes us happy and does something for someone else. Make “give back” a family motto and look for ways to inspire your kids to help others. You can pick up trash at the playground, volunteer at the animal shelter or food bank, visit a friend who’s home-bound, or a number of other things. Get creative and encourage your kids to think of ways they can give back.
Give Them Responsibilities
Giving your child age-appropriate chores will help them learn to be part of a team and work together with others to accomplish goals. Doing chores is an important life lesson which they can apply in how they will approach their work when they’re older. It will begin to teach them the skills they will need to become independent. Positive reinforcement in the form of recognition for the effort they put into reaching chore goals is a great way to keep up the good behavior.
Uncover the shocking reality about setting boundaries with your children and how establishing clear guidelines can actually foster their independence and emotional well-being. Setting boundaries and giving children responsibilities helps them learn about limits, consequences, and the rewards of good behavior. Establishing trust is a crucial element of parenting. We should be excellent role models when it comes to this.
Teach Social Skills
Sometimes it is easy to forget that almost everything is learned- even social skills. Children benefit when we help provide them with opportunities to be social and when we talk to them about appropriate sharing behaviors like sharing or how to be a good friend. Teaching children to use manners and be polite are so important social skills that will serve them well in the work place later in life. Always being an example of good social skills will help your children naturally imitate your behavior and develop their social skills. Reminding children, in a positive manner, to use certain social skills at appropriate times is also helpful to teaching kids good social skills.
Conclusion
Good parenting skills aren’t something we’re born with, they’re something we develop over time. And sometimes, skills we develop from learning how NOT to do things. Don’t beat yourself up over the things you think you’re doing wrong. Instead, learn from them and decide how you will approach the situation the next time. Spend plenty of quality family time with your kids to help instill your family values. Which of these parenting skills are you already doing pretty well with and which ones need a little more attention?
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