Preschool (4-5 years)
John's Most Recent Articles
Don’t Just ‘Settle’ Dispute, Solve It
Posted 2 weeks ago
Q: Our sons are six and four. When their same-age cousins, come over, they all go down into our basement to play. Invariably, within thirty minutes my youngest comes upstairs crying because his...
Read MoreOn Chores, Discipline, Potty-Training
Posted on 3/29/2022
Q: When I give my 5-year-old daughter a chore, she does it, but all the while she is muttering under her breath, huffing and puffing, and so on. Do I discipline that behavior or just let her...
Read MorePatience With Young Daughter’s Questions Will Pay Off
Posted on 3/1/2022
Q: I’m concerned that my 3-year-old – she’s nearly 4 – daughter has some sort of language issue. For example, even though my brother’s family moved away nearly two years ago, whenever we drive by...
Read MoreIn Defense of ‘Because I Said So'
Posted on 2/1/2022
Q: Concerning chores, another expert recommends giving a child a certain number of chips, like poker chips, every month and if he or she fails to do a chore or doesn’t do it properly, you take a...
Read MoreIs This Battle Worth It?
Posted on 12/29/2021
Q: I have six-month- and thirty-two-month-old boys. The older one—well-mannered, easy going, very affectionate—attends a preschool program three mornings a week. This is his second year there. ...
Read MoreUsing the ‘Dry Run’ for Tantrums
Posted on 11/16/2021
Q: My almost four-year-old daughter is generally well-behaved except for screaming and running away from me when we leave a store, the library, etc. before she’s ready to go. She pulls away from...
Read MoreChoose 1 of 2 Paths With Kids’ Anxieties
Posted on 11/9/2021
Q: I recently changed my almost 4-year-old son’s preschool. My son, once fearless, has become reluctant to simply get out of the car in the morning and go into the school. There’s always a...
Read MoreCure for Kid Who Hits
Posted on 10/26/2021
A 4-year-old – I’ll call him Popeye – had a habit of hitting other children in his preschool program. His teachers tried various approaches, including rewarding him with a treat on days when he...
Read MoreTaking Back Control From Child’s Tantrums
Posted on 7/27/2021
Q: Our four-year-old, an only child, is giving us fits. As a toddler, he began ignoring us. That evolved into downright refusing to do what we ask, as in, “I’m not going to” and just plain “No.”...
Read MoreThe Biggest Problem Teachers Face Is Parents
Posted on 7/13/2021
When I ask a teacher, “What is the biggest problem you face?” the answer – there has never been an exception – is “parents.” That is certainly a recent phenomenon. My parents were...
Read MoreRecent Questions
Youn Boy Wants Answer to Complicated Physiological Question
Posted 2 days ago
Hi there, My 4 years old boy asked my wife last night before going to bed why his penis gets large. She managed to delay answering it by asking him to ask me. We both clueless how to answer...
Read MoreBedtime Monsters
Posted 1 week ago
My 9 year old won’t go to bed at night, constantly crying about monsters etc which has never been an issue before. It seems to be one thing after the other. If he could sleep in my bed he would...
Read More4 Year Old and Grandma need a break
Posted 1 week ago
I am a grandparent?! asking the question. My husband and I take turns babysitting my daughter's 2 of 3 kids, their oldest daughter is in 2nd grade. We are baby sitting due to their youngest son,...
Read More4 Year Old Boy in Structured Academic Program? Not on My Watch!
Posted 1 week ago
Hello, Our 4 year old son is attending a private school this fall which will have a more structured environment than his daycare. He is a very hyperactive boy and I wondered if there were...
Read MoreHearing Voices
Posted 3 weeks ago
"John" is almost 6 and is hearing voices in his head. The voices keep him awake at night and tell him "bad things". He does not try to get up and there are no behavior issues. He simply can't...
Read MoreYoung daughter testing the boundaries
Posted on 4/21/2022
Hi! I am following up on questions I asked about a year ago that were titled "The Preschooler: in her Untamed Primal Glory" Using a parent coach and reading "The Well Behaved Child" (many...
Read MoreNo Response is a Response: Let Them Be Silly
Posted on 4/21/2022
How do we teach our children to stop the constant silly talk/noises? One child is diagnosed with ADHD, autism, etc. I've set up a rule that the first 30 minutes after wakeup and the last 30...
Read MoreExhausted and Longing for Peace
Posted on 4/4/2022
Discovering your books has put us on a new trajectory in our family after years of struggle with our "high misbehavior" 5 year old. For several months we've used the ticket system and "kicked him...
Read MoreGrandparents- respect parents' directives.
Posted on 3/23/2022
My almost 4 year old grandson and I love pretending to be superheroes, villians, Disney characters and made up characters when he is at my house. He has repeatedly asked for a Wicked Witch of the...
Read MoreMiddle of the Night Snacks Prolonging Mealtime Battles
Posted on 3/20/2022
In September I asked for advice on my picky 2-year-old. For 6 months, I have consistently tried the methods recommended. I didn't fuss over meals, just gave him small amounts of whatever I made,...
Read MoreTopics Covered
- ADHD and other disorders
- Adoption/Foster Parent
- Aggression
- Allowances
- Alpha Speech
- Anxieties, Fears
- Arguments with Children
- Audio Files
- Bedtime/Sleep
- Bedwetting
- Bullies/Bullying
- Character/Values (teaching)
- Chores/Responsibilities
- College
- Consequences/Punishment
- Daycare/Preschool
- Depression/Self-Harm
- Developmental Issues (e.g. late talking)
- Discipline Methods (e.g. time-out)
- Disobedience/Defiance
- Divorce/Custody
- Drugs (marijuana, cocaine, etc.)
- Education
- Electronics (Computers/Video Games/Television/Cell Phones)
- Extracurricular Activities/Hobbies
- Father
- Food/Eating Problems
- Gender
- Grandparents/Grandchildren
- High School
- Homeschooling
- Homework
- John's Discipline Methods
- Learning Disabilities
- Lying
- Manners
- Marriage Issues
- Mealtime/Eating
- Miscellaneous Discipline Problems
- Miscellaneous Editorial Columns
- Mothers
- Only Children
- Pacifiers/Security Blankets/Thumbsucking
- Parent Leadership and Authority
- Play
- Preschool
- Rebellious Behavior
- Respect
- Rewards
- School Issues
- Self-Esteem
- Shyness
- Sibling Conflict
- Single Parents
- Social Issues (fighting/arguing with friends)
- Socialization/Social Skills
- Spanking
- Step-Families
- Tantrums
- Teenage Issues
- Terrible Twos
- Toilet Training
