My
three-year-old is quite aggressive in daycare. He’s been sent home for
throwing toys and not sharing. I’m at my wits’ end. He’s an only child,
so sharing has never been something he needed to do. How can I get him
to play nice with others?
TOY HOG’S MOM, TORONTO, ON
JOE:
Take my advice and fire the daycare and keep the kid! You need to work
with the daycare, nursery school, school or camp in your child’s life in
alliance. This is an example of how professionals can be helpful by
working with him, not sending him back to you! An only child who has
trouble sharing, needs to be at school learning and practising.
How can the parent of an only child teach, mentor, guide or model this kind of behaviour with their child at home?
- Spend time with other families – send your child to play activities
with others (Beavers, Scouts, swimming lessons) for practice; however,
the real teaching of this needs to be a cooperative effort between you
and the professionals and lay people with whom he has contact over the
years. - Set clear limits for your child to address behaviour (such as,
“no throwing”) These limits will work best if the daycare uses the same
language to address this.
It takes a community to raise a child. For children without siblings this is more true.