Practical Approaches for Caregivers and Teachers, Third Edition

By Louise Porter, M.A., M. Gifted Ed., Dip. Ed.

Based on the premise that a caring relationship is the most powerful tool for guiding young children's behavior, this popular text shows early childhood professionals and caregivers everyday behavior management techniques that work to improve preschoolers' challenging behavior. Louise Porter's "guidance approach" advocates sensitive, child-centered communication that fosters thoughtful and considerate behavior in young children.

Clearly written and more practical than ever, this updated third edition shows early childhood educators and caregivers how to respond to and improve disruptive behavior with ethical strategies that promote children's skill development and safeguard the emotional needs of everyone involved.

Readers will find

• new case studies
  
  
• extensively updated references
  
  
• a new model describing emotional needs
  
  
• more information on programming as prevention
  
  
• new content on sensory integration difficulties, ADHD, multicultural issues, and gender differences in behavior

And everything that made the previous editions a trusted reference—an overview of quality care, suggestions for building children's self-esteem, insight into why specific behaviors might surface, and appendices filled with child care guidelines and creative activities—is still here.

An excellent text for coursework and a practical guide for professional development, this book will equip readers with research-based, developmentally appropriate strategies for solving young children's problem behavior in positive ways. Readers will also find everything that made the first edition so helpful—a child-centered overview of quality care, suggestions for building children’s self-esteem, insight into why specific behaviors might surface, and appendices filled with child care guidelines and creative activities. With this easy-to-use guide, educators and caregivers will discover the proven strategies and insights that have already made this book a trusted reference.

(A co-publication with Elsevier Australia.)

Part I: Foundations of discipline

1: Contrasting ideas about discipline

Beliefs about children
Beliefs about children's behaviour
Goals of discipline
Locus of causality
Adults' status
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

2: Evidence about disciplinary practices

Effectiveness of practices
Research about the effects of guidance
Disadvantages of punishments
Disadvantages of rewards
Ethical principles
Eclecticism
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

Part II: Universal interventions

3: A child-centred educational program

Curriculum planning
Aims of early childhood programs
Behavioural assessment
Educational provisions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

4: Meeting children’s basic needs

Survival
Emotional safety
Wellbeing
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

5: Meeting children's need to belong

Components of social competence
Acceptance
Empathy
Connectedness
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

6: Meeting children's need for autonomy

Freedom to make choices
Mastery
Self-efficacy
Environmental supports
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

7: Meeting children's need for self-esteem

The nature of self-esteem
Signs of low self-esteem
Facilitating children's healthy self-esteem
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

Part III: Supportive interventions

8: Origins of inconsiderate behaviour

Guidance explanations for disruptiveness
Responses to the behaviour types
The attention-seeking myth
Conclusion

9: Communicating to solve problems

Listening
Assertiveness
Collaborative problem solving
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

10: Everyday responses to disruptions

Institute guidelines, not rules
Give positive instructions
Change the demands
Avoid escalating confrontations
Conclusion

11: Teaching children emotional self-control

Demonstrate empathy
Teach coping strategies
Explain growing up
Teach constructive thinking
Soothe children
Consistency
Conclusion

12: Finding solutions to chronic difficulties

Amplify present solutions
View events differently
Respond differently
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

Part IV: Solutions to common behaviours

13: Disruptions during routines

Meal times
Sleep times
Group-time disruptions
Toileting
Separating from parents
Reunions
Transitions between activities
Packing away equipment
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

14: Guiding prosocial behaviour

Social withdrawal
Excessive reliance on others
Physical aggression
Exclusion of peers
Rough-and-tumble play
Super-hero play
Unwillingness to share
Sexuality
Fears
Children who have been bereaved
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

15: Disruptions associated with atypical development

Delayed or impaired communication skills
Social application of language
Sensory integration difficulties
The autism spectrum
The attention-deficit disorders
Oppositional defiance disorder (ODD)
Transition to school
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

Part V: Supporting adults

16. Nurturing staff

Manageable demands
Enrich adults' personal resources
Workplace support
Access to outside expertise
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

17: Collaborating with parents

Trends in relationships with parents
Impediments to collaboration
A collaborative style
Collaborative practices
Collaborative problem solving
Cross-cultural collaboration
Responding to parents' complaints
Complaints from third parties
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

18: Formulating a discipline policy

Benefits of formal policies
Pre-planning
Components of a policy
Evaluation of the policy
Conclusion
Suggested further reading

References
Index