Teaching Children to Manage Their Emotions video series

How to Intervene When Kids Misbehave

In this second video, Cherilyn Orr explains why traditional approaches to dealing with a child’s misbehaviour fall short, and the important advantages of stopping to think about our child’s brain state (red, yellow or green) before dealing with misbehaviour.

Get more out of this series!

After watching video two, consider taking these steps to get the most out of this part of the series:

// Step 1

Read and meditate on these Scripture verses: “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20 ESV)

// Step 2

Answer these discussion questions:

1. When your child is uncooperative, are you accustomed to stopping and thinking about contributing factors and what your child might need from you most, in that moment?
2. What three things did Cherilyn suggest parents watch for and address first when a child is in “yellow brain”?
3. What benefits would both you and your child gain by waiting until you are both in “green brain” before dealing with misbehaviour?

// Step 3

Spend time in prayer:

Lord Jesus,
If we could see you right now, we would tremble in fear of your power and holiness.
Amazingly though, we know that you do not want us to obey you out of fear.
Instead, you want us to love you so much that we would not even think of disappointing you.
That’s the kind of relationship we want our children to have with us too.
Help us to guide our children patiently, just as you do with us, so we don’t miss the moments when our children need our help and understanding after wrongdoing, rather than a confrontation.
Amen.

// Step 4

Read Cherilyn’s blog post “An open letter to weary parents” where she shares the strategies she uses to calm herself and get back to a green brain state.

// Step 5

Read the article “12 ways to keep calm and carry on when the kids are trying your patience.”