Difficult Behavior in Early Childhood

Positive Discipline for PreK-3 Classrooms and Beyond
First Edition
Ronald Mah - Independent Consultant and Trainer
Difficult Behavior in Early Childhood
July 2006 | 176 pages | Corwin
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ISBN: 9781452236636
Available from January 0001
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ISBN: 9781412937153
Available from January 0001

Description

"Teachers of young children will feel validated by this book that explains the issues underlying behaviors that challenge us on a daily basis and shows how to address them effectively."
-Xiomara Sánchez, NBCT, Dual Language Pre-K Teacher, Darwin Elementary School, Chicago, IL

"Covers the breadth of children's behaviors that teachers are likely to see, and describes the major motivators for them very well. The examples and scenarios are highly interesting, meaningful, and transferable to classroom practice."
-Gail Hardesty, Early Reading First Mentor, Chicago Public Schools, IL

Increase your understanding of children to guide and shape behavior in positive ways!

Teachers are masterful in balancing the diverse backgrounds, social-emotional needs, and academic goals of children in their classroom-that is, if they can only get them to sit still, pay attention, keep their hands off of each other (or out of the fish tank), or a host of other effective aggravations! But creating a classroom of attentive learners takes more than swift discipline-it involves helping children make good behavioral choices by developing their self-control rather than controlling them to make the choices we prefer.

Difficult Behavior in Early Childhood offers insight into understanding why certain children behave in certain ways, so teachers can react appropriately to individual behaviors and needs. In an engaging, conversational tone, the book covers:

  • Reconciling the different behavioral expectations of families and schools
  • Applying timeout effectively
  • Motivating children immediately and powerfully
  • Establishing and following through with boundaries
  • Developing behavior incentive plans that work
  • Identifying early signs of depression, anxiety, grief, and special needs

Through informed practice, teachers can bring about positive behavioral change and healthy, productive development.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

About the Author

About the Author

Introduction

Introduction

Part I. The Role of Discipline

  • 1. Discipline in Classrooms, Families, and Society
  • Communities That Affect Children’s Development
  • Family Expectations and Classroom Expectations
  • Discipline From the Inside Out
  • Practice Makes Better
  • Appropriate Discipline Develops Social Competence
  • Chapter Highlights

Part II. Time and Using Timeout

  • 2. Before Timeout: Understanding Children’s Sense of Time
  • Children’s Sense of Time
  • Making Time Relevant to Children
  • Or Else!
  • When There Isn’t One “Best” Choice
  • Likability, Validation, Acceptance, and Connection
  • Unconditional Love and Conditional Acceptance
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 3. Three Common Uses of Timeout and Why They Fail to Work
  • Theory 1. The "Suffering" Theory of Timeout
  • Theory 2. The "Think About It" Theory of Timeout
  • Theory 3. The “How Would You Like It If…” Theory of Timeout
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 4.The Community Theory of Timeout That Works
  • The Three Rules of Community
  • The Gift of Timeout
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 5. Applying Timeout Effectively
  • Begin With Basic Boundaries and Instructions
  • Return to Timeout
  • Timeout Again?
  • Timeout in Perspective
  • Moving From Timeout to a Plan: Doing Something Differently
  • Chapter Highlights

Part III. Setting and Following Through With Boundaries

  • 6. Boundaries: The Foundation for Growth and Change
  • Block Negative Behaviors First
  • Clarify Boundaries and Consequences
  • Ambiguity Won’t Work
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 7. Follow-Through and Consistency
  • Follow Through With Verbal and Nonverbal Messages
  • Be More Stubborn Than Your Students
  • Constantly and Consistently Reinforce Behavior
  • Beyond Boundaries, Consequences, Follow-Through, and Consistency
  • Chapter Highlights

