Turn a negative into a positive! Not only does the teacher or parent get a mental break, but the child gets a chance to calm down. Now, let’s take it up a notch: before the child leaves the time out, have him/her think of a positive behavior or two he will implement immediately following!!! For example, when Drew hurt Tanya’s feelings, he agreed to a goal of performing 5 acts of kindness in order to redeem his friendship with Tanya. What was so lovely was that the child really turned into a gentleman by the third act of kindness and then did not want to stop! He soon was performing kind deeds just for the sheer joy of it!
An important element to this new and improved time-out is that the child dictates when he/she is ready to join in again. The child stays as long as he/she likes– until the child feels he/she wants to implement the necessary modified behavior.
Little Acorn Montessori Preschool 