I chose to look at the area of brain and development on the zero to three website. I then chose to look at the topic of challenging behaviors. Teaching in a classroom of 16 four year olds, all the children have different personalities. This year I ended up with a difficult group that is full of many different challenging behaviors. They have made progress, but they still have a long way to go socially yet. I read a journal article about aggression.
A controversial topic in the article that I read about aggression talked about spanking. Spanking is a controversial topic. Some people believe that children learn from spankings and others are against spanking. The article I read was against spanking. " Avoid spanking. Think about the very real disadvantages of physical punishment for your child. Children often arouse anger in adults when they provoke, tease, behave stubbornly, or attack others. If your practice is to hit or physically punish your child in some other way for such behavior, you need to think very carefully about what he learns from that" (Zero to Three, 2012).
Economists, neuroscientists, and politicians support the early childhood field. In the website under the policy section, it mentioned that "Given growing awareness about the needs of very young children stemming from neuroscience and child development research, child welfare agencies have a long way to go in aligning policies and practices to ensure that the unique needs of infants and toddlers are met" (Zero to three, 2012). This shows that neuroscientists does research in the early childhood field. I would also say that they help with grants, form policy, and provide resources by browsing the topics under the policy section.
I gained new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field from reading about aggression in children. I learned that aggression is a part of healthy development in children. The second year is when a child becomes aware of being angry and can behave intentionally.
References
Zero to Three. (2012). Changing the course for infants and toddlers: A survey of state child welfare policies and initiatives. Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/policy/changing-the-course-for-infants-and-toddlers.html
Zero to Three. (2012). Helping young children channel their aggression. Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/social-emotional-development/helping-young-children-channel-their-aggression.html
Hi Crystal
ReplyDeleteIt seem that you have gain some helpful information from the resource you been exploring. Dealing with challenging behavior in young children is a very serious issue. Sometime children act out because they do not know how to express what they are feeling. We use the Second Step programs to help children to learn how to express their feelings.
Crystal,
ReplyDeleteI have also been learning more about the Zero to Three website resources. I also liked their page on my Facebook and I have their app as well on my phone. I find them very resourceful and a great tool of advocacy for young children.
Challenging behavior seems to be something we will continue to see in children especially in a four year old classroom. I have had quite a few of those children myself and resources like this page as well as colleagues can help figure out the best way to deal with these behaviors.
Hi Crystal
ReplyDeleteI also chose Zero to Three website because I work with toddler I find the website very helpful for me and my parents. I put the app on my phone it have some good ideas for parents and teachers. Thank for share
I think this is a great topic that you have brought up. I do agree with the article that you read. I don't understand how some people find it okay to spank there child but when they get mad and they hit them or even someone else they find it not okay. I just don't understand there logic. I know that there a lot of back and fourth about what people think is or is not the right things to do. I have seen people who do spank there children and that child get mad and hits another child and they tell them how its not okay but to me it feels like you spank them and teach them that it is okay to hit. Anyways I feels like I could go on for a while about this topic but I think that this is a great topic.
ReplyDeleteCrystal aggression is a very relevant issue in early childhood. I talk to teachers everyday on ways to handle childhood aggression with positive intent. The article in spanking was interesting but I know the choice to do is a personal parenting choice. But with teachers they cannot meet the child with the dame aggression the child has, it takes inventive methods to handle the problems. A lot of adults fail to realize that discipline should be developmentally appropriate in order for the children to comprehend what they did wrong and why they should not repeat the behavior.
ReplyDelete