{"id":2321,"date":"2019-07-05T06:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-07-05T13:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/?p=2321"},"modified":"2023-08-09T04:20:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T11:20:08","slug":"natural-or-logical-consequences-they-help-a-child-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/natural-or-logical-consequences-they-help-a-child-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural or Logical Consequences? They Help a Child Learn"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve been reading up on how to help your young child learn to behave, you might\u2019ve heard the terms \u201cnatural\u201d or \u201clogical \u201cconsequences. In fact, we covered this idea in the post <a href=\"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/letting-your-child-learn-natural-consequences\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Letting Your Child Learn Natural Consequences<\/a>. We received lots of feedback that parents wanted more examples \u2013 so here are some you can try.<\/p>\n<p>Natural consequences are unplanned results of a child\u2019s actions that occur if a parent doesn\u2019t intervene to prevent the outcome. If parents let this happen, kids can learn.\u00a0Logical consequences are results of a child\u2019s actions that fit closely to the behavior a parent is trying to correct.<\/p>\n<p>Both methods work best if the child knows ahead of time how they\u2019re expected to behave and what the consequences will be if they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p><b>Natural consequences<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes you can just let a kid learn by leaving them to \u201csuffer\u201d the consequences of their choice. You don\u2019t intervene. This allows your child to experience the downside of their behavior \u2013 though of course it\u2019s not appropriate if the child will be hurt or they\u2019ll hurt someone else by their behavior.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some examples of how natural consequences work. If your child:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Has been told it\u2019s time to eat dinner but they refuse to sit down and eat, the consequence can be that, after dinner is cleared, the kitchen is closed until tomorrow. No snacks after dinner \u2013 but there will be breakfast.<\/li>\n<li>Wants to wear shorts to school on a chilly day \u2013 they\u2019ll feel cold, but it <a href=\"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/does-playing-in-the-cold-give-you-a-cold\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">won\u2019t give them a cold<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Forgets their lunch again they\u2019ll be hungry at school \u2013 but more likely to remember it tomorrow!<\/li>\n<li>Can\u2019t remember to pack their sports gear for a practice or game \u2013 they have to sit on the bench.<\/li>\n<li>Forgets their homework \u2013 they\u2019ll learn from the consequence of not having it. It\u2019s better to learn that lesson in elementary school than in high school!<\/li>\n<li>Remembers at the last minute they need to go to the store to get poster board for a school project, they\u2019ll learn to be creative with what\u2019s already in the house.<\/li>\n<li>Spends too much time playing video games, so you pack up the console and put it away; they\u2019ll learn not to ignore screen limits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Logical consequences <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These are methods you come up with to fit a given situation. If a child misbehaves and the punishment has nothing to do with the behavior, they don\u2019t really learn much. Instead, if we tailor the consequence to what they did, they learn more.<\/p>\n<p>For instance:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your child knows they need to wear a helmet when riding their bike but you see them outside riding \u2026 with no helmet. The bike has a time-out for 30 minutes! If it happens again \u2013 the bike is put away for the day.<\/li>\n<li>If a child is being too bouncy and silly at the table and knocks over their milk, they have to clean the mess up themselves.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">If kids are fighting over a toy, the toy gets a time-out for 10 minutes while they figure out how to share \u2013 or move on to another activity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"> If your child is shrieking in the library, even after they\u2019ve been asked to use their inside voice and are reminded that children who yell inside can\u2019t stay for story time, pick them up and leave. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><strong>Consequences don\u2019t work unless parents enforce them<\/strong>. Children will test to see if you\u2019re serious or not. If you don\u2019t follow through on what you said would happen (such as take the toys away, or leave the store), your child learns you don\u2019t mean what you say. It also helps to follow through without much discussion or \u201cI told you not to\u2019s. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">The point of good discipline is to teach your child how to behave. If you don\u2019t enforce the consequences, you deprive your child of the learning experience. So to make consequences work, follow these 3 steps: <\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Be clear about your rules \u2013 wear helmets when you\u2019re on something with wheels, remember to bring your own lunch, use indoor voice in the library. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Be just as clear about what the consequences will be for not following the rules. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Follow through. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Good luck!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve been reading up on how to help your young child learn to behave, you might\u2019ve heard the terms \u201cnatural\u201d or \u201clogical&#8221; consequences. In fact, we covered this idea in the post Letting Your Child Learn Natural Consequences. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[454],"tags":[207,408,407,209,409],"class_list":["post-2321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","tag-discipline","tag-logical-consequences-for-kids","tag-natural-consequences-for-kids","tag-positive-parenting","tag-teaching-kids-consequences","ages-grade-school","ages-preschool"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1691580009:8"],"_edit_last":["8"],"slide_template":[""],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_custom_body_class":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["454"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["291"],"_thumbnail_id":["2327"],"wpfp_favorites":["17"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":["Natural or Logical Consequences"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["Natural or Logical Consequences"],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["68"],"qode_seo_keywords":["Natural or Logical Consequences. 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