Podcast

A child’s initial tendency to respond to a new experience, new person, or new environment can be either ‘arms open wide’ or ‘wait-and-see’. Both types of approaches need our guidance as early childhood professionals to be sure that children are getting the social interactions they need to be successful and validation for their sense of self-esteem. If you work with either or both of these temperaments, you’ll want to listen to this engaging podcast.

Some children have difficulty when it comes to adjusting to attempts to change or influence what they are doing. Change is often hard for many of us when we are doing something we really enjoy! When you also factor in a child’s natural mood, you can find yourself in a struggle with a young child. In this podcast, Cindy and Priscilla will talk about ideas to help children who may struggle with adapting to changes in their world.

Cindy and Priscilla discuss a temperament trait that is commonly associated with challenging behaviors in early childhood settings: activity level. While we often think first about a child who is really busy, children who have a low activity level need adaptations to the environment as well in order to have successful experiences. Listen to this podcasts for some strategies as you think about children and their movement in your programs.

We will begin a series of podcasts on the major temperament traits that can relate to challenging behaviors at times. In the first podcast, Cindy Croft and Priscilla Weigel talk about how temperament traits impact each of us as adults including our perceptions and relationships. When we consider children, we need to realize that they also come to us with a unique blend of the 10 temperament traits that influence their interactions with others. The more we understand ourselves and the children we work with, the more likely we will be to avoid some of the challenges that come with the extremes of temperament.

In this podcast, we will continue the last conversation by looking at 4-5 year olds. It is easy at times to see a child’s behavior outside of the context of their age and stage. When we look again at what we are hoping to teach children in a larger sense, we can begin to appreciate some of those challenging behaviors as their way at reaching important milestones!

In our continued discussion with Pat Pulice, M.A., L.P., Vice President of Integrated Health Care at Fraser in Minneapolis, MN, we will look at different settings a child might be in who has an autism diagnosis and how to build a beneficial environment for children we serve. What kinds of supports are present in the therapeutic setting which help a child as they develop skills and when does an inclusive setting with typical developing peers offer other benefits to the child? Early educators can examine their environment for structure, routines, stimulation, and visual supports. Again, each child is an individual and their needs will vary but we will discuss some general strategies for inclusion.