What’s the best way to deal with 4-year-old tantrums?
AMI Trainer, Rita Zener, offered great advice for this: “interrupt the behavior; give the child something interesting to do”. Stay calm yet strong. Interrupt with compassion, patience, and the ingenuity to successfully re-direct the child’s energies. Then, reflect on the circumstances that trigger the tantrum; design Grace and Courtesy lessons to model how children can control their own behavior; offer age-appropriate independence and empowerment to offset the frustration and powerlessness that often contribute to tantrums. And remember that freely chosen, engaged activity is the proven pathway to habits of respectful, prosocial expression and communication.
![Teacher smiling at a child in a Montessori classroom](https://montessori-ami.org/sites/default/files/images/questions/teacher.jpg)