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IN THIS ISSUE Building relationships Responding to children’s cues Supporting self-regulation ISSUE 1 POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY2 RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY - ISSUE 1 CONTENTS Creator: Gail Joseph Managing Editor: Tamarack O’Donnell Project Manager: Jessica Egbert Authors: Angela Notari-Syverson, Gail Joseph, Heather Floyd, Tamarack O’Donnell Designer: Ceci Skolrud Circle Time Magazine Issue 1, 2019 For questions or comments contact CTmag@uw.edu This document was prepared with support from the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). For more great resources on this topic, and to watch the Circle Time Magazine professional development talk show series, check us out at: Relationships are Key: Highlights and Key Ideas Equity Matters Positive Behavior Support and Relationships Learning About My World Infants: Early On • Put It Into Practice • Try It Out • Talk About It • Partnering with Families Toddlers: Emerging Skills • Put It Into Practice • Try It Out • Talk About It • Partnering with Families • Put It Into Practice • Try It Out • Talk About It • Partnering With Families It’s All About You: Building Resilience 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 8 9 10 11 11 12 13 14 15 163 RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY - ISSUE 1 Build relationships and trust Responsive and nurturing adult-child interactions during daily activities and routines strengthen relationships. When children have positive relationships with adults, they develop a sense of security, feelings of attachment, and can engage more fully in exploring their environment. Respond to children’s cues Behavior always communicates a message. When educators are close by and observe young children’s behaviors and nonverbal cues, they learn to understand what children are trying to communicate and respond before challenging behaviors occur. RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY Highlights and Key Ideas Nurturing and responsive relationships with adults are the foundation for children’s social and emotional development. Children who develop trusting relationships with adults are better able to manage their thoughts, feelings, and actions. They build strong social skills, gain self- confidence, and are less likely to engage in challenging behavior. Support self-regulation Self-regulation is the ability to manage emotions, thoughts, and behavior. Consistent, responsive caregiving creates a safe and reassuring environment that supports children’s efforts to self-regulate. Educators who provide comfort and emotional guidance increase children’s ability to manage their own emotions (emotional self-regulation) and their attention to a task (cognitive self-regulation). Across all agesPBS TEACHING PRACTICES A Continuum of Support The Pyramid Model is an established PBS framework for addressing the social and emotional development and challenging behavior of young children. The framework offers a continuum of evidence-based teaching practices that are organized into four levels of support. The first level of the foundation focuses on establishing nurturing and responsive caregiving relationships with all children. Reflection Questions • What caregiving practices have I used or experienced that might influence how I provide care? • How do I view and respond to caregiving practices that may differ from my values? • Is there a child with whom I struggle to connect with? Are biases interfering with my ability to connect with this child? Positive Behavior Support (PBS) is a positive approach to challenging behavior that focuses on building social and emotional skills. PBS recognizes that all behavior communicates a message or need. Once educators understand the meaning of a child’s behavior they can, together with the family, teach the child more effective ways to communicate their needs. TIP: Put a piece of masking tape on your sleeve or pant leg and keep a tally of how many times you interact warmly with each child. This will help you see if you are taking the time to connect in positive ways with all children in your care. Responsive Relationships: Nurturing and responsive relationships are key to supporting children’s healthy social and emotional development. Children who know that they can depend on trusted and caring adults are less likely to engage in challenging behavior and more likely to explore and learn with confidence. Enjoy children and their families. Spend time with them, listen to them, have fun and laugh with them. Intensive Intervention Social and Emotional Teaching Strategies High-Quality Supportive Environments Nurturing and Responsive Relationships Adapted from Fox, L., Dunlap, G., Hemmeter, M., Joseph, G. E., & Strain, P. S. (2003). The teaching pyramid: A model for supporting social competence and preventing challenging behavior In young children. Young Children, 58(4), 48-52 4 RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY - ISSUE 1 equity matters POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT (PBS) AND RESPONSIVE RELATIONSHIPS Relationships are complex and many of the ways we relate to others are rooted in