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GUIDANCE TECHNIQUES


(Adapted from "Early Childhood programs" by Read, Gardner, and Mahler)

Guides in Speech

  1. STATE SUGGESTIONS OR DIRECTIONS IN A POSITIVE FORM. A positive suggestion tells a child what he can do, rather than condemning what he's doing or about to do wrong. "Sand stays on the ground," rather than,"Don't throw sand."

  2. GIVE THE CHILD A CHOICE ONLY WHEN YOU WANT THEM TO MAKE A CHOICE. Learning to choose, within reasonable limits, is part of a child's growing to maturity. Putting a statement in question form, "Let's go home now, okay?" will allow the child to veto inappropriately, and, then, resist (i.e.,yell,cry) when his choice is not respected.

  3. USE WORDS AND TONE OF VOICE THAT WILL HELP THE CHILD FEEL CONFIDENT AND REASSURED A child may become frightened while climbing and need you to calmly "talk" him down while you stay close by.

  4. AVOID CHANGING BEHAVIOR BY ATTACKING THE CHILD'S SELF-RESPECT. Small children, when they are disciplened, do not understand that it is the behavior that is inappropriate; rather, they feel that they are "bad". Labeling words like "naughty" and "bad" tend to make a judgement about the child rather than tell him how his behavior affects you or needs to be changed.

  5. AVOID MOTIVATING A CHILD BY MAKING COMPARISONS, between one child and another, or by encouraging competition. The goal is for each child to be self-motivated. The result of comparison may damage the child's feelings of adequacy and friendliness as well as keeping him motivated by the values and concerns of others.

  6. REDIRECTION IS MOST EFFECTIVE WHEN CONSISTENT WITH THE CHILD'S MOTIVES OR INTERESTS. The problem may be that the child needs only to find an acceptable technique of expession; i.e., "I can't let you throw rocks, but you can throw this ball."

  7. EFFECTIVENESS OF A SUGGESTION MAY DEPEND LARGELY ON ITS TIMING. Timing may be as important as the suggestion itself. Advice given too soon deprives the child of a chance to work things out for himself-too late, and the chance may be past. The child may be too frustrated.

    Guides in Action

  1. AVOID MODELS IN ANY ART MEDIUM. Encourage creativity and development of skills (pinching and poking playdough, etc.). Avoid a frustrating comparison between products or a "right way" situation.

  2. GIVE THE CHILD A MININMUM OF HELP IN ORDER THAT HE MAY GROW IN INDEPENDENCE.

  3. FORESTALLING. Learn to foresee and prevent rather than mopping up after a difficulty. This kind of planning ahead may mean buying more than one kind of each toy or simply turning down the water pressure at a child's sink.

  4. LIMITS need to be carefully defined and consistently maintained.

  5. SUPERVISE STRATEGICALLY-have your back to something besides children.

  6. HEALTH AND SAFETY ARE A PRIMARY CONCERN.

  7. KNOWING the children and what each is likely to do is the key to utilizing all these guides effectively.

  8. OBSERVE

    Yard Rules

  1. Trikes may be used only on the paved pathway.

  2. Children must go down the slide feet first and on their bottoms.

  3. Water play must be supervised by adults.

  4. Sand may be used in the sandbox only.

  5. If children want to jump, help them construct a safe platform in an uncongested area.