Early childhood educators need a variety of ways to deal with children and their behaviors.  It is important to understand that what works with one child will not necessarily work with another.  Additionally, what works in one situation with a child may not work with that same child in the same situation at a later time.

Can the behavior of a four-year-old be managed?  The answer is yes, at least to a certain extent.  However, you must remember that four-year-olds are in the process of learning what is acceptable behavior and what isn’t.  While they are learning, errors and misunderstandings will occur.  Helping young children learn to manage their behavior themselves is the ultimate goal and will require a great deal of patience on your part.

Remember the old saying, “Children should be seen but not heard?”  Some teachers and parents/guardians still believe this.  Often, adults measure the quality of a child’s behavior by the degree to which he or she is polite, neat, orderly, and quiet.  If we examine these notions, we find that children will all have difficulty measuring up to adult expectations.  Most children are noisy, messy, rude, and disorderly on occasion.  Sometimes, adults cling to the management methods they know best.  But these techniques are sometimes based on outdated notions about early childhood education. They might even work against the children’s best interests.

I invite you to reexamine your experiences as a child, teacher, or parent.  I also ask that you explore the new approaches to teaching that I recommend throughout this program.  I encourage you to stay with what you know works and, at the same time, remain open to new possibilities.  Working with young children and their parents or guardians can be quite challenging and stressful.  It is my sincere hope that you will avoid some of that stress while experiencing more of the joy that comes from helping children grow.  One way to help children is by working with the people who ordinarily are responsible for them.  Parents, guardians, and teachers working together will observe and learn from one another. 

Let me share a story with you.  Donna Harris is the loving mother of two-year-old Sierra.  Since Donna works outside the home, Sierra attends a local child care center. Recently, Donna became concerned when she realized that Sierra was not making a smooth adjustment to a new classroom, evidenced by daily screams and temper tantrums.  When Sierra’s teachers first discussed this with Donna they assured her that the problem was not serious and could be resolved fairly simply.  After talking with Donna about possible changes at home to eliminate the influence of household stress, the teacher invited Donna to visit the classroom for an hour each morning during the children’s arrival time.  After watching other parents drop off their children over a period of several days, Donna realized that she was negatively influencing Sierra’s adjustment.  She was drawing too much attention to her departure and may have even wanted Sierra to cry a little to demonstrate attachment to her mother.  Discussion with the teachers helped support Donna’s conclusions that this behavior was not healthy for her daughter.  The result was that Donna began to change her style of departure in the mornings.  Soon, happy smiles and waves replaced the daily tantrums and screams as Sierra’s mother left for work.

It’s essential to develop an accurate picture of all the circumstances surrounding problem behaviors.  To do this you must learn and understand all aspects of a child’s health or family history that may be influencing the negative behavior.  It is only when the signals of a child’s problems are ignored over time that he or she becomes difficult to help.  Information obtained from parents and guardians can provide a strong foundation for helping children develop appropriate behaviors.

Deann Deloney

Early Childhood Education-Teacher Assisting-Child Care Instructor

Ashworth College

Educational games are another enjoyable part of being a teacher.  You'll find that it's not only fun to prepare games and instruct students in new games, but it's really fun to watch them have fun.  Because educational games do make learning enjoyable, the benefits go way beyond the fun.  Children are more receptive to learning when they are enjoying themselves.  Peggy Kaye, an educational games author, states that children relax and concentrate when they play well-designed, appropriate games, and that when they do relax and concentrate at the same time, they are "in a perfect frame of mind for learning."

According to Ray Gibson, another learning game author, children who have fun learning beginning math skills are more apt to look favorably and confidently upon learning further math skills.  Both of these authors address the many different skills that children need to learn in early grades and express that games can be a terrific vehicle for reinforcing newly learned skills and providing the repeated practice necessary for skill mastery.  Games also incorporate many values that we want children to learn and provide opportunity for constructive social interaction.  Games may also be used to motivate children to achieve greater independence, better organization, and stronger work study skills.  Pretty wonderful to have fun while doing all that, don't you think?

One aspect of game playing that children are always concerned with is fairness.  Displaying fairness and showing respect are not just nice options but are mandatory for effective caring teachers.  The way children are treated sets the tone for how receptive they are, so being as fair as possible is important every day and for every child, no matter what is going on.  Children, however, will tune into fairness a little more closely on game days.  Just be especially careful to encourage fairness among the children and to be fair yourself during games.  That is not always easy to do, but do the very best you can.

