Early Childhood Mental Health FAQ
FOCUS on Early Childhood Mental Health
Handling Transitions Routines help make transitions easier. In addition, they: • Play an important role in the development of young children and help children learn about normal human interaction • Provide predictability and are comforting • Reduce power struggles between caregivers and children Tips for helping children handle transitions from one activity to another: • Create a ritual that the child can expect: at bedtime, brush teeth, read a story, sing a song, hug and kiss. • When you leave your child, give him or her something to keep until you come back, such as a picture or other small object. • Give advance warning: “You can finish playing your game and then it will be time for bed.” • Make transitions fun: for cleaning up toys before bed, sing a song: “This is the way we pick up toys.” • Let the child choose how to make the transition: “Do you want to play one more game before we get ready for bed?” • Especially in a child care setting with lots of children, help children develop the skills they need to transition from one activity to another more quickly: putting on and taking off coats, lining up, cleaning up toys. Less time spent in waiting for everyone else might help decrease problem behaviors during transition times. Resources: • “Helping Children Make Transition between Activities,” What Works Brief #4, Center for the Emotional and Social Foundations of Early Learning; www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel. • “Helping Children Make Changes: Big and Small,” ChildCareAware; www.childcareaware.org • “Temperament Characteristics: Reaction to Change,” Zero to Three; www.zerotothree.org • “Transition Times,” Family Communications (Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood), www.fci.org To print or download a copy of this flyer please click here.
Every day when his mother drops him off at child care, Sammy cries, and then when she comes to pick him up, he throws a tantrum because he doesn’t want to stop playing with his friends and go home. Sammy’s mother says he does the same thing at home: whenever she tells him it’s time to do something else or go somewhere, he resists. Unlike some children who can easily go with the flow of whatever’s happening, Sammy has a hard time with transitions and his resistance is disruptive and frustrating.
The importance of routines:
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FOCUS on Early Childhood Mental Health
Understanding Developmental Differences
Dana started walking when she was 10 months old; Carrie didn’t walk until she was 15 months. Alex talked in full sentences by 2 years; Justis said only a few barely understandable words by age 2. There is nothing unusual about these differences between children and most parents and caregivers know this. Even so, parents often worry if their children don’t reach certain developmental milestones when they think they should, and caregivers often have unrealistic expectations of children and create learning environments that treat everyone the same or don’t encourage each young child to grow and learn in his or her own unique way.
Tips for parents:
- Take advantage of resources that describe normal child development and list major developmental milestones by age. Often the milestones are listed by “developmental domains,” such as physical development, social and emotional development, thinking skills and communication skills.
- Trust your own instincts and ask questions if you sense that your child’s development doesn’t seem normal
- Listen to expressions of concern from people who work with and regularly observe your child; they might be able to be more objective than you can.
- Enjoy each stage of your child’s development and remember that, unless there are definite developmental delays or other problems that need to be addressed, eventually he or she will catch up to others (for example, once your child starts talking, he or she might never stop!).
Tips for caregivers:
- Understand and apply the concept of “developmentally appropriate practice” as defined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
- Create environments in early learning and child care centers that don’t expect every child to do the same thing at the same time and at the same pace.
- Treat each child as a unique individual, and work to achieve that delicate balance between not expecting children to do more than they can and encouraging them to try new things they couldn’t do before.
Resources:
- “Baby and Preschool Stages: Parent and Caregiver Guides to Social and Emotional Development” – development “wheels” available from the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health, www.mi-aimh.org
- “The ABCs of Child Development,” www.pbs.org/wholechild/abc
- “Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8,” National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2009; http://www.naeyc.org/positionstatements/dap
Pennsylvania Key
Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Project
717-213-2063; micwal@berksiu.org
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FOCUS on Early Childhood Mental Health
Understanding Aggressive Behavior
Forty-three percent (43%) of the cases referred to early childhood mental health consultants last year were for aggressive behavior, and 34% were for problems with self-regulation. This means that more than three-fourths of the children referred have problems controlling their behavior and in more than half of those cases, they are labeled as too aggressive. What’s going on and what should we do?
Definition:
Aggression can be “forceful action” (more like the more socially acceptable characteristic of assertiveness) or “hostile, injurious or destructive behavior” (the kind of aggression that’s not acceptable).
