Inclusion Matters

Cindy Croft and Priscilla Weigel lay out a three-pronged approach for setting staff up for success when it comes to children’s behavior challenges. We know that children experiment with behaviors as a way to grow and learn so preparing for what will inevitably occur is a good tool in preventing staff anxiety when issues arise. We will talk about Plan, Prepare, and Support!

In this podcast, Priscilla Weigel and Cindy Croft will discuss children who can present challenges to us by their engagement. Some children are eager to participate in activities and others may need social prompting and encouragement in order to join in the fun. Children show creativity in many ways that can differ from our ideas; we need to read their cues to see when they need some help and when we need to follow their lead!

In the conclusion of our series on daily activities in child care programs, we will talk about the benefits to children with and without disabilities that come from meal time. This is another area of the day when challenging behaviors can take our focus from what we are trying to accomplish like community-building, sharing, emotional regulation and other skills. What can you do when a child who eats more slowly? What about a child who takes someone else’s food? Listen to this lively discussion of the important part of the day.

There are many areas of programming where challenging behaviors occur. Group or circle time is often an activity where children can struggle to stay tuned in and adults can be frustrated by not meeting their goals for it. Listen to this podcasts for creative ideas on how to accomplish your goals with group time by thinking outside the box.

In this podcast, Cindy Croft and Priscilla Weigel will talk about little boys in early childhood programs. What do they need to be successful and how do educators use their skills to engage them? Boys are a frequent topic when it comes to inclusion consultation; we will share some tips on “What little boys are made of”.

Listen to Laurie Possin, MN Department of Humans Service Child Care Assistance, and Chris Bentley, CICC, discuss the Minnesota special needs rate for children with disabilities who are part of the child care subsidy program. This informative podcast will answer many of your questions about when the SN rate applies and how to access this service.

Emotional sensitivity is the ease or difficulty with which a child responds emotionally to situations. Some children are very sensitive to what is going around them while others seem oblivious to the feelings or mood of peers. How can we help children learn empathetic skills and also learn about their own feelings and how to express themselves to others? This podcast will look at children’s sensitivity levels and how we as professionals can guide them in their relationships with others.

Intensity as a temperament trait is all about the amount of energy a child uses to express his emotions, and we know that some children cry, talk, and laugh more loudly than anyone else in the program! We want to honor this natural trait in children for the good things about high intensity while also giving children tools for impulse control and friendship skills. Join Priscilla and Cindy as they discuss children with high intensity and the energy they seek from others.

A child’s initial tendency to respond to a new experience, new person, or new environment can be either ‘arms open wide’ or ‘wait-and-see’. Both types of approaches need our guidance as early childhood professionals to be sure that children are getting the social interactions they need to be successful and validation for their sense of self-esteem. If you work with either or both of these temperaments, you’ll want to listen to this engaging podcast.

Some children have difficulty when it comes to adjusting to attempts to change or influence what they are doing. Change is often hard for many of us when we are doing something we really enjoy! When you also factor in a child’s natural mood, you can find yourself in a struggle with a young child. In this podcast, Cindy and Priscilla will talk about ideas to help children who may struggle with adapting to changes in their world.

Cindy and Priscilla discuss a temperament trait that is commonly associated with challenging behaviors in early childhood settings: activity level. While we often think first about a child who is really busy, children who have a low activity level need adaptations to the environment as well in order to have successful experiences. Listen to this podcasts for some strategies as you think about children and their movement in your programs.

We will begin a series of podcasts on the major temperament traits that can relate to challenging behaviors at times. In the first podcast, Cindy Croft and Priscilla Weigel talk about how temperament traits impact each of us as adults including our perceptions and relationships. When we consider children, we need to realize that they also come to us with a unique blend of the 10 temperament traits that influence their interactions with others. The more we understand ourselves and the children we work with, the more likely we will be to avoid some of the challenges that come with the extremes of temperament.

In this podcast, we will continue the last conversation by looking at 4-5 year olds. It is easy at times to see a child’s behavior outside of the context of their age and stage. When we look again at what we are hoping to teach children in a larger sense, we can begin to appreciate some of those challenging behaviors as their way at reaching important milestones!

In our continued discussion with autism expert Pat Pulice, we will look at different settings a child might be in who has an autism diagnosis and how to build a beneficial environment for children we serve. What kinds of supports are present in the therapeutic setting which help a child as they develop skills and when does an inclusive setting with typical developing peers offer other benefits to the child? Early educators can examine their environment for structure, routines, stimulation, and visual supports. Again, each child is an individual and their needs will vary but we will discuss some general strategies for inclusion.

In the first of this 3 part series, Cindy and Priscilla interview Pat Pulice, Director of Autism Services at Fraser in Minneapolis, MN, on what the major characteristics of autism can look like in a young child, how early we might identify a child, and what the identification process includes for young children who may have development red flags for autism. As with all children, the important attitude is seeing who the whole child is and what can support their special needs as they grow and develop.