Discipline in the preschool classroom does not always mean getting the kids to behave. It can mean something as simple as setting the tone of the classroom by speaking to the children correctly. This way you often can avoid real discipline or potential discipline problems.

I am going to give you some basic tips on how you can set a positive  tone in the preschool classroom by showing you some of the different ways you can phrase the same thing.

1. Notice details of a child’s behavior instead of saying things like good boy and good girl. You can say   You did a good job…You’re a good cleaner…That was hard but you did it anyway. These comments are less global and more specific and make the child feel good about the specific thing he did.
2. Don’t tell the child that he or she is a bad boy or girl instead can say ….I’m sorry that is not allowed; Or  Come let us try to find something  else to do. One can be firm without being punitive.
3. Saying you’re cute or wonderful is not helpful either. Saying Your hair looks really nice today or I really enjoyed working with you…or    You did a very nice thing to your friend by giving her your chair goes a lot further in building up self esteem because  it is recognizing something they did and had control over as opposed to things like their looks that they have no control over.
4. Do not encourage competition by showing off one child’s work over another. The child complimented will feel just as good if complimented in private while the child hearing it will feel inferior.
5. When a child is doing some kind of kids crafts or other artwork then  instead of saying That’s beautiful, you can notice what they did in the artwork and comment on it like I see you used red and yellow and blue or You used a lot of paint and moved your arm strongly. This makes the child notice the work she did herself and feel good that someone else really noticed what she did.
6. Get down with the children physically when you really need to get a point across. It is a lot easier listening to an adult when they are at your level as opposed to towering above you.

Just try to implement some of these examples and you will be setting a positive, comfortable tone in your classroom that will help avoid discipline problems from the outset.