Oh my gosh, please tell me you have some time off coming up soon?

It’s WINTER (at least in the United States) and really, shouldn't we be hibernating!?

I don't know about you but I am taking off the last week of December and I am seriously counting the days.

Don't get me wrong...I loooooooove my job!

I'm currently working on preparing training for our TCB Teachers Club ❤️ and preparing for our free, live online Transform Challenging Behavior training series that I'll be leading February (SO excited! ✨) so there's nothing negative about the work itself.

If you’ve been struggling with challenging behavior and nothing you try is working please don’t beat yourself up.

It’s probably because you haven’t received the play-powered folk wisdom of our early childhood ancestors OR your college courses and the training you’ve attended left out the research-based play-powered challenging behavior prevention strategies!

YIKES!

Last week I mentioned that classrooms filled with joyful learning for all children and minimal challenging behavior are created by Transformational Teacher-Leaders....NOT by burnt out workers.

Now, how do you know the difference between an early childhood educator in the burnt out “worker” mindset versus the Transformational Teacher-Leader mindset when it comes to behavior and beyond?

I learned just as much from actually teaching preschool as I did in all 10 years of graduate coursework.

No matter how much or how little formal education you’ve had, maybe you’ve had a similar experience?

Today’s question comes from Sam who teaches 2 and 3 year olds....

Q. Do you think it’s appropriate to ask them ‘what day is it?’, ‘what month is it?’, ‘how many days are there in the week and month?’ I think they’re too little. We can sing the days of the week and clap the syllables but that’s enough isn’t it?

Do you work in a program where children in your class are currently required to wear masks?

If so, what are some strategies you’ve found to help children keep their masks on?

This week I’m looking to YOU to help one another and to help Amber* the Director of a small preschool.

Some of you have been teaching since early in the pandemic, whereas others have just gone back this Fall.

I recently received this question from a reader in Plovdiv, Bulgaria but I’m certain it will resonate with early childhood professionals around the world…

“We try to have some time for rest and relaxation in the afternoon after lunch. We have a really hard time making children lay down for a while and relax...advice?

- Katerina (name changed for privacy)

Katerina, many teachers share your rest time struggles!

And, while it’s easy to pinpoint nap time or quiet time as the problem, in reality the solution starts much earlier in the day…

Last week I shared that challenging behaviors are sometimes the result of well-intentioned activities that are not “appropriate” for the age group or developmental abilities of one or more children in your class.

In fact, a lot of common early childhood practices are actually too hard, too easy, or simply not meaningful for the age group that they are commonly used with.

That’s true not just about actual lessons or activities but also about common ways we interact with children - things we say or do.

Did you know that some percentage of the challenging behavior in early childhood classrooms is due to activities and expectations that are not realistic for the age group?

...or, sometimes our activities are generally great for the age group but are not a good match for one or two kids.

How’s it going?

I’m writing to have a quick chat with you today about dragons.

Ha! Yes, dragons.

I’m wondering if you’re reading dragon books, playing dragon games, doing dragon things?