There are many different types of parenting styles. Determining your own parenting style will help you build an encouraging and motivating environment for your child to grow and thrive, emotionally and academically.
The Most Common Types of Parenting Styles
There are many traits that determine a good parent. One of which may include consistency. To see the best results in child-rearing, practicing the same form of discipline, rewards and overall parenting style will help your child understand their place in the family home. Children need direction and love to thrive. Although entirely different, the following types of parenting styles are most common.
Attachment Parenting
Although not entirely new, attachment parenting has made a major comeback in parenting style.
Attached/child led parenting is defined by being an active participant in your child's daily life. Many attached parents start their union while their child is still in the womb, singing songs, reading books and having deep discussions with their unborn child. Once the child is born, attached parents tend to stay close with chest strap baby carriers, enhancing the bond between parent and child. As children grow, attached parents guide them into positive environments and encourage their connection with all their five senses. Many attached parents seek out Waldorf or Montessori educations for their child, while implementing a green lifestyle at home with lots of organic and natural food choices and toys.
Of course, these specific parenting methods may vary, but generally speaking, attached parents seek to provide a nourished environment filled with lots of love and positive vibes.
Authoritative Parenting
Consider this form the most disciplined of parenting styles. Authoritative parenting is defined by parents who take responsibility for their children's behavior and actions until they are adults. Authoritative parents may be viewed as strict by many attached parents, but this type actually encourage positive behavior while implementing only moderate levels of punishment.
Children who are raised in this environment are believed to be the most well rounded later in life, as children thrive and grow in this type of home. The added warmth and involvement in their daily life makes children not only eager to please, but gives them a general sense of direction that helps encourage them as they age.
Authoritarian Parenting
This style may be considered the prison camp of parenting. Authoritarian parents tend to instill fear and discipline at an early age in children. They are often focused on punishment rather than reward. This type of parenting style may impact a child's self esteem and hinder his or her maturation. Authoritarian parents tend to seek control in all areas of their child's life. Children from this home environment have little or no freedom. Children of authoritarian homes are often sent to military school or boarding schools to obtain their educations.
If you are a parent seeking to provide a nourishing environment for your child to grow, it may be wise to avoid this type of parenting technique. Children thrive best with a little room to roam with a firm set of values in place.
Indulgent Parenting
Indulgent parents crave the best of the best for their children and aim to please. These types of parents are willing to succumb to their child's demands early in life and are eager to satisfy their child's every desire, rather than the other way around.
Indulgent parents tend to have good intentions, but their efforts may produce unfavorable results. Most people have met the offspring of an indulgent parent. Children who come from these environments tend to have a sense of self entitlement and lack work values. For lack of a better word, spoiled children tend to have parents who set low levels of expectations combined with low levels of punishments.
Uninvolved Parenting
Sadly, many people fall into the uninvolved parenting style. Uninvolved parents are just that, uninvolved. Children in this environment tend to be lonely and withdrawn, or wild and ill behaved. If you find you are uninterested in your child's life or are struggling with depression, it's pertinent that you seek counseling for your family immediately.
Children who come from uninvolved families tend to seek outside sources for attention. Whether that be in the form of drugs, crime or sex, it's a dangerous outcome.
Finding Middle Ground
Not every parenting style will work for your family or for your child. You may find your child is naturally disciplined, yet craves warmth and nurturing to thrive. Your nourished child may need discipline and a structured setting to feel a sense of order. As parents who are seeking how to implement their natural and good qualities into their child's lives, it pays to have a general sense of who you are, what you expect, and how you want your family to grow in love.
