aaaaaaaand STOP

NOTE: It seems that I gave each of my Our Time classes different challenges for the week... Oops.

SO I will post one this week and one next week and make sure I give each class the other challenge..

Inhibitory Control is ability to inhibit responses to stimuli - in plain English it means that a person is drawn to do something but chooses not to. While personality, temperament and developmental stage play a part in an individuals ability to control themselves, there are way that you can teach this to your child. One thing we do in Kindermusik is move or play an instrument and then STOP! This fun for the child because the collective absence of noise in what was noisy room is fun and just as interesting as shaking their instrument. This week practice doing something and theeeennnnnn STOP. Vary the time that you play and stop and don't worry if it takes some practice for your child to get it, it is a learned skill. 

This video talks about a famous experiment often called the Marshmallow test:

Researchers found that children who were able to wait were more successful in life, more able to reach their goals and happier. This is definitely a life skill worth working on.

One thing you will notice is that the children try to distract themselves while waiting. Turns out Mr. Rogers was right, it helps to "think of something to do while we're waiting" This is a very effective coping mechanism. Next time your little one has to wait - find something to do to make the time pass more quickly and to distract them from the waiting itself. 

Here is a slightly longer but more informative video that has excellent information for parents.