Technique 1: No Opt Out

The first technique of Lemov's Teach Like a Champion sets the stage for the rest of this blog. "No Opt Out" basically sets the tone that it isn't okay not to try and it definitely it isn't ok not to comply with instructions. I tried this with my toddler when he decided he could break and throw his crayons all over the floor one day. This was a recurring incident and I was frankly getting tired of picking up after him all the time. I was determined he would pick up all his crayons. Of course, he wouldn't budge. So I went up behind him, held his two arms, and physically had him pick up every last crayon off the floor. He kicked and screamed for more than halfway through but, once he realized I wasn't going to let him out of it, he calmed down and even helped me pick a couple up towards the end.

Toddlers do not understand the concept of "exception to the rule". They see every decision parents make as "the rule". So it's very confusing to them when "the rule" changes according to the parent's whim. This technique is more about training the parent than it is about training the child.

Here are a couple very hard "No Opt Out's" I've established, apart from the standard safety precautions and civil behaviors you would expect:

--Reading a book before bedtime
--Saying "I Love You"
--Not going to sleep upset. I'll make him laugh.
--Not  being carried outside. He must walk or I'll take him in the stroller.
--Greeting neighbors and family.

I'm sure you have your own...

Teacher-Turned-Mom

 For the last three years I've been obsessed with the idea of "good" parenting and taken all the actions a "good" parent takes--joined blogs, googled every minute detail, consulted family, crowd-sourced with other parents-of-toddlers, read books, re-read books, abandoned resources and followed my gut, went to the zoo enough times the guards knew us, yadda-yadda-yadda. As a teacher, there were plenty of instructional "how-tos" available at the click of a button. When I needed something, I knew where to go or who to ask. But where do you go to learn the "strategies" to "Parent Like a Champion"? Can they exist at home if they exist for a space that is akin to a second home for children.

 I'm on a mission to try all my teacher moves on my three-year-old and the point of this blog is to report my findings. Some of it is probably intuitive. Some of it might be culture specific. Some of it might be useless. But I won't know what works until I try.