SES: Early Childhood Behaviors (Post 4) Outside the 4 Categories

     In the last post, I covered those four "catch all" categories of behavior.  In this post, I am going to cover how to problem solve for those kiddos who behavior just doesn't fit in one of the four categories.  In any setting, you need information to solve a problem or a puzzle.  As challenging as behavior can be, I like to think of it as a puzzle.  I need all the pieces to put together the whole picture.

    With behavior, what are the pieces of information that will be helpful?

• The setting in which it occurs (For example, always during group time)
• Temperament of the child 
• Is the child missing any skills that he/she needs to be successful?
• What happened before the behavior? (The trigger: Very important-You want to know if it is consistently the same)
• What happened right after?  (Very important:  You want to know if adults or other kids are reinforcing the behavior)

   To illustrate the process, I am going to use a few examples from my classroom experiences.

Example 1:  Knowing Temperament (The logical child)

     All of the kids in my classroom are taught, from day 1, simple problem solving steps to avoid frustration.  The basic ones are: try a different way, ask for help, etc.

     A little guy in my room was sitting at the table assembling blocks.  He stacked them, and they fell, and he cried.  He repeated this cycle over and over.  He didn't want my attention, or anything from me.  He wanted these blocks to stack.  He was so flustered that he couldn't talk.  I initially thought he had be having difficulty with solving problems in play, but there were no red flags in his development so I initially ignored the behavior and just observed.  I needed more information.

     The next day, I needed to complete a scheduled developmental assessment with this little guy.  As I was going through the questions, I asked him to put something under the table.  (I just needed to see if he knew the concept)  He said, in a matter of fact way, "Why, that's silly?"  I told him I just wanted to see if he knew what under was.  He lifted up my assessment,  pointed under it and said, "Teacher, this is under."  So, no problem solving issues there.  He is an incredibly logical 4 year-old.

    Later on the same day, he was back at the block table.  I heard a crash and tears but, I had my knowledge of his need for logic this time.  I sat down next to him and said the blocks weren't working and we needed to fix them.  He agreed and together we discovered that they weren't working because the big Lego blocks have to go on bottom to keep the tower stable.

Example 2: Identifying and Teaching the Missing Skills

     A few years ago, I worked with a center and the parents of an older 2 year-old.  They were very concerned that he was aggressive towards the other children.  There was hitting, biting, and pushing.  Other parents had started to notice so I was called in to problem solve with the teaching staff.

     Before deciding on an approach, it is really important to know what happens before a behavior and what happens after.  Sometimes the ONLY way to do this is just to watch and see how things play out normally, so that is what I did.  Day 1, the little one approaches his friends (Several look scared as the child approaches) and it looks like he is trying to join the play.  He smiles and touches, the child withdraws, and he hits the child. The other child cries, the offender is swept up by a teacher with a quick "no hitting" correction and taken to another area of the room.  The child who hit plays alone in a corner until outdoor time. 

      In this situation I got several clues:  The child doing the hitting was not hitting out of anger.  He wanted to join the other kids play and it didn't look like he knew how.  Corrections were given as no hitting so he wasn't learning the skills he needed.  Even though he was being corrected consistently, he still didn't know how to play so he was relying on the only "tool" in his box. 

     I met with the teachers and shared my observations and then set to teaching a few nicer ways to make friends.  It involved sitting with him and a few others during play and modeling age level peer interactions.  It was really simple stuff like greetings, asking to play, asking for a toy, etc.  It took about a month of daily practice to undo to "aggression for peer attention" but the little one was successful with the support of teachers.

     You can take just about any behavior scenario and problem solve it by looking at the setting, the triggers, etc. 

    

    

Success at the sensory table

     Now that I am running my own program, I get a lot of hands on experience trouble shooting in a preschool program. Over the years, early childhood educators have expressed to me how challenging the sensory table can be. (Think splashing, sand/rice tossing, etc.) and I didn't really understand how challenging it could be with a mixed age preschool group until I had to start implementing my own suggestions.

    Based on my experience this week, some of the strategies work well, and others were not great.  Here is what worked for me:

1.) Know your group.

For example, I had a bubble table this week.  My kids were two and a half, three, and four.  My three and four year old can play independently at the bubble table; the two and a half year old cannot.  Knowing who needs supervision and teaching throughout the activity  (eg: you blow on the bubble wand) goes a long way in preventing problems.

2.) There is no such thing as too much preparation.

I set up the bubbles, put in lots of wands and other toys, and ensured appropriate supervision. Then . . . somebody rubbed bubbles on their face. Guess who didn't have a towel?  Monday I am bringing out a towel and child safety goggles.

3.) Kids at the sensory table.

I have set up the environment so that 3 can comfortably play at the sensory table, and this is the rule I enforce.  In practice, I have found that for dry activities, up to 4 works out. (Depending on the age of your group) For wet sensory activities, I limit the number of children to no more than 3.

4.)  Ample toys in the sensory bin.

Rule of thumb: At least two per child and 2-3 of the favorite toy. Having enough toys in the sensory bin does two things: prevents conflict (not all conflict, their preschoolers) and it encourages them to engage in appropriate play.  Ideally, you want them blowing bubbles with wants not splashing bubbles at each other.

5.) Figuring out why some kids don't participate in sensory activities.

I have one little boy in my class who does not like to get dirty. Today, we explored shaving cream on the outdoor easel and he did not want to participate. I offered him a paintbrush and smock, but he declined and said he just wanted to be able to clean his hands. We solved the problem by taking a water bowl outside. He dipped his hands in every time he wanted to get the shaving cream off. (See photos) It wasn't the solution I would have thought of but it allowed him to participate happily.

So what is the strategy? If a little one if talking, ask how you can help.  If not, think about what you know about the child.  In this case, I knew he didn't like to get messy and would offer ways to allow him to participate and stay as shaving cream free as possible.

If you have any questions please feel free to post a comment  below. :-)