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Find out in this Q&A with the author of Little Kids, Big Worries:Stress-Busting Tips for Early Childhood Classrooms |
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About the author
 Alice S. Honig, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of Child Development at Syracuse University in New York. For more than 40 years, she has taught courses in child development and has directed the National Quality Infant Toddler Caregiving Workshop for more than 30. As a licensed psychologist, she counsels parents and assesses children's development. Dr. Honig has received numerous lifetime achievement awards including recognitions from the New York State Association for the Education of Young Children, the Syracuse Association for the Education of Young Children, and the Central New York State Psychological Asociation. Dr. Honig is the author of numerous books and articles. She is a contributing columnist for Scholastic Parent and Child and the North American Editor for the British journal Early Child Development and Care. Questions? Customer Service: |
Q: Your new book Little Kids, Big Worries: Stress-Busting Tips for Early Childhood Classrooms talks about stresses young children may have in the classroom. What are some signs of stress in a child's life?
A: Stress can show itself in many ways:
Q: What types of stresses might these signs be indicating? A: Teachers can watch the child's body language and read their actions to try to get to the bottom of what is troubling them. Young babies may be fussy due to physical discomforts such as an upset or hungry belly. Stiffening or arching of their bodies may be a signal that they do not feel secure with the person caring for them, or that they are overstimulated. Older babies may show signs of stranger anxiety, where they are fearful of new caregivers (including family members they may not know well). Some babies and toddlers may have separation anxiety and become very anxious if their caregiver with whom they feel secure is gone for too long. They begin to wilt, look grave, cry, or develop sleeping or eating disturbances. Toddlers get frustrated when their skill does not match their will, such as when they want to tie their own shoelaces. A common source of stress is when a child doesn't have the language yet to express his desires. Children who act uncooperative, "stubborn," or have trouble learning may be reacting to more demands being placed on them than they can tolerate. Stress from bullying or other anxieties may reveal itself in stomach aches, facial tics, grinding teeth, or compulsive thumb sucking. Some children lash out aggressively at other children or feel threatened by even minor behaviors, possibly signifying aggressive or unfair treatment by others. An inability to act empathically (does not look at all worried if a peer, for example, falls on the playground and has a bleeding knee) may reveal a lack of caring by an attuned adult. Tensions or violence at home may manifest in the classroom as bed wetting, bad dreams, fingernail biting, fighting with others, stuttering, refusing meals, inability to play happily with peers, and a variety of worrisome behaviors. Q: How important is the teacher's response to the child's symptoms of stress? A: The teacher's response is crucial! Children learn and cooperate when they feel they can trust us, and expect loving kindness from us. How responsively attuned the teacher is to each individual child's needs is the most important ingredient of quality childcare, not the number of toys or how fancy the room is. Teachers who provide models of insightfulness and kindness provide a priceless treasure for each child in the group. Q: Can you provide an example of a helpful way a teacher could respond to a situation that she recognizes grew out of stress? If a child has bopped another preschooler with a block, a teacher with insight understands the stress underlying the incident. Rather than saying dismissively, "Sarah must be feeling tired," or, "Sarah, don't be mean to your friend," she could speak to the children in a way that acknowledges both of their feelings. By recognizing that Sarah felt threatened when the child was standing close to her block tower, she could explain that the other child was standing so close because the building was so interesting. And she could express in words how worried Sarah must have been that her tower might get toppled with the other child standing so close. Q: How can an awareness of temperament differences help teachers manage children's stress? A: Children have very different temperaments. If a teacher tells a preschooler to "go play in the sandbox with your little friends" and the child just stares, hangs his head down, will not look at the teacher, and does not move, the teacher may get irritated. The wise teacher knows this child is shy and feeling too stressed and frightened to go across the playground by himself! She takes that child by the hand and goes to the sandbox and helps the child get settled; once the child is feeling more secure, the teacher moves on to interact with another youngster. If the teacher is not tuned into temperament for each child in her group, she may have thought the child was being "disobedient"; instead, the teacher needs to understand that she had given an instruction that was too stressful for the shy child. Q: The last two chapters of your book focus on helping adults, including the teacher herself, deal with stress. How does that make a difference? A: We can only provide the most attuned, sensitive, and loving care for each child in the class if we ourselves have enough life energy and feelings of well being to cherish and attend to our children. So teachers need to find ways to keep their own stress low. Each teacher needs to figure out what stress busters work for her or him: run a mile before breakfast; read a good novel before bed; sing along to old songs on the drive in to work. In class, a key stress buster is to let go of feeling defensive. For example, if an angry child calls the teacher a "poopy head," that child is showing stress. To get "mad" will not help the child. Developing a thicker skin and a sense of humor at the antics and foibles of children—as they grow more competent, sociable and kind to others in your care—will decrease your stress and help you ease the child's stress by focusing on the use of reflective and helpful words and actions. Q: Could you recommend some steps early childhood programs could take toward decoding stressful behavior and nurturing more positive child outcomes? A: Help teachers become good noticers. Watch each child! Notice what bugs each child, what calms each child. Remind teachers: If a child needs more of your snuggly lap time, be generous with lap time. Loving touch is a great healer of stress. Tune in to each child's temperament. Spend some time each day shining your eyes with appreciation and admiration at each child, even if for brief moments. Give specific small praise for tiny developmental steps that show a child is trying hard to learn patience or a new skill, or to act kindly with another child. Praise staff members who have started to decode more stress signs and to nurture and soothe children more harmoniously. |
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