Change Behavior ASAP At Home & School: 3 Quick Tips

Wed Jan 01 2025

You're out of sync, tired, overwhelmed and secretly can't wait for your kids to go back to school after a long holiday break! So how can we get some positive momentum to begin 2025? Kirk gives you three concrete strategies and scripts that change behavior at home AND in the classroom. Our New Year's Sale Begins TODAY!

Summary

Calm Parenting Podcast: Detailed Summary of "Change Behavior ASAP At Home & School: 3 Quick Tips"

Episode Overview In the January 1, 2025 episode of the Calm Parenting Podcast, host Kirk Martin, founder of Celebrate Calm, delves into effective strategies for managing and transforming challenging child behaviors both at home and in school settings. Drawing from his extensive experience with over 1,500 children exhibiting various behavioral and developmental challenges, Kirk offers practical, actionable tips to help parents and teachers foster a more cooperative and positive environment. This episode, titled "Change Behavior ASAP At Home & School: 3 Quick Tips", is structured around three core principles: Connect and Control Yourself, Create Successes, and Affirm Positive Choices and Behavior.

1. Connect and Control Yourself

Building Strong Parent-Child Connections

Kirk emphasizes the importance of establishing a strong emotional connection with children to encourage cooperation and positive behavior. He explains that connection often leads to more effective cooperation, transforming how children respond to parental interactions.

Emotional Engagement: Kirk states, “Our kids aren't just looking for our attention. They want our intense emotional engagement” (01:45).
Curiosity and Interest: He advises parents to show genuine interest in their children's passions, even those that might typically irritate them. For example, instead of criticizing a child's video game habits, parents should inquire, “What is it about this particular video game that you find so intriguing that you find so challenging?” (03:30).

Self-Control as a Parent

Maintaining self-control is crucial for parents to model desired behaviors. Kirk suggests that parents practice self-regulation to prevent negative interactions that can escalate into power struggles.

Simple Strategies: “It's virtually impossible to sit and yell at someone... So sit. Because when you sit, you will begin to reset yourself and you'll start to see the situation differently” (05:15).
Commitments Over Resolutions: Kirk prefers making short-term commitments over traditional New Year's resolutions. He advises starting with small, manageable changes, such as committing to sit down instead of yelling, to create immediate positive shifts in behavior (07:50).

2. Create Successes

Proactive Approaches Over Punishments

Rather than relying on consequences or punishment, Kirk advocates for creating opportunities where children can succeed. This approach builds confidence and reduces the likelihood of negative behaviors.

Assigning Missions: Kirk recommends giving children specific missions or jobs that align with their strengths. For example, asking a child to “cook a meal” or “clean up” leverages their natural abilities and provides a sense of responsibility (09:10).
Sensory Exercises: For children with sensory needs, activities like obstacle courses or individual sports (e.g., martial arts, rock climbing) can help channel their energy positively (10:05).
Challenging Tasks: Introducing challenges that stimulate the child’s intellect, such as solving complex math problems or engaging in treasure hunts, can keep them focused and productive (11:20).

Examples of Creating Successes

Kirk shares practical examples, such as hiding a child's favorite toy to create a treasure hunt or assigning tasks that require cognitive engagement, which not only provide a sense of accomplishment but also mitigate disruptive behaviors (12:00).

3. Affirm Positive Choices and Behavior

Effective Praise Techniques

Affirming positive behavior is essential for reinforcing good choices without adding undue pressure or creating dependency on praise. Kirk outlines how to offer praise that acknowledges achievements authentically and unobtrusively.

Low-Key Praise: Instead of grandiose acknowledgments, Kirk suggests simple statements like, “Hey, nice job how you handled that,” accompanied by a fist bump and walking away to create space (14:10).
Specific Acknowledgments: Tailoring praise to specific behaviors helps children understand what actions are valued. Examples include, “I like how you walked away when your sister was irritating you,” or, “You played a great game and congratulated your brother” (15:30).

Tools for Affirmation

To maintain consistent affirmation, Kirk introduces tools like talk tickets and idea boxes that allow children to express themselves positively without interrupting ongoing activities.