our cultural background and past experiences. Sometimes subtle biases that we might not even be aware of can interfere with our ability to relate to another adult, infant, or young child. The process of uncovering these implicit biases takes time and reflection.5 RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY - ISSUE 1 LEARnInG ABOUT MY WORLD INFANTS EARLY On Children who are at an early stage of social and emotional development are ready to learn how to: • Interact in predictable ways with familiar adults. • Try to calm themselves with the support of familiar adults. • Look for the caregiver’s response in uncertain situations. • Express and respond to a variety of emotions. TODDLERS EMERGING SKILLS Children who are at an emerging stage of social and emotional development are ready to learn how to: • Show emotional connection and attachment to familiar adults. • Look to others for help in coping with strong feelings and emotions. • Stop an activity or avoid doing something if directed. • Sometimes remember and cooperate in daily routines. PRESCHOOLERS INCREASING MASTERY Children who are increasing their mastery of social and emotional development are ready to learn how to: • Interact readily with trusted adults. • Appropriately manage actions, words, and behaviors with increasing independence and consistency. • Remember and frequently cooperate in daily routines. • Behave differently in different settings For more guidance on building relationships and supporting self-regulation in the early stages of development, refer to the following resources: • Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines (https://www.del.wa.gov/helpful-resources/washington-state-early-learning-and-developmental-guidelines) • Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/interactive-head-start-early-learning-outcomes-framework-ages-birth-five) A strong understanding of each child’s developmental ability allows educators to plan appropriate learning opportunities and offer support at the child’s level of need.6 RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY - ISSUE 1 INFANTS early on PUT IT INTO PRACTICE Infants thrive when they have a strong emotional attachment to their primary caregivers. Warm, responsive care from adults is critical for infants to develop secure and trusting relationships. These relationships become a secure base from which infants can explore the environment and manage stress. Build Relationships Strong relationships with infants are established by consistently showing them warmth and respect, responding to their needs, and engaging with them throughout daily activities and routines. Teaching Practices Use a warm voice and give lots of eye contact, smiles, laughter, and enthusiasm. Offer affection through kind words, encouragement, and touch. Show respect by communicating intentions before actions. For example: “Alejandro, I’m going to pick you up to give you a fresh diaper.” Read Behavior Cues Young children, especially infants, use their bodies in many ways to communicate. Adults who watch infants closely for verbal and nonverbal cues—sounds, facial expressions, gaze, and movements—can interpret their meaning and respond to the infant’s needs. When educators respond consistently to children’s cues infants learn that their needs will be met. Teaching Practices Stay near infants to notice their cues. Interpret or make guesses about what they are trying to communicate. Respond to infants’ cues as soon as possible, and offer comfort in times of distress. Model new language by describing what you think the infant is trying to communicate. Adjust what you are doing to effectively address the infant’s need. Support Co-Regulation Early on, infants are not able to manage their own emotions and needs. They depend on adults to help them regulate by taking care of their needs and offering comfort. Over time, this helps infants learn they can tolerate initial feelings of distress when hungry, tired, or frustrated and begin to learn ways to soothe themselves. Teaching Practices Adjust levels of stimulation (e.g., noise, lighting, approach) to match the infant’s needs. Engage in songs, movement, and activities that are calming. Observe and encourage infant’s self-soothing attempts such as cooing, babbling, clutching, sucking, or snuggling with a comfort item. Putting these strategies into practice helps infants learn to: • Look for caregiver’s response in uncertain situations. • Express and respond to a variety of emotions. • Interact in predictable ways with familiar adults. • Try to calm self with support of familiar adults.CONNECTION TRACKER Notice and offer the amount of care and support that each child needs in order to feel safe and secure. Create a system for tracking how you are connecting with each child in your care. This can be a simple tracking sheet or a piggy bank like container that you can fill with a deposit each time you connect with a child. Check out our Positive Attention Tracking Form and Fostering Connections: Teacher Tips handout for ways to connect with children on the the Cultivate Learning: Circle Time Magazine, Season 2 web page. 7 RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY - ISSUE 1 PHOTO ALBUM Invite families