At kindergarten and preschool it’s usual for kids discipline to be relatively mild. Professional teachers are more often than not very careful about how they punish a child as this is a very sensitive and personal area. In most cases discipline at international schools will involve moving the child to a new area for a bit of time out. Its very important that a child is always kept under the watchful eye of a teacher when this is done.

But how should you discipline your own child? If at all?

For those that agree that something needs to be done its important that you let your child have some control over the outcome. To do this you need to give your child a choice over which outcome they want. Allowing them some degree of control over what happens will promote fairness and will allow them to take the lesson to heart .

Its also important that the “punishment fits the crime.” In other words that the choices you give them are in some way related to what they did. This helps them to further digest the consequences of their actions and makes the point that they are not just being punished for punishments sake.

Punishment for punishments sake simply turns the event into a contest between yourself and your child. You don't want resistance, you want acceptance.

The whole point of discipline therefor is to get the point across, and the only way to do this is to get the point accepted . Understanding, fairness and the child’s own ability to control the outcome will ensure a positive result.