No praising?

[Lee-Bee]

What kind of praising do you do? Empty praise does more harm than good, saying 'good job' all the time is actually not ideal.

Giving positive feedback like 'you did it all by yourself' and 'you really preserved with trying to tie your shoes yourself' acknowledges what the child did and gives them feedback as to what they should keep doing without just 'good job'ing' them. Thjs tends to be more favorable then 'good job' according to most research in child development.

I rarely use no, don't or focus on what not to do, I comment on the behaviors I want to see but I pretty much never say 'good job'.

Research does show that it leads to an external drive and that child lose enjoyment in what they do when they are continually rewarded. My ECE training was pretty detailed in this topic and how to avoid praising too much and how to do it in a way that lead to more internal drive. I suspect these parents are approaching it from that manner.