Let’s talk about empathy.

I hear a lot of teachers respond to children who hit or take toys by saying things like: 

“How do you think that made her feel?” 

Do you and your coworkers use that strategy?

This typically ONLY works with children who already have developed empathy.

Which is not all preschoolers.

challenging behavior, more often than ever before?

Many teachers tell me their strategies for preventing and for responding to challenging behavior just don’t work like they used to.

Programs everywhere seem to be reporting that children are coming to school behind where they’d expect them to be developmentally…

…especially when it comes to social-emotional skills and the ability to self-regulate. 

How has it been working with children who exhibit challenging behavior?

Have you been investing time and energy in building your confidence and skills and doing what it really takes to transform challenging behavior? 

I know you may be on break…or you may not be. 

It’s summer here in the U.S. and whether you work in child care and have a gradual transition of children in and out of your classroom through the summer…OR work in Head Start or a public school and will get a new group in August or September…

It’s a GREAT time to set some intentions.

Now’s a great time to think about your classroom transitions.

Transitions like: getting from lunch to nap, clean up time, coming back inside…

How have they been going for you in the last 10 months?

…ok, now think back to last August/September 2023 when you likely had either a few new children or a whole new group of children in your class. How were your transitions then?

What if you had some really effective strategies and tools for your transition time toolbox… 

Did you know that one of the best ways to support children who’ve experienced trauma is through play?

As I’m sure you’ve observed, young children tend to play out things they’ve experienced.

This is true whether their experience was good, bad, neutral…or traumatic.

That’s not to say every single thing a child has experienced makes its way into their play of course. But many experiences do.

There are many tools, techniques, and strategies that go into consistently preventing and addressing challenging behavior in early childhood classrooms.

That’s why previously my minimum introductory TCB Training time was SIX HOURS!

As someone who previously registered for (and attended?) my 3-part Transform Challenging Behavior free live training and/or The Transform Challenging Behavior Online Conference, you may have experienced this first hand….

…or, maybe you registered and couldn’t quite keep up. 

Well I have GREAT NEWS…

Most of us were taught that for best results we need to be consistent with strategies used by multiple adults who are interacting with a child, right?

I know I was told: consistency is key. 

Has a lack of consistency ever come up for you because your coworkers have a different approach or you can’t seem to agree on the best way to support a child?

How about working with children’s families?

Prior to creating the Transform Challenging Behavior Online Conference and TCB Teachers’ Club I traveled to give conference presentations, train teachers, and consult with EC programs. 

I LOVED it.

…and then, I’ll be honest: I got tired.

Until recently I’ve stuck with that decision, politely declining invitations to deliver keynote talks and responding to requests for private trainings with a short list of trusted colleagues.

But I’ve missed seeing some of you all in-person! 

I decided I would resume in-person. But, pace myself. Taking care of myself: what a concept!

I dream of a world where every early childhood teacher has what they need.

Early childhood teachers are usually expected to magically know how to work with children who hit, swear, disrupt, defy, refuse to cooperate, and run out of the room.

Children do a whole host of behaviors that can be scary, unpredictable, and puzzling. 

(And many behaviors that are wonderful, of course).

Most early childhood teachers have not had adequate training to prepare them for this.

…and many don’t get enough support with challenging behavior day-to-day.