Guidance and Discipline A Model for School Age Child Care Programs

High Quality Out-of-School Time Programs Promote children’s emotional and social development as well as their academic achievement Children have better peer relationships, emotional adjustment and conduct in school.

How Do We Make This Happen ? We must have thoughtful, consistent, positive approaches to child guidance which are appropriate to the age and individual needs of children.

Knowing What’s Developmentally Appropriate To provide positive guidance, school age program staff must have a sound understanding of the stages of children’s growth and development. Staff needs to understand that children’s growth and development occurs in stages that blend together to form a continuum of learning. Not all children develop at the same rate.

5 to 7 year olds may: Think through problems in their minds Begin to increase attention span Have difficulty controlling their behavior in groups Like teamwork but may disagree about the rules and what is fair Become increasingly independent Hide their feelings, fears and worries from adults

8 to 11 year olds may: Negotiate and compromise with peers and have expanded reasoning skills for problem solving Develop their own games with complicated rules and may argue when they think someone has broken the rules Learn to use good judgment Learn to accept responsibility for their actions Do more and more on their own. Without the need for adult supervision and direction

12 to 14 year olds may: Negotiate, compromise and solve problems Test program rules and adult authority and talk back to staff members Mimic Teenage behaviors Use profanity in regular conversations with peers (rather than in anger) to be “cool” Test the limits of their physical skills Begin to think in abstract terms and consider the consequences of their actions

Prevent Problem from the Start Research shows attempts to punish and shame children into different behaviors are ineffective. Shaming and punitive measures most often have the opposite effect-they escalate the very behaviors they seek to eliminate

What Does Work? Positive, consistent, and firm guidance that both models and teaches these sought after behaviors Asses your program environment, daily schedule and the rules you expect children to follow Incorporate program activities that promote positive social interaction and empathy for others

Fundamental Expectations Children should be offered the power to choose what they are going to do to correct a situation. The adult role is to guide not punish When children need a cooling off period the teacher might say, “You seem upset. Would you like to have some quiet time or do you want to continue working with us on this activity?” If it clear the child needs a cooling off period the teacher might say “Would like to cool off out here or in the Director’s office?”

Some Causes of Challenging Behaviors Child is seeking adult attention – to turn this around staff should give attention for positive behavior Physical Conditions: Tiredness, getting sick, ADD, LD – these should be considered and addressed Child’s challenging behavior may indicate his/her desire to have more control over life circumstances – allowing for choices and appropriate decision-making may help

Consistent Challenging Behaviors When a child exhibits challenging behaviors a meeting should take place with parents, school age child care staff and possibly school staff to discuss causes of behavior and develop a behavior and safety plan to reduce the problem behavior and encourage more appropriate behavior. The child should be involved in developing the plan

In Conclusion… Overall adults should model appropriate behavior Adults need to respond appropriately and guide children toward safe choices and behaviors This happens through the relationships we form with children. This takes time!

Resources: www.eec.state.ma.us/docs/TAChild GuidanceSchoolAgePaper2.pdf Kohn, A (2006). Beyond discipline: From compliance to community