Handling Difficult Child Behavior At Day Care

A healthy, safe environment in a pre-school can facilitate children’s needs by developing necessary skills to develop their social and behavioral milestones. Ordinary pre-school activities offer opportunities for this e.g. taking turns, sharing, politeness and making choices.

Methods of developing self-discipline in children include: %u2022 Instead of praising the child, praise the behavior %u2022 Encouraging and building a child’s self esteem %u2022 Take into account a child’s age and stage of development when setting limits %u2022 Using play and games with rules to help the child learn and understand boundaries %u2022 Children will imitate adult behavior so lead by example %u2022 Avoiding isolation and humiliation of children %u2022 When you say ‘No’!mean it. Consistency is key. %u2022 Clarifying expectations and rules of behavior %u2022 Always reward good behavior Self-direction, self-control, cooperation and self-esteem will be encouraged should day care workers use these positive methods of discipline. On the other hand, using the following as a means of correction is never acceptable: %u2022 Any physical restraint, biting, hitting or shaking %u2022 Never humiliate, threaten or isolate a child- such emotional punishment is unacceptable %u2022 Never deprive a child of food Unacceptable behaviors i.e. bullying and temper tantrums should be dealt with using a range of strategies. Methods which have proven successful include: %u2022 Remove the child from the situation or distraction techniques %u2022 Telling the child why the behavior will not be tolerated %u2022 Offering the child an opportunity to regain control and become calm Biting falls into the category of difficult behavior and your range of approaches for dealing with said behavior would apply to this unsavory activity also. In co-operation with both childcare worker and parents attempt to develop work plans for children who display challenging behavior. Parents should be included, informed and supported to follow work plans for children, if and when appropriate. Where necessary additional support may be sought by referral to other professionals. The support of professional help should not be regarded negatively by the day care or parents.

The childcare worker should be supported to work on a one to one basis with a child who may be biting or displaying other challenging behavior over an agreed period of time. The aim being that the carer would attempt to extend the child’s interests by specifically engaging them in activites thus avoiding the difficult behaviors. Difficult and challenging behaviors, both in adults and children, respond positively to calm, constructive, consistent actions. Calm, constructive, consistent actions are essentially the most effective method of counteracting challenging behavior. Be patient, be vigilant, stick to your guns and you will out!

ChildCareOnly.com is the brainchild of Fiona Lohrenz who has 10 years experience running a day care. Fiona has also produced a ‘Start a ChildCare Business’ DVD: Start A Childcare Business DVD. Fiona can be found at her website: ChildCareOnly.com

- Rene Sandan

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