Hi
@Annette Walters,
I can understand your frustration. I know that managing challenging behaviors and getting the parents on board with a plan of action can be difficult at times. This is a situation I have found myself in before on a several occasions.
I understand that you have tried strategies for both the classroom and the individual child. Have you tracked the behaviors for each child to identify potential triggers for the behavior as
@Temesha Ragan suggests? The behaviors you describe (hitting, kicking, biting, throwing furniture) are being used by the children for a reason. The challenge is to find out the reason. If you tracked the behaviors using an
ABC chart noting the time of day the behaviors are happening, what the child was doing, how the teacher responded, and what was the child's reaction, you can usually find a trigger for the behavior (transitions, social conflict, not wanting to participate in a particular activity, etc.). Once you find this trigger, the teachers can act proactively during these times to assist the child with managing the trigger before they are in a full tantrum. I also recommend you track and observe any strategies being used to assess their effectiveness. By noting how the child reacts to a strategy every time it is used, you may find that it works in certain situations and times of the day, but not in others. Then, you would simply need to adjust your plan for those times in which the strategy did not work. I have listed some books that I have found helpful when working with children with challenging behaviors in the past. The strategies are listed based on the specific social skills you are helping that child learn.
Based on the behaviors you have listed, it appears that these children need help recognizing and controlling their emotions (most likely frustration/anger). These are strong emotions that even adults have challenges controlling at times (as evidenced by challenges we have in our country). It is important for us to teach children to recognize their emotions and provide them with appropriate outlets for what they are feeling. Being angry is not the problem, it's the hitting, throwing furniture, and biting. CSEFEL have great resources for talking about emotions with children, including feelings charts and faces for teachers to use with children as a form of communication. However, these resources need to be introduced when the child is calm by telling him/her what it is, how it will be used, and when. The website for CSEFEL is
here!
In working with the families, how have you talked to them about the behaviors? Are these behaviors that they see happening at home? Sometimes, parents may be resistant to our calls for support because they don't see it at home, don't understand the severity of the behavior, or feel that they are being blamed. Parents may also not know what to do and project unwillingness to help as a protection against admitting they don't know how to handle the behavior as well. When working with families, a strategy that I have found helpful is talking to parents about the goal I have for the child and not focus on the behavior. I have said, "I would like to help your child learn to control his/her emotions when they are angry or frustrated" and tell them the things I have planned to help their child learn the skill (go to calm down zone, breathe 10 times, etc.). Then, I would ask them if they are able to do any strategies at home to further this goal for their child. By framing the conversation in this way, I have found parents to be less defensive and more engaging in the discussion. I am attaching a resource I have shared with families from CSEFEL. I have given this article to families when asking for their support in helping their children learn about and control their emotions. (
Teaching Your Child to Identify and Support Emotions) They have other tools and articles that are good things to give to parents when you are discussing social goals for their children.
As for the support from Early Intervention, they are looking for children with developmental delays that could impact later abilities to learn or function in society. While the behaviors may be a sign of a developmental delay, they also may not be a sign. If the parents reach out to them or ask the pediatrician for a developmental referral, the results of this assessment would be what triggers supports from Early Intervention services (at least this is my experience here in Maryland). I do know there is an organization called
Kids Included Together (KIT) based in San Diego, CA. They have done site visits, recommendations. They could be a resource for you. They also have a extensive online training center with social emotional assessments, environmental assessments, and trainings for challenging behaviors.
I hope this helps you in your search for support! I agree with you that helping these children is a necessary school readiness skill. Let me know if there is anything I can do to support you.
~Tiffany
Resources:
When Nothing Else Works:
What Early Childhood Professionals Can Do To Reduce Challenging Behaviors by William DeMeo, PhD (Gryphon House)
Beyond Behavior Management: The Six Life Skills Children Need (2nd Ed) by Jenna Bilmes (Red Leaf Press)
So This Is Normal Too? (2nd Ed) by Deborah Hewitt (Red Leaf Press) - also provides resources for communicating about behaviors to families
------------------------------
Tiffany Smith
Founder/Owner
Teaching Foundations, LLC
Columbia MD
Tiffanyjsmith@teachingfoundationsllc.comHttps://www.teachingfoundationsllc.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 11-29-2018 04:49 PM
From: Annette Walters
Subject: Behavior Problems and lack of services
Hi fellow NAEYC members,
I am a director of a small preschool in California. We are a half day program with the option to extend until 2pm. We have Early Intervention through our local school district when we have children who may have a delay in speech, sensory/movement, self-help, social/emotional, and/or pre-academic skills (ranging from mild to severe). I currently have two students who are exhibiting behaviors that are not in line with typical development, and the behaviors are increasing in frequency and intensity. I have had several talks with the parents, and the teachers have offered support to the parents. We have tried to make modifications to our program to, and made modifications for the child individually. I have asked the parents to have their child assessed through early intervention to see if there are underlying issues that are causing the behaviors (and in both cases, I suspect there are a few underlying issues). Both sets of parents have been resistant to getting any help for their child. Anyway, when I talked to Early Intervention of the phone, they said that often, behavior isn't enough for services. It needs to be coupled with another delay. Early Intervention has been very helpful and has answered lots of my questions and seem to wish they behavior alone would qualify these kiddos for help. My frustration with the system is that behavioral issues don't seem to have programs for young children that are either readily available or affordable for families. The behaviors we are seeing (hitting, kicking, scratching adults; throwing furniture; biting (4 year old with excellent speech) or injuring peers; defiance; unable to transition without tantrums; yelling or screaming continuously; and the list goes on) will likely cause a whole host of issues in the kindergarten classroom, so why can't we get these student's services through the district now? I guess I just want to find these students help that would be similar to the help we would find for a student who is having speech apraxia (just for an example). Triple P parenting has been recommended as a good resource to pass on to these families, but what other kind of help can I suggest (not that they even want it, unfortunately)? Any information you might be able to pass to me would be much appreciated!
------------------------------
Annette Walters
Sonshine Preschool
Ventura CA
------------------------------