Behaviour Strategies

Redirection

When having a child with specific behaviours, it is important to know that simply telling them they cannot do it, may end up in making them want to do it more. With redirection, it allows a child to do the behaviour that is desired but in a safe way that ensures they won't harm others. Redirection can be explained as, "is a technique that parents can use to help children understand what appropriate behavior is and how to manage their behaviors" (Smith, 2018) Some examples of redirection tools include:

Chewables

The purpose of a chewing tool is to allow children that feel the need to bite, a safe and healthy way to do so. Instead of biting their peers or something that could break their teeth, chewables allow children to bite without the risk of hurting themselves or others.

When noticing a child biting, this tool can be used to control biting behaviour, for example, an educator can say "we don't bite our peers, that can hurt them. You can bite this instead" and then give them a chewable.

Hammer Toy

The purpose of this tool is to give a child that may be hitting others another outlet to hit but while doing it safely.

A hammer toy may used for a child that is displaying hitting behaviours. Instead of telling a child that they cannot hit, giving them a toy they may hit reduces the behaviour of hitting others.

Transition Warnings

Children that are displaying symptoms of a mental health disorder as well as children as a whole, may have a difficult time transitioning from one activity to another. It is important to note that "transitions can lead to confusion or produce worried feelings" (Transition strategies for the early childhood classroom, 2020) or may leave a child feeling frustrated that they were unable to finish an activity when being forced to transition quickly (Transition strategies for the early childhood classroom, 2020.) To put yourself in the perspective of a child's shoes, ask yourself, 'do you like feeling rushed?' 'does it make you feel more stressed?' This is how a child can feel if they are forced to transition without warning.

Timer

The purpose of a timer is to allow children the warning they need when it comes to transitioning to one activity to the next.

This timer can be used when it is close to the time that the children need to transition. The educator can put the timer on while they are still playing and say "5 more minutes then it is time to clean up!" The timer will light up green during this period. When the 5 minutes is up, the timer will turn yellow and the educator can say "it's in yellow, it's time to clean up! Can we be faster than the timer?" This allows for cleaning time to be fun and more effective, the timer will then light up red and will tell children that it is time to transition. This timer can be purchased at https://www.amazon.ca/Learning-Resources-LER6900-Tracker-Visual/dp/B0007DHU0S/ref=asc_df_B0007DHU0S/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=293019362102&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17564407554221243766&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001042&hvtargid=pla-308467960210&psc=1

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