The first gift a child receives is the knowledge that he or she is loved. The child is learning a lifetime's worth of basic trust and love. The second gift is received when the child is about 18 months old and continues through the age of two. It is at this time the child begins to learn that he or she has rights and that others also have rights. Helping children learn obedience protects them from danger.
Good discipline helps a child develop independent thoughts and actions.
A child learns discipline through observation and experience. A child acts and reacts to someone else's behavior, such as screaming or slamming doors, and observes the results. The child will act and react similarly when a similar situation occurs. Child care home providers need to use wisdom in teaching and guiding children. Sometimes a caretaker must make a persistent and consistent effort to change a child's behavior, but the results are well worth the effort.