Handling Preschool Behavior Problems Early: Tips for Teachers
Video Overview & Insights
Don't wait to address behavior problems in your preschool classroom—take action early! In this video, I share practical strategies for tackling behavior issues at the start of the year.
If you’re looking for help or guidance with your Preschool, Pre-K or Kindergarten class get the full Teach PreK Steady Leadership Framework™, you can grab The Ultimate Preschool Behavior Blueprint here → https://teachprek101.mysamcart.com/steady-leadership-checkout-page
Learn the importance of quickly communicating with your principal or director and how to approach parents in a sensitive and positive way to create a plan that supports every child. Discover why working together with your aides, admin, and parents is key to making school a positive experience for everyone.
Remember, you don't have to be a hero—get help, and you'll be glad you did! Watch now for tips on how to create a collaborative, supportive environment from the very beginning.
I am so glad I found you!! We seem to be the class that behavioral problems are getting moved to but I feel like I'm at my limit!! So definitely part of the problem is kids that need a lot of extra being added to our class mid year. At the moment though, the thing that I'm most struggling with is we have two boys that gravitate towards each other but then enjoy doing all the things they know they're not supposed to do - and it's been escalating. It started with running around the classroom, to spitting on other kids to now hitting. So pretty awful things, and then when they see I've seen them, run off giggling. So obviously at this point the things I have been trying seem to be feeding the negative behavior. Last week they saw me look their way and both started hitting a kid who just happened to be near them. Of course I headed in their direction and they ran off laughing. Individually I really enjoy working with both of them and they really like having me do things with them. But I'm not sure what to do about these behaviors. I've been trying to not give them attention and have a teacher they don't like so well deal with them while I deal with the kid who is hurt. But I would love to not be dealing with this. They also think it's funny to start running around the classroom. And if we make them sit while they work on having 'walking feet' unless a teacher is sitting with them will get up and start running. It's gotten to the point, we're going to go back to basics and start over next week going over classroom rules, routines and procedures and hope we can get things back under control. We have 18 students and I'd say 5 have really challenging behavior on top of the normal stuff kid stuff- siblings being born and turning age three in general 😂
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Diane,
As a former autistic student, I will say that if everything fails I hope that this will help you.
Everyday, even in a free country like ours, Adults have legal freedoms that children do not have specifically when it comes to the school/educational system.
Home Life and School Life are so foreign to each other because when it comes to what the child responds well to or even negatively to, whatever their expectations are and their life is at home always crosses over into the school with them hence the need for some parental backup and support at home outside of school in the name of creating some sort of consistency otherwise the child starts feeling and behaving like they are locked down in a prison in some sense for those hours in school because they leave behind the things that they enjoy in their personal life to having to be dictated by somebody else in almost everything that they do during the day and for some children, that's what provokes the pushback behaviors because if and when a child is not interested in what you are doing or what you are making them do you're out. You've lost them.
The thing is that you have no choice but to have them do those things and here you and teachers like you are caught in that dilemma of pleasing the government and the higher powers of education versus the needs of the students and for this reason that nothing that I would say to you would work this is why I say this.
Never let the pushback that you the teacher receive from the students determine your failure as a teacher.
If Your Students come out loving you and responding positively to you at the end of the School Year then that should be what determines a successful teacher.
Remember in one of your past videos where you talked about the child that you tried to get to walk the stairs with you and how you added that they needed a little extra love and patience because they are away from home and they miss their mom and their toys?
For me, you would have doggone near hit it on the dot because it was enough to run a high fever and almost die as a baby and have hospital doctors tell my parents to give me educational toys or I would stop learning growing up but for me, it wasn't just missing the toys or mom or dad or that do (mostly) whatever life at home it was missing My TV Shows when cartoons used to come on television way more and more so on those TV Networks that used to be more independent as in unaffiliated and don't or didn't have newscasts on them. That's what created the anxiety for me and that gets added on top of My Hyper mode swings and that's a lot of times what led to majority of My Pushback Behaviors and God Bless the students around me who had to endure that.
Even though My Teachers had to learn THE HARD WAY how I operate, I came around to My Teachers and My Parents did what they had to do and I came out being the only one out of 3 Boys who graduated and marched with His Sr. Class in 1997.
Again, I hope that this helps you and every other teacher out there.
- Dwight
Oh my your timing on this video was absolutely perfect!! I’m dealing with a similar issue. Thank you for sharing and confirming that we don’t need to go it alone and it’s ok to ask for help. When I started teaching in the 90’s it was assumed you were a failure if you had to ask for help. So glad times have changed.
@97cycloneDiane, I think you have amazing patience and follow-through! I hope this child makes a lot of progress and I can see he will. You are also fortunate to have an additional aide. I am only two days in with students last week. The majority of my class was well-behaved and I know there is that "honeymoon" period so I may be seeing typical 3 & 4 year old behaviors. However, I have a 3 year old (turning 4 end of October) who came in last Thursday throwing toys all day off shelves. The hardest part was he would push the other children and grab toys from them. I have a new assistant this year and I asked her to stay with him all day. The second he is unsupervised is when he would tear apart the room or grab/push a student. I am not special ed. certified or a doctor but with his lack of language skills (he seems to only speak english) and behavior, I am convinced he is on the spectrum. Have you had any students like this? Thank you.
@amyfrancis9423Boy do I have behavioral problems this year😩 10 boys and 3 girls and 8 out of 10 give me problems 😢🙏🏽 Thanks for the tips though
@clemontbrown6475