Skip to main content
FamilyEducation
FamilyEducation
Family Education

FE-Menu

  • Baby Names & Meanings
    • <blank>
      • Top Names for Boys
      • Top Names for Girls
      • Browse All Baby Names (A-Z)
      • Baby Name Generator
    • <blank>
      • Baby Name Lists & Ideas
      • First Names By Origin
      • Browse All Last Names (A-Z)
      • Last Names by Origin
  • Pregnancy
    • <blank>
      • Pregnancy Tracker
      • Baby Names
      • Trying to Conceive
    • <blank>
      • Pregnant Life
      • Health & Nutrition
      • Concerns & Complications
    • <blank>
      • Labor & Delivery
      • Postpartum
  • Babies & Toddlers
    • <blank>
      • Babies
      • Toddlers
      • Health & Safety
    • <blank>
      • Childcare
      • Preschool
      • Adoption
  • Kids
    • <blank>
      • Health
      • Fitness & Nutrition
      • Behavior & Discipline
    • <blank>
      • Development
      • School & Learning
      • Safety
    • <blank>
      • Values & Responsibilities
  • Teens
    • <blank>
      • Behavior & Discipline
      • Health & Safety
    • <blank>
      • Puberty & Sex
      • School
    • <blank>
      • Values & Responsibilities
      • Social & Emotional Issues
  • Activities
    • <blank>
      • Activities & Crafts
      • Printables
      • Toys, Games & Books
    • <blank>
      • Holidays
      • Parties & Gifts
      • Travel & Vacations
    • <blank>
      • Movies, TV & Internet
      • Quizzes
  • School & Learning
    • <blank>
      • By Grade
      • By Subject
      • Learning Differences
      • Homeschooling
    • <blank>
      • Parental Involvement
      • Study Skills
      • Your Child's School
      • Back to School
    • <blank>
      • Preparing for Back to School
      • Supplies and Shopping
      • Transitions
  • Family Life
    • <blank>
      • Mom's Corner
      • Marriage & Divorce
      • Family Relationships
    • <blank>
      • Health & Fitness
      • Managing Your Home
      • Family Finances
    • <blank>
      • Food Prep
      • Work
 

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Kids
  3. Discipline Strategies
  4. The 12 Disciplinary Elements

The 12 Disciplinary Elements

Learn 12 disciplinary elements that are essential to raising a well-behaved child.
  • facebook share icon
  • pin
  • twitter share icon
  • email share icon
  • Print page icon

The 12 Disciplinary Elements

Like most things in life, positive discipline happens all at the same time. If you're changing your approach to your children's behavior, it can seem overwhelming. My personal way of dealing with a seemingly impossible task that makes my anxiety levels soar is to break it into a whole bunch of little tiny parts, each one of which can be easily accomplished. My friend Ailsa calls these the “approachable increments of infinity.”

Here then, are my Twelve Disciplinary Elements. Each one is doable. They're not steps, because you climb a flight of steps one after the other (unless you're like my 86-year-old grandmother and take them two or three at a time). They're pieces of a whole; once you get them working they happen all at once, and each element isn't fully effective without the others. We'll look at each element, and concentrate on making them work for you.

  1. Pay attention to your child.
  2. Respect your children and yourself.
  3. Be reasonable, gentle, and firm.
  4. Prevent and minimize problems through understanding, communication, and modeling.
  5. Use positive reinforcement to encourage and reward proper behavior.
  6. Teach ways to make choices.
  7. Set reasonable personal expectations and goals for your child.
  8. Set reasonable expectations for yourself and your family.
  9. Communicate effective and reasonable limits.
  10. Understand misbehavior.
  11. Provide related, respectful, reasonable responses.
  12. Be consistent.

What's hot

  • Attention Seeking BehaviorsKidsHow to Handle an Attention-…
  • child in time outFamily LifeEssential Rules of Parenting…
  • parenting style: are you an extreme parent?Family LifeYour Parenting Style: Are You…
  • smiling adult daughter hugs motherFamily LifeHow to Live with Your Adult…
Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.
Family Education
FamilyEducation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Your use of the site indicates your agreement to be bound by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Information on our advertising guidelines can be found here.

FE Footer

  • Newsletter Center
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Policy
  • Editorial Team
  • Expert Panel
  • Cookie Policy
  • Site Map
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Terms of Use
  • Do Not Sell My Info (for CA Residents)
sandbox learning logo
Family Education is part of the Sandbox Learning family of educational reference sites for parents, teachers, and students. 

factmonster logoinfoplease logoTeacherVision logo

sandbbox logo
©2022 Sandbox Networks Inc. All rights reserved. Sandbox Learning is part of Sandbox & Co., a digital learning company.