My home is a child-friendly home that contains only items that are for the use of the children (with the exception of the kitchen). This eliminates over 50% of corrections. I think this important because the more that children are corrected, the more frustrated they get trying to remember it all. It's something like a college student taking eight courses at once - very frustrating and not much learned or remembered. In my home, the only corrections are concerning children's behavior. Children learn initial behavior and reactive behavior by watching those around them and through interaction with adults.

Different corrective measures are used according to the child's personal understanding. Infants have NO correction measures, of course, as they need none. Toddler corrections just consist of telling them the mistake and showing them a better way, as toddlers are not mature enough in their thought patterns to think of others feelings or to understand an explanation. Most pre-K children are old enough to learn that the other children have feelings too, so their corrections include learning to think of how their behavior affects the other child as well as learning to think of a better way. School age children are even more mature in their thinking and can learn to think of several different options, which allows them to choose their own path and gives them more control over their situation and their behavior.

Examples for a child who wants a toy that another child has: A typical toddler may hit the child in frustration, because he doesn't know what else to do. Gently tell them "no hitting" and have them help you find them a different toy. This will tell the toddler that hitting is not okay and also will teach them to find something else to play with. Pre-K children also may hit in such a situation. They are taught to think about how they would feel if the other child hit them (sad, mad) and also learn that they can either find another toy until that child is done or else ask the child to trade toys. School age children are taught to think about how the other child might feel if they try to hit, yell, or take the toy away (sad, not want to give them the toy, angry, not want to play with them) and learn to think of different solutions (finding another toy, asking to take turns, trading for another toy, etc).

The most severe corrective measure would be to ask the child to go into another room, where there are no other children, or physically remove them if necessary. This is done in a calm and loving manner, explaining why and talking to them afterwards.  Most young toddlers are not old enough to learn to think through and to find reason in an explanation, so removal would only be used in case of a full tantrum so they can throw the tantrum in another room. This lets them know that a tantrum is not okay and also will keep the other children from becoming upset by it. They can come and play with the other children when they are calm and done with the tantrum. Pre-school children may need time-out in another room if they cannot play nicely and refuse to try to find another way. They may come back and play with the other children when they are calm and ready to play nicely. The after-talk with a pre-school child would be pretty short and basically consist of asking them if they remember why they needed time-out, if they can help you think of one better way to problem-solve, and asking how they feel now. School-age children may need time-out in another room to think about how they could do things differently and how it might have turned out better. When they have a solution, they can come out and tell me about it and we can role-play it to help them remember. Then they can resume their play.