Competency Statement 3

Goal #3: To support social and emotional development and to provide positive guidance I have personally been working with the children in my preschool class about feelings and the feelings of others. When a child says unkind words to another child, I step in and get both sides of the story, and if the child is at fault I talk to them about why we don’t do that and I have the child apologize for what they said. On the other hand, actions, such as hitting or scratching, are handled differently. I immediately put myself in the setting, remove the child for a moment, and talk to them about why they did it. If they cannot answer, then I give them the reason and have them repeat it back to me. Afterwards, I will ask the child how they would feel if someone hit or bit them. Trying to make the child understand is a big part of their development.

CS III a
There are a few ways that I support the development of my children’s social and emotional skills and their self-concepts. For instance, I let the children choose on their own what they want to do in their free time, such as some children love art and they see that as a way to express themselves. A few other children may enjoy making new friends and being social, so they may talk somebody’s ear off. Some children are shy or get embarrassed easily, so I try to do things and help them work on warming up to their friends. Maybe they are afraid of talking in front of people during show and tell, therefore I may step in and start acting goofy and ask questions to try and show the child that I am there and that everything is ok. I try to support my children, and help expand their self-esteem.

CS III b As a child, I was guided in different ways. If I acted up, I got a spanking. If I was good, then I got rewarded. I believe that children should be taught with positive behaviors. If a child acts up, don’t jump down their throat, talk to them. If a child hits, I remove them from the setting and talk to them about why we shouldn’t hit and how it hurts their friends’ feelings. I have had a few occasions with children with challenging behavior, and I have had a difficult time dealing with it, considering how I was brought up. As an early childhood educator, I have been taught the correct ways to doing things. With the challenging behaviors I have faced, I have been taught about redirection. I believe all children express themselves in so many ways, whether it is positive behavior or negative behavior. Children do whatever they can do to attract attention. As difficult as some challenging behaviors can be to handle, stay positive.