ENFORCING RULES
As a family childcare provider, one of your goals should be to help children in their development of proper interaction with others. You need to teach children how to solve problems, know their boundaries, and how to control their behavior.
Clear and concise rules are very important for children and help them to know their boundaries. Knowing and understanding the rules helps a child feel secure in their environment. Often behavior problems arise when the rules in your childcare program differ from the rules at home. Let’s look at some ways we can guide children’s behavior.
Ways to prevent behavior problems:
• Your environment should be set up to have adequate adult supervision. Particularly supervision that is adequate for each child’s age and stage of development.
• Have enough equipment for the children. Have more than one toy, puzzle, book, ride around toy, etc. Children at young ages often have not learned to share or take turns and will grab something they want away from another child.
• There should be areas for independent play, where a child is able to make his/her own decisions. Therefore, strengthening decision making skill.
• Have a daily routine offers security to the children.
• Schedule enough time for free play
• Be positive. Never call a child “bad”. It is the behavior that is unacceptable, not the child.
• Show the children the right way to handle a situation or a toy. Do not just tell them what they did wrong. Help the children make better decisions by showing them what they could do instead.
• Always notice and praise children for their good behavior. Be specific so the child knows exactly what he/she did that was good.
• Always use eye contact when speaking with a child. Get down to their level and speak clearly to the child. Never raise your voice or yell at a child.
• Help the children understand their feelings. Identify and acknowledge what the child is feeling. Teach the child, when they feel a certain way, what is the appropriate behavior.
• Help the child learn how to use his/her words. Especially when they are having a disagreement with another child. Help them identify their feelings and show them how they can communicate that to the other child.
• Model the correct behaviors using your tone of voice, body language, and actions. If you raise your voice, the children will also.
• Set clear boundaries. The rules should reflect a respect for others and the childcare environment.
• Post the rules where the children can see them. Go over the rules may times and be consistent. Be age appropriate. If the children in your care cannot read, use pictures for your rules.
For example: The rule is: No Running. Post a picture of a person walking.
Occasionally you will have a child that finds it very hard to control his/her behavior and for the safety of the other children you need to separate that child. If the child is old enough to understand, you could ask the child to go to a quiet corner until they could calm down and then come back to the group. This puts the responsibility on the child to learn to self-regulate their behavior, understand their behavior was unacceptable in the group and to make the decision when they return. If the child is younger and you need to separate the child, take into consideration the child’s developmental age. Never make the object of separation the child, instead it is the behavior that is needed to be changed. No matter what the age of the child, always make sure the child is within your sight and hearing.
If you have a child who is persistent in behavior that could harm himself or the other children, (biting, hitting, hair pulling, kicking, pinching, throwing toys, head banging etc.) it is time to have a conference with the parents. Find out if:
• The child is mimicking behavior that they are seeing or experiencing from older children in the home.
• The parent is experiencing this behavior at home and is allowing the child to get away with the inappropriate behavior because they don’t know what to do.
• The child has undergone a serious trauma or significant change in their life.
When having a serious discussion with the parents, you need to get the parents cooperation in drafting a plan that is carried out at childcare and at home. The consistency of rules and modeling correct behavior can help the child learn how to control their actions.
Document the child’s behavioral incidents listing date, time, who was involved, what action was taken, and when and how the parent was notified. If it becomes necessary for the parent to obtain counseling or medical help for the child, your documentation will be helpful. Your documentation will also be important if you need to terminate the child.
Resource:
Early Childhood Direct