Coaching practices for Noticing What Children Are Doing Right

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Noticing What Children Are Doing Right, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • I only ever speak up to my kid when something’s wrong
  • There are certain moments
  • My child has gotten so used to being "the difficult one" that they act like it’s just who they are
  • I tell my kid "good job" all day and it doesn’t seem to change anything
  • I praise my kid constantly

Practices that may help

  1. Deliver active recognition of ordinary positive moments
    Narrate what the child is doing right in real time, even when it is unremarkable.
    The Nurtured Heart Approach (Howard Glasser)
  2. Recognize what is not happening with proactive recognition
    Catch the child not misbehaving and name the success explicitly.
    The Nurtured Heart Approach (Howard Glasser)
  3. Use experiential recognition to highlight strengths in the moment
    Catch the child demonstrating a virtue and name the virtue directly.
    The Nurtured Heart Approach (Howard Glasser)
  4. Use descriptive praise instead of generic approval
    Tell the child exactly what they did right so they know what to repeat.
    Triple P Parenting (Matthew Sanders)
  5. Sportscast what you see rather than directing
    Narrate the play without evaluation, question, or instruction.
    Special Time (Lawrence Cohen — Playful Parenting)
  6. Encourage the effort and the process, not the outcome
    Encouragement builds inner confidence; outcome-praise creates dependency on adult evaluation.
    Natural and Logical Consequences (Rudolf Dreikurs)
  7. Advanced noting — noting the act of noting itself
    Turn attention to the process of noting itself, observing who is doing the labeling and whether the "noter" is also a mental event.
    Noting Practice, Made Practical
  8. Cultivate a "yes brain": curiosity, courage, and resilience over reactivity
    Respond to the child’s world with curiosity and openness rather than threat and control.
    The Whole-Brain Child (Siegel & Bryson)
  9. Build zone check-ins into the daily routine
    Asking "what zone are you in?" regularly makes zone awareness automatic rather than crisis-only.
    Zones of Regulation (Leah Kuypers)
  10. The Formula First-Session Task and Between-Session Noticing
    Assign between-session observation tasks that direct attention toward what’s already working.
    Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Building On What Works

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