This is part two of a two part series on effective communication with young children. You can find part one here.

As I’m sure you gathered by now, this is a post about communicating with young children. My original draft of this post was entirely too long for my taste so I split it into two. Last week, I posted a part one and this week I’m sharing the rest with you. The following tips are things I’ve learned in the last 15 years of working with children. Tried and true, they’re bound to make your interactions with your children much smoother. Continue reading →

This is part one of a two part series on effective communication with young children. You can find part two here.

“You’re so good with them.”

“How do you get them to listen to you like that?”

“Kids are just naturally drawn to you. They just want to do what you say.”

“I don’t know how you do it.”

“Wow, you’re so patient.”

I don’t have enough hands to count the number of times my peers and I have heard these phrases throughout our careers. I wouldn’t consider myself exceptionally patient and I don’t know that children just naturally come to me.  I’m not a parent yet, but I’ve worked with children long enough that I’ve learned some super effective strategies for talking with young children and gaining their cooperation. The following tips don’t work all the time — nothing is perfect, especially in regards to children — and they certainly aren’t always easy, but they work a lot more than yelling and sighing. Continue reading →