Committed to meeting the needs of every child
Hampton Preschool and Early Learning Center complies with North Carolina General Statutes 110-91 (10) and 143B-168.3, effective January 1, 1986, amended November 1, 1989. We are committed to meeting the needs of every child in our program. This commitment includes making every reasonable effort to help children be physically and emotionally safe, as well as helping children learn acceptable behaviors.
Young children are often egocentric or self-centered by nature and need to learn that other individuals have needs and feelings. Anti-social behaviors such as pushing, hitting, biting, etc., are a normal part of the development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. It is during these years that children are learning important social interaction skills. Over time, children learn various higher order social skills such as sharing and taking turns.
Teaching staff work closely with infants, toddlers and young children to help them learn the natural consequences of actions and behaviors. Positive behaviors are modeled and encouraged. Children exhibiting anti-social behaviors will be redirected to more appropriate actions. When necessary, short periods of “time away” may be used.
Staff will work closely with the family to assure consistency between school and home. If certain behaviors that might require outside intervention continue over time, the family will be consulted about an appropriate plan of action. The staff will work with the family to help resolve the difficulty. In extreme cases when anti-social or inappropriate behaviors of children cannot be resolved, and when interventions have been unsuccessful, the staff may determine that the child’s needs might be better met in a different type of setting. In all cases, the staff will work with the family in creating a plan focusing on the needs of the child.
Guidance Techniques
Staff use positive techniques of guidance including redirection, anticipation, and elimination of potential problems, positive reinforcement, modeling, and encouragement. The following guidance techniques are used:
- Indirect Guidance: Arranging the environment, schedules, or group size to foster positive interactions and prevent misbehavior.
- Direct Guidance: Stating in a positive way the desired behavior, then acknowledging appropriate behavior.
- Ignoring: Giving little or no attention to inappropriate behaviors such as tantrums, talking back, whining, or tattling.
- Redirecting: Helping children refocus their attention on an alternate activity and away from behaviors such as arguing and not sharing.
- Following Through: Making sure that previously stated consequences of specific behaviors take place
- Time Away: Helping and out of control child move to a quiet place in order that he have time to become calm and focused.
Please note: Super hero play is not encouraged at school. Many super hero characters encourage violence, and lead to excessively aggressive play in children. Therefore, the teachers ask that party themes not be super hero related.
Biting
Biting is a very common behavior of infants and young children who cannot yet express themselves with words. Although it is not uncommon for young children in group care to bite or be bitten, it is a very serious “hurting” behavior in the pain it causes as well as the reaction of caregivers and parents. Teachers are always concerned when children are bitten and know how upsetting it can be for the parents of all the children involved. Finding out that your child has bitten (or been bitten by) another child can be quite a shock. Although not all children bite, it is a common occurrence when young children are together. Biting can occur at any time whether children are at home, at a friend’s house, or in child care.
For more information on our Biting policy, including prevention and treatment practices, please refer to our Parent Resource Handbook.