time. Instead, the counting period in school is expanded to cover the
entire morning. All counts are washed away at lunchtime, and then
the afternoon is treated as a new and separate window.
Can you use a time-out chair instead of a room?
You can use a stair or a chair for a time-out, but only if the child does
not make a game out of the situation. Some kids, for example, sit on
the chair at first, but then start gradually losing contact with it.
Eventually they may just be touching their little finger to the chair
and looking at you like, “What are you going to do about this?”
If your rule for time-out is simply that the child must stay in
contact with the chair, this is no problem. But if the child is getting on
and off or away from the chair and you’re uncertain what to do, this
kind of game will ruin the discipline.
Key ConceptThe main point is this: it is totally unproductive and harmful to be chasing the kids
back into the room all the time. The child needs to know that there is a barrier that
she is stuck with for a short period of time.We usually prefer that visual contact between parent and child be
broken during the rest period, so the child can’t tease or provoke you.
That’s why the child’s bedroom or other safe room is preferable.
However, many parents have successfully used stairs and chairs, and