Talk Tickets: These are small tokens children can use to indicate when they wish to speak, helping them practice self-control and appropriate timing for sharing their thoughts (16:45).
Idea Boxes: An idea box on the teacher’s desk can serve as a repository for children’s thoughts and ideas, which can be shared with the class at designated times, fostering a respectful and inclusive environment (18:20).

Teacher and Parent Collaboration

Kirk underscores the importance of parents collaborating with teachers to ensure consistency in affirming positive behaviors across different environments. He illustrates this with scenarios where parents communicate effectively with teachers to implement these strategies in the classroom (20:00).

Application in School Settings

Strategies for Educators

Kirk provides actionable strategies for teachers to support strong-willed children within the classroom:

Initial Communication: Parents can start by reaching out to teachers with a note or conversation that outlines their child’s unique challenges and suggests trying new approaches, such as connecting over shared interests (21:15).
Assigning Roles: Similar to home, assigning roles or missions in the classroom can help children feel valued and reduce misbehavior. For instance, asking a child to help with tasks like moving books or creating classroom materials can channel their strengths productively (22:30).
Affirmation in Class: Teachers can use affirmations to recognize and encourage positive behavior, helping children understand and repeat these actions. For example, acknowledging a student’s curiosity by saying, “I love how curious you are. Let’s make sure we share your ideas at the right time” (23:50).

Encouraging Positive Classroom Dynamics

By implementing these strategies, teachers can create a more harmonious classroom environment where positive behaviors are recognized and reinforced, thereby minimizing the reliance on punitive measures (25:10).

Personal Stories and Insights

Parenting as a Learning Process

Kirk shares a heartfelt story from a listener who appreciated the podcast's approach of involving children in parenting education. The listener found value in demonstrating vulnerability and the effort to improve parenting, which fostered mutual understanding and growth within the family (26:45).

Modeling Behavior: “Letting my kids see me trying to improve my parenting... they can see you living that out right in front of them” (27:30).

Breaking Generational Patterns

Kirk discusses his revamped 30 Days to Calm program, which focuses on breaking generational behavioral patterns. This updated program includes new recordings and workbooks designed to help parents address and overcome challenges derived from their own upbringing (29:00).

Conclusion

In this episode, Kirk Martin provides a comprehensive guide for parents and educators to effectively manage and improve challenging behaviors in children. By focusing on connecting emotionally, creating opportunities for success, and affirming positive behaviors, parents and teachers can foster a more cooperative and nurturing environment. Kirk’s practical advice, supported by real-life examples and actionable tools, empowers listeners to implement meaningful changes that enhance their relationships with children and improve overall behavior both at home and in school.

Key Takeaways:

Connect and Control Yourself: Establish strong emotional bonds and practice self-regulation to influence child behavior positively.
Create Successes: Provide children with roles and challenges that align with their strengths to build confidence and reduce misbehavior.
Affirm Positive Choices: Use specific, low-key praise to reinforce good behaviors without creating pressure or dependency.

For more resources and to take advantage of Kirk’s programs, visit CelebratCalm.com.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

“Our kids aren't just looking for our attention. They want our intense emotional engagement.” — Kirk Martin (01:45)
“It's virtually impossible to sit and yell at someone... So sit.” — Kirk Martin (05:15)
“You know what I love about you? You're curious.” — Kirk Martin (24:30)

By implementing Kirk Martin’s strategies, parents and educators can significantly reduce power struggles, yelling, and defiance, fostering a more peaceful and cooperative environment for children to thrive.

Transcript

A (0:01)

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C (1:00)