Deann Deloney

Early Childhood Education-Teacher Assisting-Child Care Instructor

Ashworth College

When I was a novice teacher, I had a child in my group who was never very vocal and did not participate in circle time.  He didn’t interact with the other children and preferred to play alone.  As I did my observations of him, I became concerned that he might have a physical problem or a behavioral issue.  Then one day his mother asked me for the words to the songs and finger plays we were doing in school.  I was shocked when she reported that he sang all the time at home, and loved to read books and draw. I had made a difference for this child.  He just wasn’t ready to share his learning in school.  What a joyous experience for me as a teacher!

This experience served as a reality check for me.  I realized that teachers and primary caregivers must have good communication regarding the growth and learning of the children in whose development and education we each have a role.  Parents and guardians are the best resources for curriculum planning.  Information they provide can ensure an interesting, multicultural curriculum—which is the goal of all teachers and responsible caregivers.

One of my colleagues faced a challenge with a child who just wanted to play with the dinosaurs in the block area.  The teacher tried everything she could think of to get him to move to other learning areas.  She evaluated the math table for the right number of enrichments.  Dramatic play had dress-up clothes, lots of supplies for the kitchen, and even a recycled telephone.  The table toys were organized with at least ten sets of manipulatives.  The creative art center had lots of supplied that were available all the time.

What else could she do?  Then she realized it was up to her to meet the challenge. If the child was interested only in dinosaurs, she would add them to each learning area. She added dinosaur counters to the math table and a dinosaur dress-up suit to dramatic play.  She included dinosaur figures among the table toys.  Creative art now included dinosaur sponge shapes for painting and larger shapes to trace.  She even included a new dinosaur puppet in her circle time props.  She was pleased to see that as she introduced the new puppet in the morning circle time he showed renewed interest.  The first day, she introduced only the puppet and the new additions in the creative art area.  Every day she introduced a new dinosaur in another learning area.  As the week progressed, the boy began to experience all the learning areas, and the teacher was delighted to see that her ideas were working.

It is our job as teachers to find the key that will unlock the door to learning for each child as an individual.  This is the real challenge of curriculum design.  Do the children get it?  How can we make it all come together for a successful learning experience for each child?  That’s an awesome task, but every good teacher loves a challenge.

Deann Deloney

Early Childhood Education-Child Care Instructor

Ashworth College

In child care settings, where children and adults spend many hours together engaged in learning and play, it’s important that the environment of the classroom be attractive and organized.  The types of furniture, toys and equipment you have, how they are arranged in the space of your room(s), and what you do to remain organized—all of these elements influence the smooth functioning of your program.  The benefit of such an environment is that children work more independently, with less conflict and greater concentration.  Remember, children can learn many skills from their environment.  It’s up to you to create the perfect place for your children to learn and grow.

Children learn by interacting with their environment.  Therefore, the materials and equipment you provide them are very important.  Creating a learning environment where children can play, eat, sleep, explore, and grow presents a great challenge for preschool teachers.  Learning centers should provide the kind of variety and stimulation children need in areas such as math, science, art, music, language, dramatics and large and small motor skills.  Children also need an outdoor play area that offers additional learning opportunities.

It is also our job as preschool administrators and teachers to plan and develop learning centers within the classroom environment that are inviting both to children and adults.  Some people have the ability to visualize how a room will look if arranged differently and can start pushing furniture into place.  If you are not one of those people (and most of us aren’t), you may end up with a sore back and a room arrangement that still doesn’t work well.  I found a less tiring way to visualize the arrangement of a room. It allows you to experiment with no physical exertion.  (1) You can draw your complete floor plan on a piece of paper first.  (2) You can cut out shapes to represent all the furniture and other large items in the room and move them around on a blank sheet of paper until you discover the arrangement that works best.

It’s up to you to make your preschool environment a successful and special place for children.  By following the suggestions outlined throughout this program, you will be able to create an attractive, safe, and pleasant environment for children.  You will learn how to arrange and use learning centers.  These special classroom areas allow children to make choices; they encourage active learning and hands-on experiences; and they provide for individual learning styles.  For the benefit of the young children you work with, I encourage you to create a meaningful, exciting, and challenging preschool program—one that allows them interesting and exciting ways to explore their world.

Deann Deloney

Early Childhood Education-Child Care Instructor

Ashworth College