 How do you communicate with the children in your care? Are you calm and consistent or loud and unpredictable? The way you communicate with your young students can have a profound impact on how they react and interact in the classroom. Caregivers must be able to interact with children in a nurturing, respectful, supportive, and responsive ways; guiding children to learn positive communication techniques. Below are some questions and answers in regards to communicating with children effectively. Question: How do you communicate with toddlers, especially ones that refuse to participate in the more necessary things? Answer: It is most helpful to get to the root of the child’s reason for not participating in necessary things. Some children struggle with executive function, sensory processing challenges, or hearing and communication obstacles. These types of challenges mean that the child will often need specific instruction given in several different ways. It is important to know the child and what will work best for them. Good communication with toddlers often includes patience, persistence, and understanding. Toddlers have limited language that is rapidly developing as well. It’s important to communicate with toddlers on an appropriate level and to be flexible as well. Question: How do you communicate with a child that completely ignores you and covers his ears when you talk to him? Answer: There are several things that you can do to help. First, speak with any other teachers who have worked with him. Perhaps they have tips or ideas to help. Next, consider your approach. Is there something about the way that you’re communicating that could be bothering him? Last, don’t be afraid to work with his family to communicate your concerns and find some strategies for moving forward. Question: What if a child still does not listen to you? Answer: Effective communication takes time and effort from both parties. Be patient, be persistent, and be positive. For more information on Communicating Effectively with Children, register for our one hour course: https://www.cdastars.com/store/p238/Communicating_Effectively_with_Children.html Have information to share? Please use the comments section below...
 Biting can be frustrating for parents, teachers, and the children themselves. Even though it is a phase that a child usually works his or her way out of, having a solution on hand can help to alleviate the potential stress it can cause. As a childcare professional, it is essential for you to learn the acceptable ways to handle these situations. Below are some questions and answers that may help you deal with biting in your classroom. Question: How do I deal with a child that bites the same child each day? Answer: If the child that is biting is a toddler, that is an age that it is developmentally anticipated behavior. It is your responsibility as the caregiver to anticipate the behavior, and find solutions to reduce the frequency of it occurring until the child grows out of the phase. If the biter is biting the same child, then one solution would be to take steps to keep the two children separated. Place your own body between the two of them, and use distraction and redirection techniques. When you have a child that is biting, always stay close to them, and watch them continuously. One technique I used is the surprise-redirection. If we were outside and I saw a child about to bite or hit, instead of saying “Charlie don’t bite!” Instead, I would say in my loudest most excited animated voice “OH, look, there’s a plane!” while pointing at the sky, “Charlie, can you be an airplane?” (and I would start making airplane sounds with my arms out to my side) this would distract Charlie from biting. While in the classroom, I would change this to “OH Look a spider!” and I would point up at the ceiling and say “Charlie, do you see the spider? Who can walk like a spider?”. Take the time to observe the child that is doing the biting, watch for clues to when the biting is occurring. Is it during transition time? Is it when he/she is hungry? Look for ways to change the environment or the routine to eliminate the situations that are triggering the biting behavior. Remember that this is just a phase, and all children do outgrow the biting behavior. The phase will pass much quicker if you are able to help them through it in a positive way that allows all children to establish a sense of security. Question: What can I do if parents become upset about their child biting other children or being bitten by other children?  Answer: It is important for child care professionals to document biting behaviors and the behavior that comes before the incident as well as the action taken by the professional. Keep record of the incidents and when parents are upset or confrontational about biting you can refer to your data and explain the preventative measures taken by staff as well as the specific circumstances, and how the behavior was handled. Above all, biting behavior is completely normal for toddlers and maintaining a quality program that responds to these behaviors is the best thing you can possibly do. Parents will know and understand this as well, and you can build a partnership moving forward. Question: How do I get a child to just stop biting? Answer: There is no magic wand solution to infant and toddler biting. If there were, it would have been the first sentence of the first page in our Ouch! Infant and Toddler Biting course! The bottom line is that biting is developmentally typical for infants and toddlers. It is going to happen and it is important to be aware of what causes it and the things you can do to help curb it. For more information on Ouch! Infant and Toddler Biting, register for our one hour course: https://www.cdastars.com/store/p250/Ouch_Infant_and_Toddler_Biting.html Have information to share? Please use the comments section below...
 Is there a child in your care that experiences strong signs of separation anxiety? As a child care professional, it may be difficult to know what to do in this situation or even how to talk to a parent/caregiver about the experience the child is having. Below are some common questions and answers regarding separation anxiety that we hope will help you as a child care professional. Question: I have a child in my center that cries for his mom all day and does not want to participate in any activities, how do I help ease his separation anxiety? Answer: The most important thing is to be empathetic toward the child. Do not force them to join in classroom activities if they are not ready. It is your job to provide nurturing and supportive care to the child. However, you may not be able to solve their anxiety for them. It may be that the best thing that you can do is be consistent, and provide a stable and safe environment for them and allow them to naturally progress through the stage in their own time. Be sure to keep your relationship with his parent’s positive. You may not want to draw too much attention to his anxious behavior, and instead praise him when he does join in. Question: I believe a child in my class has separation anxiety disorder, how do I help her? Answer: First and foremost, you cannot give a child a diagnosis such as this. Only a medical professional can give a diagnosis so it is important for you to document the behaviors that you are seeing that may relate to separation anxiety disorder. Next, communicate with the family about what you are seeing and use that documentation for support should you need it. In addition to these things I suggest maintaining routines and familiarity as much as you possibly can in order to give the child a sense of security. Question: How do you help ease separation anxiety for an older child? Answer: The best option that I have found is to have consistency and routine. While this may be the case for your center and your drop-off routine, it is crucial to try to get parents to do the same. Often a stressful morning or a difference in routine en route to care can cause a lot of anxiety for older children. Speak with parents and see if they can create a strict and helpful routine each morning to help their child settle into care. If your center does not have a similar routine each and every day then I recommend implementing one. This should include the same person(s) greeting the child, the same types of activities, the same place to put their things, etc. Combine this with some small tasks for the child to be responsible for (hanging their jacket up, putting their backpack in the cubby, etc) and you should see some progress. Question: When a child is clearly upset that their parent is leaving, how do I make the transition easier on both the child and the parent without “taking” the child from the parent? Answer: As with most decisions in child care it is important to know the child and work closely with the parents to figure out the best way to proceed. Often a child with typical separation anxiety attributes will be fine after a few moments after parents “drop off.” It may be best to communicate with the parents about making drop off time a short routine and remaining consistent other than “taking” the child from the parents. Encouraging the child to begin an activity or play with friends is one way to encourage them to separate from the parents willingly. Question: What are the signs of separation anxiety disorder? Answer: Separation anxiety disorder is classified usually as an extreme form of separation anxiety. There are very strong reactions to normal situations including drop off time at school or child care. Providers who can identify separation anxiety disorder symptoms can use this information to communicate with parents and families. Here are some more helpful resources about separation anxiety disorder: http://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/separation-anxiety#Overview1 http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/starting-preschool/separation-anxiety/dealing-with-separation-anxiety/ https://www.turnaroundanxiety.com/separation-anxiety-disorder-signs-and-symptoms/ For more information on Easing Separation Anxiety, register for our one hour course: http://www.cdastars.com/store/p241/Easing_Separation_Anxiety.html Have information to share? Please use the comments section below... |
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Successful Solutions Training in Child Development
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