Part IV. Punishment, Praise, and Rewards

  • 8. How and Why Punishment Works—and Doesn't Work
  • Motivation to Misbehave
  • Immunity to Punishment
  • Intensification and Abusive Behavior
  • Admitting It’s Time for a Change
  • Discipline Is More Than Punishment Alone
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 9. The Effective and Judicious Uses of Praise
  • Praise the Person, Not the Behavior
  • Self-Awareness of Achievement: The True Reward
  • Attention, Appreciation, and Material Rewards
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 10. The Most Important Lesson of Choices
  • A Multiple-Choice World
  • Rewarding Children for Meeting Expectations
  • Consequences for Poor Choices Are Necessary
  • Reasonable and Unreasonable Behaviors
  • Reflecting on Your Own Choices
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 11. Motivating Reward Systems: Key Issues and Effective Principles
  • Rewards as a Part of the Process, Not the Total Process
  • A Reward System Cannot Become a Punishment System
  • Principles of an Effective Reward System
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 12. Rewards-Only Behavior Plans
  • "Rewards-Only" Means Just That
  • Basic Terms of the Plan
  • Make the Plan Practical
  • Success in One Area of Behavior Transfers to Other Areas
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 13. Connecting Goals to Motivating Rewards
  • Defining Goals and Rewards
  • Choosing Quantifiable Goals
  • Defining and Quantifying Desirable Behaviors
  • Short-Term, Midterm, and Long-Term Goals
  • Goals That Involve Time Frames
  • Remember, No Punishments
  • Children Should Choose Their Rewards (Within Reason)
  • Age-Appropriate and Individually Tailored Rewards
  • Rewarding Consistency With Bonuses
  • Examples of Rewards-Only Incentive Plans
  • Always Follow Through
  • Chapter Highlights

Part V. Recognizing and Responding to Specific Behaviors and Emotions

  • 14. When There Is More to It: Helping Children With Deeper Issues
  • Happy Children Act Out Too
  • Is This an Angry Child?
  • Is This a Sad Child?
  • Is This a Fearful or Anxious Child?
  • Is This a Child Who Is Holding Unprocessed Pain or Loss?
  • Is This a Child Who May Need a Referral to a Specialist?
  • Chapter Highlights
  • Conclusion: Now What?
  • Asking Questions
  • From Observations to Results
  • Be a Teaching Artist

References

References

Index

Index

Additional materials

Description

"Teachers of young children will feel validated by this book that explains the issues underlying behaviors that challenge us on a daily basis and shows how to address them effectively."
-Xiomara Sánchez, NBCT, Dual Language Pre-K Teacher, Darwin Elementary School, Chicago, IL

"Covers the breadth of children's behaviors that teachers are likely to see, and describes the major motivators for them very well. The examples and scenarios are highly interesting, meaningful, and transferable to classroom practice."
-Gail Hardesty, Early Reading First Mentor, Chicago Public Schools, IL

Increase your understanding of children to guide and shape behavior in positive ways!

Teachers are masterful in balancing the diverse backgrounds, social-emotional needs, and academic goals of children in their classroom-that is, if they can only get them to sit still, pay attention, keep their hands off of each other (or out of the fish tank), or a host of other effective aggravations! But creating a classroom of attentive learners takes more than swift discipline-it involves helping children make good behavioral choices by developing their self-control rather than controlling them to make the choices we prefer.

Difficult Behavior in Early Childhood offers insight into understanding why certain children behave in certain ways, so teachers can react appropriately to individual behaviors and needs. In an engaging, conversational tone, the book covers:

  • Reconciling the different behavioral expectations of families and schools
  • Applying timeout effectively
  • Motivating children immediately and powerfully
  • Establishing and following through with boundaries
  • Developing behavior incentive plans that work
  • Identifying early signs of depression, anxiety, grief, and special needs

Through informed practice, teachers can bring about positive behavioral change and healthy, productive development.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

