I observed in the 3 yr. old preschool classroom on this visit.
For much of the visit I sat back and observed in a corner of the room. There
were two students in the group that seemed to be having a hard time entering
play and had a couple tantrum type meltdowns. In these situations the teacher
directed the child to safe space and allowed the child to calm down. When the
child calmed down the teacher talked to the child about why she was crying. The
one child said that she was hungry and that is why she was upset. This child
came in after breakfast time and it was an hour before lunch was going to be
served. The child said that she did not eat breakfast at home. The teacher
brought her to the office and the office staff allowed her to have a few
crackers to tide her over till lunch. The child returned to the class and went
on to play with some other children in the room. The other child who seemed to
be having a hard time appeared to be tired. As nap time got closer she seemed
to get more moody and cried easily. As for entering the play, the teacher helped to coach the children on what to say to the other children to enter the play.
I was able to talk with the mother of a child who started at
the center this past fall. Shortly after transitioning to the center her
daughter was having some pretty severe behavior concerns. She was throwing
multiple tantrums, hitting other children and screaming at nap time. After a
couple weeks of this behavior and a few conversations with mom the center referred
the child to a program called Daycare Plus, through the Positive Education
Program. This program provided a consultant to observe the child and meet with
the parents as well as the teacher to help teach the child some coping
strategies. Through these visits, it was discovered that there was a lot of
transition in the home as well as the transition to a new school. Mom was also having some concerns because the child's father was diagnosed with ADHD later in life. She is concerned that her child was showing some symptoms. There was
further family counseling offered through the process that lasted for about 8 weeks. These sessions
helped both the child and the parent. The parent was very thankful that the
center had the knowledge and resources to refer her child for additional services. She stated
that the center her child came from did not offer these types of services. She
was very impressed and thankful that the center had so many extra offerings. In
the first month that her child was at the center there was a visit by the
mobile dentist, school picture day, a field trip, and the referral for her
child to get extra help with her behavior concerns. She said that her child
didn’t get this much in 3 years at her previous center and she wished that she
would have found this center sooner.
One insight I have gained are that sometimes behavior concerns
occur because a child’s basic needs are not met. If a child is hungry or tired
they may misbehave for these underlying reasons. If you meet their needs they
may be able to easily return to the group without a problem. Another insight
that I gained is that you have to get to know your families. Issues that may be
going on at home can affect the child’s behavior in the classroom. It is
important to partner with parents and try and be a support to the families to
help meet the needs of the children.
I really enjoyed reading your post. I like how the teacher took the time to give the child a snack when she is hungry. Not many centers I know of would be that accommodating in a classroom of that age group. I work in an infant/toddler classroom, so the children are on individual schedules, but I know in the other rooms at my center, if a child does not eat during the meal time, that is it, there is no other chance to eat. One of the children I nanny for attends a preschool with a different approach. The preschool program is only a few hours, but they have snack as a station when they do stations. This way a child eats whenever they want during stations. So they could play for a bit then eat snack and continue to play. It is very interesting to see the differences in early childhood programs.
ReplyDelete--Brooke B.
Giving a snack may not always be possible, but in this situation the child would have had a very rough rest of the morning until lunch had come so I was also happy that they were able to give her something to hold her over.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you were able to get a lot of information out of this observation. At my daycare we also have a service come in called child and family connections. It is an Illinois based resource that comes in and observes children up to the age of three. We call them if we have any concerns on any particular child or classroom as a whole. They are a great resources to go to if we are having difficulty with teachers not being effective in the classroom or struggling with the children in the classroom. Once they come and observe they usually meet with my director and then the two of them meet with the parent to discuss what they have seen.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there may be some underlining problems that get over looked when children are experiencing challenging behaviors. I have a child that we are struggling with currently with challenging behaviors and I think that yes there may be some type of learning disability or possibly signs of autism but I also think that he is up very early in the morning and stays up too late and not getting enough sleep. I believe that this may be part of his issue. He is overly tired and he is acting out because of it. Great Post!
Another great post, and great observation. I think you are my favorite blog!
ReplyDeleteyou are absolutely right in that it isnt always possible to give snacks, but I love how the whole child is being considered in the situation. We are taught so early on as educators about Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. So in this situation the child needed the snack.
We dont always know what is going on at home, but building those relationships and partnerships with the families only strengthen the children's chances for a better learning experiences, and success. Parent involvement is vital to that! Side note: a good place to find out whats going on at home is observing dramatic play, wouldnt you say?
As an educator, we know firsthand how young children behaves when their schedue is throwm off. If a child misses breakfast then it will cause problems in the classroom. The parents need to make sure if they miss breakfast then they should provide one to the children before coming to the center. It is amazing how one center gives more than another, especially providing services for children and families. All centers should provide top service because the families are key to the staff having and keeping a job.
ReplyDeleteI feel there are many factors that contribute to a child missing breakfast.
ReplyDelete1. The child is very tired and the parent wants them to sleep a bit longer.
2. The child doesn’t like the breakfast and the parent will not give in
3. The child is being uncooperative which results in the child missing breakfast.
Whatever the reason it is not fair to the child, who is missing classroom experiences due to hunger, classmates and teacher/s when this happens. I feel parents should share the reason the child missed breakfast and bring a snack for their child but I am sure some parents feel they will be judged and that is why it is important to have open lines of communication with parents so they feel comfortable enough.
I agree the child is very blessed to be in a center that would give her a snack to tide her over till lunch time. The lesson I learned is to have an emergency snack available for such emergencies.
At our center we provide breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack. Because of food allergies we do not allow parents to bring in outside foods. If a child misses breakfast we will do our best to find them something to eat if the parent communicates that to us. We usually have a cereal bar or some crackers on hand.
DeleteI think the idea of a safe space is a great idea and a great comfort to any child in the classroom. When a child is upset, they need time to calm down as long as it doesn't disrupt the class or harm anyone else. I also find it very sad that the child was upset because she was hungry. I have experienced times when a child would enter the preschool classroom eating a bag or cereal or breakfast bar. We didn't serve breakfast so there wasn't food in the classroom. Not only was this a distraction to other children who may have wanted food but it is something that the parents should have done before the child came to school. I am glad to read that the child was given a small snack to hold her over. I hope the parents were talked to about this incident. I also could not agree with you more that it is important to know your families and the behaviors that affect their child. Many things that happen at home can affect how they perform in school and knowing and understanding these behaviors can help to create a solution that best works.
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to write a quick note to thank you your blog posts. They have been really interesting and have helped me to see that there are some really good schools out there. I have really enjoyed reading your blogs, they are always interesting and well written. Thanks again and good luck in the future!
Good Morning,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog to be quite interesting and I learned a lot. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience as a center director as that is a position I would like to have. Good luck as you finish your coursework as well as your future work!
Take Care,
Brooke B.
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI would like to thank you for allowing me to read your blog. I enjoyed reading it every other week. You put a lot of thought and work into your posts and gave us a lot of information on all that you did in your internship. Thank you for sharing your work with us, I enjoyed reading about it.
Sarah