Okay, secretly, how many of you can't wait for your kids to go back to school? Look, don't feel guilty about that. Your kids maybe can't wait to go back to school to get away from their siblings and you because it's hard. It's New Year's Day. For the last couple weeks, kids have been out of school. You've been off of work. Everybody's been together, but your schedules are all messed up. You've been traveling. There's all this emotion. You're out of sync, eating the wrong things. And so here's what I want to do. I want to start the new year on a positive note. I want to give you three very specific things you can do at home and also in school so we can get some positive momentum heading into the new year. Because even though it's new year, everything, like all the issues haven't gone away. So that's what we're going to discuss on today's episode of the Calm Parenting Podcast. So welcome. This is Kirk Martin, founder of Celebrate Calm. You can find us and our New year sale@celebratecalm.com so three things at home and school. One, connect and control yourself. Two. Create successes and three, affirm positive choices and behavior. So at home, let's start with connection. There are a hundred different things you can do, but remember, connection usually breeds more cooperation and that relationships change behavior. You've seen this over the holidays. On those days where you were just a little bit on edge and your tone got a little bit shorter. It Affected your kids behavior. But when you were relaxed, when you reset yourself, it changed their behavior. So positive. Remember, our kids aren't just looking for our attention. They want our intense emotional engagement. And that's where, look, even spending three minutes being really engaged, asking questions, being curious about something they're interested in, and I would take that a step further and say bond over something that usually irritates you. Now I've done this in the past. I'm not going to do big examples right now, but I want to just plant that seed. Like even take them interest in things you don't like. Like your kids music. Like they're, I'll give you one that you're going to hate. They're video games. And instead of just like, oh, you guys play too much. Why do you always do that? Say, hey, I'm curious. What is it about this particular video game that you find so intriguing that you find so challenging? What is it about that? What is about that music that you listen to? What do you love about it? And just be curious. Don't try to convince them that it's wrong and it's ruining their childhood. Just be curious about it with some measure of intensity. It'll also throw them off because instead of lecturing them, you're now taking an interest in something they're passionate about. With older kids, ask them to teach you something and show you something. Maybe it is something with technology. It's a great bonding tool. And let's learn how to control ourselves. Look, that's a big thing. In early January, throughout January, I'm going to do a series of podcasts on learning how to break some of those patterns, a lot of those childhood issues, so that we can stop the reactivity, the yelling, the lecturing, because it just doesn't work. And so some of this is from patterns in our childhood. Oh, by the way, big announcement over the holidays. Over the holidays, I just completely re, engineered, retooled, reworked the 30 days to calm program. It's about breaking generational patterns. So if you have our programs, go into your Soundwise app. Go into the app and you'll see a new recording, a new workbook, and it's called New 30 Days to Calm. It's completely different than the one before because I've updated everything I added. Hey, dealing with childhood patterns and roles that we brought from childhood into our adult life that is sabotaging our relationships. Moms especially, who take the constantly taking the temperature of your home, how to deal with your triggers. It's all new. I am super excited about this. So go. Even if you went through that before, go through it again because so much of it is brand new. And if you don't have it, go the website and get that. This 30 days to calm is included in all of our programs. But here's what I want to start the new year with. Let's start with something easy and get a win. Look, I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions. Why? Because everybody does them and nobody keeps them. Goals are fine, but some goals you hit, some goals you don't. I prefer to make commitments because if I make a commitment to my wife, to my kids, to my friends, oh, I keep my commitment because that's about my personal integrity and it shows that I value them. So I'd rather you make some commitments and shorten the duration. Right. Like this year, I'm going to stop yelling and break all my generational patterns. That's an awesome goal. But let's start with something a little bit easier. Like, hey, for the next two weeks, every time I feel compelled, because that's what your anxiety does, it makes you feel compelled to do this. There's no peace in lecturing or yelling every time I want to lecture or yell. Instead, I'm going to sit down. Now, I know that sounds too simple and you want more, which is fine, I give you more. But I want to start with something you can do. Because, look, it's not just about, like, I'm going to stop doing X. Whenever you have stopped doing something, you have to start doing something differently. And sitting down is something that you can do just about anywhere you are. It will change your tone of voice. Look, it is virtually impossible to sit and yell at someone, right? Like, even if you're Italian, that is hard to do. So sit. Because when you sit, you will begin to reset yourself and you'll start to see the situation differently. And then you can change your tone of voice to the calm, even