Some causes of inappropriate aggression in young children:
· Frustration, being unable to do something the child really wants to do
· Inability to express feelings (lack of language skills)
· Fear, anger, sadness, feelings of isolation, lack of control
The role of aggression in healthy development:
The impulse to be aggressive is part of the human need to survive. In young boys especially, some aggressive behavior—often taking the form of “fantasy play” where they play violent games and try to kill the bad guys—is a way of making sense of the world and releasing pent-up energy. In spite of all our efforts not to stereotype them, studies (not to mention our experience at home and in the classroom) consistently show that on average little boys tend to be more active—and more aggressive—than little girls.
Tips for handling aggression:
· Determine what might have triggered the behavior; redirect the child to something else; don’t over-react
· Be clear about what is appropriate and what is not (e.g., it is OK to be angry, but it is not OK to bite)
· Model the behavior you would like to see in the child (e.g., think about what spanking communicates)
· Limit the amount of violent and aggressive behavior children are exposed to on television, in movies and video games
· Provide opportunities for active play and for children to act out their fantasies in ways that don’t hurt
Resources:
· “Helping Young Children Channel Their Aggression,” by Sally Provence, M.D., Zero to Three: http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_key_temp_aggression
· “Understanding and Raising Boys,” PBS Parents: http://www.pbs.org/parents/raisingboys/
· Jane Katch, teacher, author and speaker who focuses on children’s violent play and aggressive behavior: http://www.janekatch.com/
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Toddlers Who Bite
Why toddlers bite
- They lack the language skills to ask for what they want or express how they feel
- They’re experimenting to see what happens
- They don’t want to share with another child
- They’re teething
- They’re over-tired
- They’re bored
How to prevent biting
- Anticipate when bites might happen by paying attention to what’s going on with the child right before the bite
- Distract the child with another activity
- Suggest another way to handle the situation instead of biting
- Give the child something else he or she can bite or chew
- Suggest ways to share popular toys
- Be clear that biting is not acceptable
What not to do
- Don’t get angry
- Don’t shame the child
- Don’t bite back
Biting is normal and common, but it is important to teach children that biting is not a good way to get what they want. The good news is that most toddlers stop biting by the time they are about three years old, and in the meantime you can always ask for help if your efforts to teach your child to stop biting don’t seem to be working.
*Judith Garrard, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, in “Teaching Your Toddler Not to Bite,” http://www.parents.com/toddlers/development/discipline-spanking/teaching-child-not-to-bite/. Look for more ideas in the article, “Chew on This: Responding to Toddlers Who Bite,” at www.zerotothree.org.
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FOCUS on Early Childhood Mental Health
Emotional Literacy
Emotional literacy is a fancy term for the ability to recognize, understand and express emotions or feelings in appropriate ways. Developing emotional literacy is one of the most important tasks for young children. If children learn early how to describe and express their emotions in healthy ways and to accurately “read” and respond to the emotions of others, they will be less likely to get into fights, better able to handle frustration, and more likely to do well in school.
Tips for helping your child understand and express emotions/feelings:
- Express your own feelings. Talk out loud about what you are feeling throughout the day.
- Label your child’s feelings. For example, if Grandpa drops by unexpectedly and your child runs to hug him, you can say, “Wow, you’re really happy and surprised to see grandpa!” Ask questions that give your child examples of feeling words: “Are you feeling sad? Frustrated? Scared? Excited?
- Play games, sing songs and read stories with feeling words. A good song is “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.” You can add verses like “If you’re angry and you know it, stop and think.” Or play a game of “feeling face charades,” by letting your child guess what feeling you are showing on your face. Or when you read stories, talk about what the characters in the story are feeling.
- Show empathy—or understanding—of what your child is feeling. Say, “I know you’re sad today. I felt sad too when my best friend had to go away.”
- Ask your child to talk about what he or she is feeling. Say, “What’s making you feel that way? Let’s talk about it.”
- Use art activities—like drawing, sculpture, music, dance or drama—to give your child a chance to explore and express feelings. For example, play music that expresses different moods and tell your child to dance to the music in a way that shows how the music makes them feel.
- Encourage your child to feel empathy for others. When another child shows excitement, anger or sadness, say something like, “Maria is angry because Jared took away her toy. Remember when you felt angry? What can we do to help her feel better?”
