Positive Guidance Philosophy
Part of what children are learning in their early years is how to get along with others and what behaviors are appropriate in different situations. We take a proactive and preventive approach to guidance that reinforces appropriate behaviors rather than focusing on inappropriate behaviors. To do this, our teachers are trained to use various techniques, including redirection, praise, and distraction.
In this positive guidance atmosphere, most inappropriate behaviors are avoided with a teacher who is regulated, calm, consistent, and firm but kind. However, in extreme situations where a child may be in danger of hurting themselves or others, a child may be guided to learn to self-regulate while being held by a teacher until the child is able to calm down. Sometimes this requires a teacher to hold a child safely under their underarms to physically redirect the child, or to hold the child safely in their lap while trying to communicate with them. Teachers use this strategy not as a punishment, but to help redirect the child to a safe situation. The child is allowed to return to the group activity when they feel ready to do so.
Below are strategies Heritage team members use to respond to child misbehavior.
Redirection
This strategy is used most frequently. If a child is not following the rules or is being uncooperative, a team member quickly gets the child’s attention and introduces another activity. For example, you may hear a team member say, “Kate, let’s play with the ball together. You’ve been riding the bike for a long time, and it’s now Logan’s turn.”
Logical Consequences
These are structured consequences that follow specific misbehaviors. The child should be able to see how the behavior and the consequence are directly related. For example, if a child is running in the classroom, you may hear a team member say, “Andrew, running inside the room may cause you to fall or bump into a friend. That will hurt you and your friend, and that will make you sad. Please use your walking feet in the classroom.”
Solution Participation
If a child damages something, they need to help fix it or clean up. If a child causes someone distress, they should help relieve it. For example, you may hear a team member say, “It made Brandon very sad when you told him he wasn’t your friend anymore. Please apologize and help me make him feel better.”
Natural Consequences
Allowing children to experience the consequences of their behavior is also called learning the hard way in a safe environment. For example, Laura does not put a toy back after playing with it when a teacher asked her to, and she steps on the toy and stumbles and falls. You may hear a team member say in a kind tone, “Laura, I asked you to put that toy away, and because you did not, you stepped on it and fell, which made you sad. We want you to be safe, so please put your toy away when asked so you don’t get hurt.” We use natural consequences only when they will not endanger the child’s health or safety, but the natural result of a behavior is a teaching lesson for the child.
Quiet Break
In some instances, a child may need to be removed from a situation in which they have become overwhelmed or violent. The child will be directed to “take a break” or sit in the “calm down area.” This gives the child a chance to calm down, regain control, and reflect quietly on their behavior away from others. Once the child has calmed down, staff will talk with the child about the actions that led to needing a break. For example, “Hannah, we have talked often about how hitting is not acceptable. Because you hit John, please leave the block area and go to the calm down chair. I will talk to you when you are ready.”
If these actions do not help reduce or change the behavior, the following will take place:
Staff will report the behavior and the strategies attempted to the Administrator.
The Administrator will immediately assist, observe the child, offer suggestions, and, if necessary, develop a behavior management plan.
The behavior management plan will be discussed with the parent and then put into practice.
The Administrator, Lead Teacher, Assistant Teacher, and parents will evaluate the behavior management plan, and adjustments will be made if needed.
If a child’s behavior becomes threatening to themselves, other children, team members, or teachers, the child will be removed from the classroom and possibly the program for a period of time. At any time, Administration reserves the right to bypass behavior management plans and disenroll a child whose behavior is not manageable.
Biting Policy
Biting is common among young children. During early childhood, children are sensory learners and often explore orally. Limited impulse control can lead children to bite as a way of making their needs known, especially before their language skills are fully developed.
We realize that biting can be a big concern, and we do everything we can to minimize the behavior. Our team members are trained to recognize triggers for biting and how to prevent and decrease incidents, but it is not always easily detected in young children who are new or don’t have a history of biting.
If your child bites or is bitten, you and the family of the other child involved will receive an Incident/Accident Report that keeps the identity of both children confidential. If you have any concerns about a biting incident, please talk to your child’s teacher or your Center Administrator. If biting is excessive, we will consider disenrollment of the child until the biting has stopped or the child graduates into the next room. We do not hold spots for biting children who are disenrolled.
Suspension and Expulsion
We believe children and families deserve to be full members of their communities and to experience a sense of belonging.
A student may be suspended from class for a day or up to a week for the following: excessive biting, violence, excessive profanity, excessive running from the classroom, or threatening or harmful behavior that isn’t easily managed.
A student may be expelled after an ABC report is submitted and a Plan of Action is discussed with the parent and implemented. If it is not successful, the Administrator reserves the right to expel a student when behaviors exceed the staff’s ability to maintain safety in the classroom.
We know that suspensions and expulsions from early childhood programs can have a significant negative impact on children and families. We take these decisions seriously, consider the impacts carefully, and keep children enrolled whenever possible. We work closely with families to set children on positive paths. To prevent suspension and expulsion, we:
Create learning environments in which every child feels good about being there.
Design a learning environment that promotes children’s engagement.
Focus on teaching children what to do, specifically by teaching expectations and routines as well as skills children can use in place of challenging behaviors.
Talk to families about issues as they arise.
Provide Incident Reports, ABC Charts, and Behavior Plans when appropriate, and partner with the family to identify the best ways to teach positive replacement behaviors.
Suspension and expulsion are a last resort, used only when other steps to resolve an issue have been unsuccessful. Even after the difficult decision to end care has been made, we will do our best to make the transition as smooth as possible for the child and family by:
Giving families reasonable notice, generally at least one week, before ending care, unless it is necessary to immediately discontinue services.
Helping families find alternate care by connecting them with community-based child care resource and referral agencies.
For other reasons enrollment may be cancelled, see Enrollment Cancellation and Collections.
