Originally Posted by preschoolteacher:
At his age, I think all you can do is teach by example. He's so young, and even if he does understand what "no hitting" means, he's very likely not able to control himself in the moment and not hit. Little ones learn best by doing, so try all you can to teach him with your actions... if you see him raise his hand to hit, gently take it and guide it down and say "No hitting. Hitting hurts. We use gentle hands."
Have him be your shadow from now on. It would be great if you found time to follow him around a bit as he plays because that's probably where the behavior is coming out... so while he can learn to stop being aggressive with you, where he really need to learn to stop being aggressive is with the other kids. The best way to teach him how is to get in there with him and the other kids and show by example.
I don't do time-out, and especially not for little ones. Time-out and separating him from the group and other forms of punishment like this will stop his behavior, but it won't teach him not to do it or HOW to behave correctly in the long run.
Good luck!
Thanks!
I have been doing what you said, I will re-direct him and tell him that hitting hurts and I also show him how to gently touch friends. He is never aggressive with me, so I know he has some "sense" that it's not ok, but he is aggressive with his parents and older sisters, but you're right, he does do it while playing. He will just walk by and hit! I also agree, time outs are not acceptable for his age and I'm not going to do it again, even if the parents do. Hopefully someday he will see how to use nice touches! He just seems to have an aggressive personality and that's just the way he is, but hopefully there is hope! Thanks for the advice!