About the Author

About the Author

Introduction

Introduction

Part I. The Role of Discipline

  • 1. Discipline in Classrooms, Families, and Society
  • Communities That Affect Children’s Development
  • Family Expectations and Classroom Expectations
  • Discipline From the Inside Out
  • Practice Makes Better
  • Appropriate Discipline Develops Social Competence
  • Chapter Highlights

Part II. Time and Using Timeout

  • 2. Before Timeout: Understanding Children’s Sense of Time
  • Children’s Sense of Time
  • Making Time Relevant to Children
  • Or Else!
  • When There Isn’t One “Best” Choice
  • Likability, Validation, Acceptance, and Connection
  • Unconditional Love and Conditional Acceptance
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 3. Three Common Uses of Timeout and Why They Fail to Work
  • Theory 1. The "Suffering" Theory of Timeout
  • Theory 2. The "Think About It" Theory of Timeout
  • Theory 3. The “How Would You Like It If…” Theory of Timeout
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 4.The Community Theory of Timeout That Works
  • The Three Rules of Community
  • The Gift of Timeout
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 5. Applying Timeout Effectively
  • Begin With Basic Boundaries and Instructions
  • Return to Timeout
  • Timeout Again?
  • Timeout in Perspective
  • Moving From Timeout to a Plan: Doing Something Differently
  • Chapter Highlights

Part III. Setting and Following Through With Boundaries

  • 6. Boundaries: The Foundation for Growth and Change
  • Block Negative Behaviors First
  • Clarify Boundaries and Consequences
  • Ambiguity Won’t Work
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 7. Follow-Through and Consistency
  • Follow Through With Verbal and Nonverbal Messages
  • Be More Stubborn Than Your Students
  • Constantly and Consistently Reinforce Behavior
  • Beyond Boundaries, Consequences, Follow-Through, and Consistency
  • Chapter Highlights

Part IV. Punishment, Praise, and Rewards

  • 8. How and Why Punishment Works—and Doesn't Work
  • Motivation to Misbehave
  • Immunity to Punishment
  • Intensification and Abusive Behavior
  • Admitting It’s Time for a Change
  • Discipline Is More Than Punishment Alone
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 9. The Effective and Judicious Uses of Praise
  • Praise the Person, Not the Behavior
  • Self-Awareness of Achievement: The True Reward
  • Attention, Appreciation, and Material Rewards
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 10. The Most Important Lesson of Choices
  • A Multiple-Choice World
  • Rewarding Children for Meeting Expectations
  • Consequences for Poor Choices Are Necessary
  • Reasonable and Unreasonable Behaviors
  • Reflecting on Your Own Choices
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 11. Motivating Reward Systems: Key Issues and Effective Principles
  • Rewards as a Part of the Process, Not the Total Process
  • A Reward System Cannot Become a Punishment System
  • Principles of an Effective Reward System
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 12. Rewards-Only Behavior Plans
  • "Rewards-Only" Means Just That
  • Basic Terms of the Plan
  • Make the Plan Practical
  • Success in One Area of Behavior Transfers to Other Areas
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 13. Connecting Goals to Motivating Rewards
  • Defining Goals and Rewards
  • Choosing Quantifiable Goals
  • Defining and Quantifying Desirable Behaviors
  • Short-Term, Midterm, and Long-Term Goals
  • Goals That Involve Time Frames
  • Remember, No Punishments
  • Children Should Choose Their Rewards (Within Reason)
  • Age-Appropriate and Individually Tailored Rewards
  • Rewarding Consistency With Bonuses
  • Examples of Rewards-Only Incentive Plans
  • Always Follow Through
  • Chapter Highlights

Part V. Recognizing and Responding to Specific Behaviors and Emotions

  • 14. When There Is More to It: Helping Children With Deeper Issues
  • Happy Children Act Out Too
  • Is This an Angry Child?
  • Is This a Sad Child?
  • Is This a Fearful or Anxious Child?
  • Is This a Child Who Is Holding Unprocessed Pain or Loss?
  • Is This a Child Who May Need a Referral to a Specialist?
  • Chapter Highlights
  • Conclusion: Now What?
  • Asking Questions
  • From Observations to Results
  • Be a Teaching Artist