matter of fact, then you can begin to lead and problem solve. But let's just begin very simply. Hey, I just changed one thing. And just watch how your kids watch how their behavior and their response changes when you sit and even when you use that even matter of fact tone. Okay? Number two, create successes. Now, look, here's the thing. Consequences tend not to work that well. And those red, yellow and green behavior charts that that we use in schools, they don't work partly because your kid walks into school, they're already on yellow, right? They know they're never getting to green, so they Figure, hey, if I'm going to be on red today, I may as well just double down and make it a really bad day. And so the reason is this. There are two ways to handle misbehavior. One is to you wait, the child misbehaves, does something wrong, and then you react and punish the child with a consequence. But what we're doing is we're basically punishing a child for failing or look, I know my kids, I know my students struggle with this. So what if I proactively give them a tool to succeed? And so here are some tools you can use in your home. Give your kids missions this week as you're kind of getting ready to go back to school and get back in the flow, give your kids submissions doing things that they're just naturally good at doing. One of those things is adult type jobs. Your strong willed kids are not always good at being a kid, but they're really good in the adult world. So actually asking them to cook a meal, just don't expect them to follow a recipe or clean up that well. But cooking a meal I have, we work with families whose kids change the oil or do landscaping stuff because they like digging in the dirt. It's very sensory helping you at your job. We have kids who will enter things into an Excel spreadsheet because they're really good at doing that. So look for some different types of missions, jobs and challenges that your kids can do that they're actually good at doing. I like making things a challenge. I love having that treasure hunt in the morning, right where you wake your kids up and you're like, hey, hid your food, hit a favorite toy in the basement, in the backyard, but you can't find it. Gets their brains moving, gets them focused on completing a specific task. And I also like for successes, sensory exercise. Many of your kids have sensory issues. Their bodies crave physical pressure. So younger kids, I love having an obstacle course in the basement or backyard. Things they have to climb under, crawl over, push, pull. It's why many of your kids, they don't really do well at team sports all the time. So they're better at individual sports. So martial arts classes, rock climbing, anything that is very physical. Climbing trees is very helpful for these kids. Swimming. So those are ways that you create successes in your home so that you have an opportunity, more of an opportunity to do the third thing, which is affirm your kids for what they're already doing. Well. And look, when you praise your kids, a couple things about praise. Look, praise is just a simple Acknowledgment of the truth. Hey, you did that really well. Hey, I like how you handle that. And you don't make a big deal out of it with strong will kids. Because if we do the whole thing like, oh, honey, you just made a great choice, right? It sounds like we never thought you'd actually make a good choice, and you just did. So we're going to have a party, and it draws too much attention to them, which they do not like in this sense. And it also creates pressure. And they'll often reject your praise because what they're saying inside is, no, no, no, now there's pressure because you're going to expect me to always make a good choice. See, I like it to be very low key. I like planting seeds. Hey, nice job how you handled that. Fist bump and then walk away, create some space, right? I love. Hey, I saw how your sister was irritating you and you just walked away. Shows me you're growing up. Hey, I heard you playing the board game with your brother, and I know that you lost and you started to complain, but then you said, good game, man. A lot of adults can't do that. Fist bump, walk away. Praise is not hard. You don't have to think. You're just simply acknowledging what they're already doing. Well, hey, I like how you handle that. Start noticing. Hey, I like your creativity. I like that you look, here's one I'll challenge you with. Hey, you know what I like about you and what I admire? You stand up for yourself. You're willing to speak up, and you do challenge me. And sometimes you do it in a way that is disrespectful. But much of the time, the arguments that you have are actually very well thought out, which tells me you have really good critical thinking thinking skills, and that's what companies value. So I like how you think, and I can show you how to do it without losing all your stuff. Right? But you're not making a big deal out of it. I love this one for little kids. And I think I mentioned this in an Instagram video a couple weeks ago. I spy. Play I Spy. You know what? You're sitting around the table, you're in the car, whatever, and you say, I spy a girl in a blue shirt who is amazing at building and tinkering with things, who has this amazing engineering brain. I spy a boy in a red shirt who's incredibly creative, pictures things in his brain, and then creates them. And even with older kids, you could do it with, like, a middle school kid. I spy a teenager in the same hoodie sweatshirt for 18 straight days who crushes it when playing video games and is trying to suppress a smile through his scowl right now. Make it fun with your kids. Relax a little bit, because when you relax and enjoy them, I guarantee the discipline gets much easier. Okay, what about doing this in the school setting? Sergeant and Mr. Smith, you're gonna love this house.