What is PBIS?

Haviland Middle School has embraced Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) as a framework for communicating behavior expectations for students. PBIS is a highly effective, research based approach, to build students' social/emotional & behavioral skills. PBIS is an effective approach to reduce challenging behaviors. 

Supporting Families with PBIS at Home

PBIS can be effectively used at home and is especially helpful when events disrupt normal routines (e.g., worldwide health pandemics and extended breaks). Below are some recommendations for HMS parents on how to use PBIS to support your student's social-emotional growth, and to minimize disruptive behaviors at home.

Set Routines: Most children thrive when they have routines and structure. When schools are not in session, students may have fewer predictable routines, which can increase their anxiety and challenging behaviors. To cut down on behavior problems, families and caregivers can mimic school routines with their children and set up times for learning, exercise, and play. The home schedule needs to be posted in a visible central place for all to see. The more consistent the routines and schedule can be, the easier it will be to support prosocial behavior and prevent challenging behavior in the home.

Secondary Routine Example:

• Get Ready to Learn - Wake up, get ready for the day, and eat breakfast.

• Morning Check-in - Sit together, set schedule and expectations.

• Morning Exercise - Choose an exercise activity to do in the home or outdoors.

• Morning Distance Learning - Student engages in distance learning activities.

• Lunch Check in - Eat Lunch with student, discuss afternoon schedule and expectations.

• Afternoon Distance Learning - Student engages in distance learning activities.

• Afternoon Exercise - Choose an exercise activity to do in the home or outdoors.

• Social Connection - Connect with family member or friend via social media, phone, etc.

• Evening Family Time & Bedtime - Maintain typical evening routines to connect.

Set Home Expectations: Schools that use PBIS have desired behaviors that are clearly communicated to students to explain expected behaviors.  Schools that actively use PBIS, like HMS,  have an orientation on what behaviors are expected and where, and set a time in the beginning of the year to teach students the specific behaviors. These expectations can be visualized by creating a PBIS matrix. These can be adapted by families to fit the home setting. Examples of a PBIS matrix for home and for a school can be seen below.

Image from "Supporting Families with PBIS at Home" (PBIS & CPIR, March, 2020)

Top Positive Behavior Tips For Success At Home

• Have patience - A little goes a long way.

• Set the example (model behaviors) - Actions speak louder than words.

• Communicate clear, specific directions or expectations.

• Reward the effort, recognize appropriate behavior.

• Set reasonable limits - Avoid using terms like "always" or "never".

• Be Consistent with Expectations!

• Include your child in identifying meaningful rewards.

• Identify what success looks like with your child.

• Stay calm - Use a calm voice - Nagging gets you nowhere!

• Have fun - Look for opportunities to be creative!