References

References

Index

Index

Additional materials

SAGE Publishing Logo

Difficult Behavior in Early Childhood

Positive Discipline for PreK-3 Classrooms and Beyond


July 2006 | 176 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 28/04/2023 9781412937153 $39.95
Hardcover 27/02/2023 9781412937146 $80.95
Lifetime 28/04/2023 9781452236636 $36.00

"Teachers of young children will feel validated by this book that explains the issues underlying behaviors that challenge us on a daily basis and shows how to address them effectively."
-Xiomara Sánchez, NBCT, Dual Language Pre-K Teacher, Darwin Elementary School, Chicago, IL

"Covers the breadth of children's behaviors that teachers are likely to see, and describes the major motivators for them very well. The examples and scenarios are highly interesting, meaningful, and transferable to classroom practice."
-Gail Hardesty, Early Reading First Mentor, Chicago Public Schools, IL

Increase your understanding of children to guide and shape behavior in positive ways!

Teachers are masterful in balancing the diverse backgrounds, social-emotional needs, and academic goals of children in their classroom-that is, if they can only get them to sit still, pay attention, keep their hands off of each other (or out of the fish tank), or a host of other effective aggravations! But creating a classroom of attentive learners takes more than swift discipline-it involves helping children make good behavioral choices by developing their self-control rather than controlling them to make the choices we prefer.

Difficult Behavior in Early Childhood offers insight into understanding why certain children behave in certain ways, so teachers can react appropriately to individual behaviors and needs. In an engaging, conversational tone, the book covers:

  • Reconciling the different behavioral expectations of families and schools
  • Applying timeout effectively
  • Motivating children immediately and powerfully
  • Establishing and following through with boundaries
  • Developing behavior incentive plans that work
  • Identifying early signs of depression, anxiety, grief, and special needs

Through informed practice, teachers can bring about positive behavioral change and healthy, productive development.


Table Of Contents:

  • Acknowledgments
  • About the Author
  • Introduction
  • Part I. The Role of Discipline
  • 1. Discipline in Classrooms, Families, and Society
  • Communities That Affect Children’s Development
  • Family Expectations and Classroom Expectations
  • Discipline From the Inside Out
  • Practice Makes Better
  • Appropriate Discipline Develops Social Competence
  • Chapter Highlights
  • Part II. Time and Using Timeout
  • 2. Before Timeout: Understanding Children’s Sense of Time
  • Children’s Sense of Time
  • Making Time Relevant to Children
  • Or Else!
  • When There Isn’t One “Best” Choice
  • Likability, Validation, Acceptance, and Connection
  • Unconditional Love and Conditional Acceptance
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 3. Three Common Uses of Timeout and Why They Fail to Work
  • Theory 1. The "Suffering" Theory of Timeout
  • Theory 2. The "Think About It" Theory of Timeout
  • Theory 3. The “How Would You Like It If…” Theory of Timeout
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 4.The Community Theory of Timeout That Works
  • The Three Rules of Community
  • The Gift of Timeout
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 5. Applying Timeout Effectively
  • Begin With Basic Boundaries and Instructions
  • Return to Timeout
  • Timeout Again?
  • Timeout in Perspective
  • Moving From Timeout to a Plan: Doing Something Differently
  • Chapter Highlights
  • Part III. Setting and Following Through With Boundaries
  • 6. Boundaries: The Foundation for Growth and Change
  • Block Negative Behaviors First
  • Clarify Boundaries and Consequences
  • Ambiguity Won’t Work
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 7. Follow-Through and Consistency
  • Follow Through With Verbal and Nonverbal Messages
  • Be More Stubborn Than Your Students
  • Constantly and Consistently Reinforce Behavior
  • Beyond Boundaries, Consequences, Follow-Through, and Consistency
  • Chapter Highlights
  • Part IV. Punishment, Praise, and Rewards
  • 8. How and Why Punishment Works—and Doesn't Work
  • Motivation to Misbehave
  • Immunity to Punishment
  • Intensification and Abusive Behavior
  • Admitting It’s Time for a Change
  • Discipline Is More Than Punishment Alone
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 9. The Effective and Judicious Uses of Praise
  • Praise the Person, Not the Behavior
  • Self-Awareness of Achievement: The True Reward
  • Attention, Appreciation, and Material Rewards
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 10. The Most Important Lesson of Choices
  • A Multiple-Choice World
  • Rewarding Children for Meeting Expectations
  • Consequences for Poor Choices Are Necessary
  • Reasonable and Unreasonable Behaviors
  • Reflecting on Your Own Choices
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 11. Motivating Reward Systems: Key Issues and Effective Principles
  • Rewards as a Part of the Process, Not the Total Process
  • A Reward System Cannot Become a Punishment System
  • Principles of an Effective Reward System
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 12. Rewards-Only Behavior Plans
  • "Rewards-Only" Means Just That
  • Basic Terms of the Plan
  • Make the Plan Practical
  • Success in One Area of Behavior Transfers to Other Areas
  • Chapter Highlights
  • 13. Connecting Goals to Motivating Rewards
  • Defining Goals and Rewards
  • Choosing Quantifiable Goals
  • Defining and Quantifying Desirable Behaviors
  • Short-Term, Midterm, and Long-Term Goals
  • Goals That Involve Time Frames
  • Remember, No Punishments
  • Children Should Choose Their Rewards (Within Reason)
  • Age-Appropriate and Individually Tailored Rewards
  • Rewarding Consistency With Bonuses
  • Examples of Rewards-Only Incentive Plans
  • Always Follow Through
  • Chapter Highlights
  • Part V. Recognizing and Responding to Specific Behaviors and Emotions
  • 14. When There Is More to It: Helping Children With Deeper Issues
  • Happy Children Act Out Too
  • Is This an Angry Child?
  • Is This a Sad Child?
  • Is This a Fearful or Anxious Child?
  • Is This a Child Who Is Holding Unprocessed Pain or Loss?
  • Is This a Child Who May Need a Referral to a Specialist?
  • Chapter Highlights
  • Conclusion: Now What?
  • Asking Questions
  • From Observations to Results
  • Be a Teaching Artist
  • References
  • Index

Recent Product Reviews:

"I am thoroughly impressed. As an early childhood educator and administrator, I felt this book provided a realistic description of behavior in children of this age. This is an excellent resource to use as a staff development tool. There are useful tips, but most of all, it makes you think about each child and how your interactions are so crucial."
Denise Humphries, Preschool Principal, John F. Kennedy American School, Queretaro, Mexico
"The flow of the book is smooth and easy to grasp. The vignettes, discussions, and practical suggestions are true-to-life and applicable."
Dimensions of Early Childhood, Spring/Summer 2007, Southern Early Childhood Association
"Learning to manage children's behavior is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching. Children tend to act out at inopportune moments, and the rest of the class is always watching to see how the teacher responds to an individual child's behavior. This invaluable resource goes a long way toward helping teachers develop practical strategies for effective classroom management."
Marilyn Karp, Editor-in-Chief, Early Childhood Teachers' Club
"Teachers of young children will feel validated by this book that explains the issues underlying behaviors that challenge us on a daily basis and shows how to address them effectively."
Xiomara Sánchez, NBCT, Dual Language Pre-K Teacher, Darwin Elementary School, Chicago, IL
"Covers the breadth of children's behaviors that teachers are likely to see, and describes the major motivators for them very well. The examples and scenarios are highly interesting, meaningful, and transferable to classroom practice."
Gail Hardesty, Mentor, Chicago Public Schools, IL

Recommendations