Guidance and Discipline Strategies for Young Children

Guidance and Discipline Strategies for Young Children

Introduction

Young children are learning about themselves, others, and their environment. They often do not have the skills to cope with many situations they encounter (Housman et al., 2018). Teachers can help them learn new ways of dealing with frustration and build social-emotional skills through guidance and discipline strategies that encourage positive interaction between children while also teaching problem-solving skills. Negative behaviours can be managed through positive guidance, discipline strategies, and consistency.

Part A

The Cause of the Behavior

Tommy is crying because he is frustrated and feels like his abilities are being challenged. He wanted to draw a truck-like Sam’s, and he couldn’t do it. The desire to draw is a positive behaviour, but he could not accomplish it (Jeon et al., 2019). When young children face a challenge and don’t succeed, they may become frustrated. They feel like they have no control over the situation, which can be scary. The feeling of being unable to perform a task may have led Tommy to feel helpless or inadequate because he cannot accomplish the desired outcome. Another possible reason for the crying could be that Tommy is not developmentally able to cope with frustration. The capacity to tolerate frustration develops gradually during the preschool years. Tommy has not reached that developmental stage yet and cannot handle not succeeding at something he wants to do. Crying seems to be the only way for him to release his feelings at this point. Crying also allows him to get the attention he needs from a teacher or another caregiver.

Tommy’s behaviour is characterized by crying and frustration. The theory of behaviourism explains the cause of Tommy’s behaviour. Behaviourists believe that all behaviours are acquired by learning and interaction with the environment, suggesting that children learn new behaviours through conditioning practices. Young children may respond to a reward or punishment based on their previous experiences. Tommy may have cried in the past when he didn’t get what he wanted, and that reinforced the crying behaviour because it got him what he wanted attention from a teacher.

A Guidance Approach

The approach I would use is redirection to another more appropriate activity that Tommy might do successfully. Redirection aims to draw the child’s attention away from inappropriate behaviour and redirect his attention toward acceptable behaviour. Redirecting him will help him regain control over the situation, helping him to feel better about himself (Housman et al., 2018). It will also allow him to refocus his efforts on a more developmentally appropriate task for him so he can be successful and gain confidence in what he was able to accomplish. The first step would be determining which activity might interest Tommy the most and then offering it as an alternative. I would also provide positive reinforcement when Tommy completes a task. Reinforcement allows the child to develop a sense of accomplishment, and it teaches him that he can achieve success if he tries.

As I refocus Tommy, I should use strategies such as offering a different developmentally appropriate activity and one in which he can be successful. I will also provide positive reinforcement when he completes an activity successfully. This will help him feel better about himself and increase his self-esteem because it allows him to see that he can also accomplish something independently.

Part B

Possible Causes

The possible causes of this behaviour include the children may have become tired from all the play and activities that took place during the day (Jeon et al., 2019). They may not be able to concentrate on cleaning up at this point because their energy level is low and they are hungry for lunch, or perhaps it’s time to go home already, so they don’t want to do anything but leave. When young children are tired or hungry, their attention span and ability to focus diminishes. They may also find it difficult to transition from one activity (playing with blocks) to another (cleaning up). They cannot control their bodies or behaviour because they lack the energy needed for this type of action. When the time comes for clean-up, they may not have the ability to listen to a teacher’s instruction and instead choose to rest or leave the room.

The second possible cause is that the children may feel overwhelmed by cleaning up such a large area (Gansen, 2019). They may lack interest in the activity because they are not yet developmentally ready for it or don’t want to do something that seems too difficult. The children may also be bored with cleaning up and would rather play than take time out of their day to complete this task. It can be due to developmental reasons or inexperience with this task. When young children face something they perceive as difficult, they may choose not to do it. In this scenario, the child sees blocks as playthings and not something that should be cleaned up after playing with them for an extended period.

Two Possible Strategies

The first strategy is to provide verbal cues and physical assistance when necessary. The teacher can break down the task into smaller steps so it doesn’t seem overwhelming, or she could motivate them with rewards for completing each step successfully (Jeon et al., 2019). The theory behind using rewards is that children need the motivation to perform a behaviour. It can be provided by offering them something positive for completing each step as directed. The teacher may also want to offer choices. The clean-up activity is a difficult task for young children, and this strategy can help them feel more in control of their actions while also giving them options when faced with such tasks. It might also make transitioning from one activity (playing with blocks) to another (clean up).

The second strategy is to offer choices and give children a sense of control over their being asked to do. The teacher can say something like, “You may choose which block you would like to pick up first.” This gives them options so it doesn’t seem overwhelming because they’re not being told what they must do but instead offering some freedom within the limits of the task at hand (Ocak Karabay, 2019). In addition, it might make them feel more in control over what they are being asked to do when given choices because we all like to think that our actions matter. This strategy acknowledges that feeling by offering options within limits. Those who like red blocks can pick up a red block, and so on. The theory behind this strategy is that when young children have a sense of control over their environment, they are more likely to comply with adult requests. They can also pick them in turns, so there are no arguments, and this helps teach them how to work together as a team which is important for their future success in life. Some children are quicker at cleaning up than others, so it might help them feel better about themselves if they get more blocks picked up first.

Conclusion

In conclusion, young children can find it challenging to cope with frustration and act out in various ways. There are two possible causes for this behavior: they may be tired from not having enough rest or find the task at hand too difficult. It is important to remember that some children may act out to gain attention and not because they are frustrated.

References

Gansen, H. M. (2019). Push-ups versus clean-up: Preschool teachers’ gendered beliefs, expectations for behaviour, and disciplinary practices. Sex Roles, 80(7), 393-408.

Housman, D. K., Denham, S. A., & Cabral, H. (2018). Building Young Children’s Emotional Competence and Self-Regulation from Birth: The” Begin to… ECSEL” Approach. International Journal of Emotional Education, 10(2), 5-25.

Jeon, L., Buettner, C. K., Grant, A. A., & Lang, S. N. (2019). Early childhood teachers’ stress and children’s social, emotional, and behavioral functioning. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 61, 21-32.

Ocak Karabay, S. (2019). Emotion regulation, teaching beliefs and child-teacher relationships from the perspectives of preschool teachers. Education 3-13, 47(1), 101-115.

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Guidance and Discipline Strategies for Young Children

Let’s say you have been reflecting on your first week as a preschool teacher. You often find yourself asking yourself things like ” Is this child just grumpy, or is there something more going on?” “How can I manage this negative behaviour? Is there something more I can do?” With that in mind, consider the scenarios in Part A and Part B.
Part A
Three-year-old Tommy is crying and upset because he can’t draw a truck like Sam’s
For this scenario
*Determine the cause of the behaviour. Provide one (1) supporting fact to justify your answer, citing your source.
*Develop a guidance approach that you might use to address the cause of the behaviour. Provide one (1) supporting fact to justify your approach, citing your source.
Part B
The block area is a popular area within the classroom. By the time clean-up arrives, nearly every block is on the floor. As clean-up is announced, children move to other areas, refusing to assist in the clean-up of blocks.
For this scenario, describe
*two (2) possible causes
*two(2) possible strategies, Justify your strategies