Sources:
“Fostering Emotional Literacy in Young Children: Labeling Emotions,” What Works Brief 21, from the Center on the Emotional and Social Foundations of Early Learning (http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/briefs/wwb21.pdf)
“Nurturing Emotional Literacy,” National Association for the Education of Young Children (http://www.naeyc.org/ece/2002/08.asp)
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FOCUS on Early Childhood Mental Health
Self-Regulation (Self-Control)
Children are not born with self-control. Learning self-control (or self-regulation) is one of their most important developmental tasks. Self-regulation has to do with a child’s ability to control his or her emotions, respond in appropriate ways to frustration, get along well with others, and eventually become independent. Parents and care-givers can help young children learn skills to help them control or regulate themselves.
Tips for helping children to learn self-control:
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Pay attention to the signs that a child is hungry, tired or frustrated and respond consistently and predictably.
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As children grow, provide more opportunities for them to make their own decisions—such as what clothes to wear, what food to eat, where to sit—by giving them several acceptable options. Increasing children’s freedom to make choices helps them become more mature.
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Provide reminders that help children make good choices and not become frustrated when they are not able to do what they want. For example, when it’s naptime, give them a heads-up five minutes ahead of time to finish what they’re doing.
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Anticipate problems by talking beforehand about what they can expect and what will be expected of them, for example when you go grocery shopping.
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Be empathetic and show you understand the importance of their needs and feelings.
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Talk about what children can do, not just about what they can’t. Provide positive alternatives.
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Create a safe place where children can go when they need a break, to calm themselves.
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Teach children to wait; this helps them not only learn self-control but also teaches them that other people have needs too. Don’t make the wait time too long, and give them something to do while they wait.
“Self-regulation in early development is influenced by a child’s relationships with important adults in her life. Providing the experiences, support, and encouragement that help very young children learn to self-regulate is a critical element in quality care” (Linda Groves Gillespie and Nancy Seibel, in the Journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children).
Sources:
“Self-Regulation: A Cornerstone of Early Childhood Development,” Journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2006: http://journal.naeyc.org/btj/200607/Gillespie709BTJ.pdf
“Teaching Children Self-Regulation,” http://www.foreverfamilies.net/xml/articles/teaching_children_self_regulation.aspx
“Teaching Your Child Discipline and Self-Control,” www.zerotothree.org (click on Key Topics: Social Emotional Development)
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FOCUS on Early Childhood Mental Health
Sensory Processing Disorder
Jordan cries because his shoes are too tight or his socks too scratchy; he hates the playground and the sand. Sarah doesn’t seem to know where she’s going and bumps into things; she’s tired all the time and mostly sits around at school. James is constantly fiddling with something, tapping his feet, or chewing his shirt; he wants to touch everything. Their extreme reactions to their environment could be signs of a sensory processing disorder.
What It Is
Sensory Processing Disorder is “the inability to use information received through the senses in order to function smoothly in daily life” (Kranowtiz, p. 9). Five percent (or 1 in 20) of all children may experience enough difficulty handling the information they receive through their senses (vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell, movement and body awareness) to affect their daily lives. Children with a sensory processing disorder may:
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Be over-sensitive to their surroundings (complain that lights are too bright or clothes are too scratchy, over-react to noise)
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Be under-responsive (tolerate unusual pain, don’t notice obstacles, are unaware of unpleasant smells)
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Crave more intense sensory experiences (like to play in mud, move constantly, like being squeezed hard)
These children may also have trouble making friends or being part of a group. They may seem clumsy, disruptive and out of control. Most of these children are not intellectually delayed, but their brains are wired differently. Some but certainly not all children with a sensory processing disorder also have some form of autism and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
What You Can Do
There are lots of ideas for how to help a child with a sensory processing disorder. Not all suggested treatments or therapies have been proven to be effective. However, all children, even those with normal sensory development, will benefit from activities that stimulate their senses, so children should have opportunities to do things that involve using all their senses. If children over or under-react to specific sensory stimuli, caregivers can individualize the activity and gently encourage the child to try new things that they might ordinarily avoid. See the resources below for ideas for specific activities.
Resources:
Christopher Auer & Susan Blumberg, Parenting a Child with a Sensory Processing Disorder (Oakland, CA: New Harbinger, 2006).
Christy Isbell & Rebecca Isbell, Sensory Integration: A Guide for Preschool Teacher (Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House, 2007).
Carol S. Kranowitz, The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder (New York: Penguin Books, 2005).
The following Web sites also provide information and resources on children with sensory processing disorder:
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