to bring in family photos. Take pictures of children and family members in your program as they interact and play. Cuddle and look at the photos together. Make comments about the pictures children are interested in. Focus on pictures of each child’s own family, especially when they need comforting. BOOKS Sharing stories and books with children can be a special time to strengthen relationships. Pull these books out for a cuddle or to share in a back-and-forth interaction. Try out these materials and activities to promote trusting relationships with infants. Owl Babies By Martin Waddell In this story, three baby owls wake up one night to find their mother gone. They share their feelings and learn to trust that their mother will return. Explore the book together. Talk about the relationships in the story between the owl siblings and their mother. Add words to the feelings that the owls are experiencing and reassurance that the owls’ needs will be met. Try it out SOOTHING MUSIC Music communicates emotions and strengthens relationships. Listen to the songs together to create a soothing environment and help children self-regulate. Hold and cuddle infants, sing softly and gently rock or move to the music. PARTner WITH FAMILIES Families have the greatest impact on their child’s emotional well-being and development. Build solid, trusting, and reciprocal relationships with families. Talk with families to learn more about their child and work together to support their child’s learning. Be sure to validate each family’s perspective, though it may be different from your own. • Talk with families to identify ways to blend family preferences into your daily caregiving practices. • Ask families to share examples of successful ways that they respond to their infants’ cues. • Encourage families to practice self-care: nutrition, sleep, exercise, positive self-talk, and supportive adult relationships. Explain how taking care of themselves helps them take better care of their infant. 8 RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY - ISSUE 1 TALK ABOUT IT Meaningful back-and-forth conversations create positive interactions and build strong relationships between adults and children. Make comments, ask open-ended questions, and use novel words as you interact with infants during daily caregiving activities. Comments Open-ended Questions Novel Words I love snuggling with you. Look at that beautiful smile! You are rubbing your eyes. It looks like you’re telling me you’re sleepy. Let’s get your favorite blanket, you seem sad right now. So good to see you. How are you feeling today? What are you trying to tell me with those fists? What can I do to help you calm down? Cuddle Hug More Help Mom Dad Grandma Grandpa Sister Brother Family Hungry Tired Happy Sad Scared Bored9 RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY - ISSUE 1 Putting these strategies into practice helps toddlers learn to: TODDLERS emerging skills PUT IT INTO PRACTICE Toddlers who have solid relationships with adults feel safe to actively explore the world. A responsive caregiver provides reassurance and encouragement. Build Relationships For toddlers, relationships continue to develop through consistent and responsive interactions in the context of daily activities and routines. They look to the adults in their world to support them in challenging times, new experiences, and in their interactions with others. Teaching Practices Be a secure base that young children can explore and come back to for safety and comfort. Share affection and use words that communicate respect (e.g., please, thank you, hugs). Join in and participate in the child’s play with smiles and encouragement. Show interest in children’s experiences and ideas through parallel-talk, back-and-forth interactions, and conversations. Understand Children’s Behavior Toddlers use gestures and simple words to communicate their needs and emotions, but not always in ways that adults can understand. Adults may still need to make a good guess and help toddlers communicate with words or behaviors that will help them get their needs met more successfully. Teaching Practices Acknowledge and accept the child’s emotions. Model language for the children to express themselves. Match the child’s level of energy, volume, and emotional expression. Adjust plans to follow children’s needs for movement, talking, and autonomy. Support Co-Regulation Predictable and consistent responses are critical in helping children learn to regulate emotions and behavior. Toddlers are still learning to connect emotions with behavior. Adults need to allow enough time for toddlers to understand how their emotions may influence their actions. Teaching Practices Stay close and attentive to provide comfort and reassurance to all children, as needed. Notice and comment on children’s efforts to manage their behavior. Use language to describe conflicts and help children connect emotions to actions. Help children find solutions to a concern. • Show emotional connection and attachment to familiar adults. • Look to others for help in coping with strong feelings and emotions. • Stop an activity or avoid doing something if directed. • Sometimes remember and cooperate in daily routines.Next >