Challenging Behaviour
What is 'Challenging Behaviour'?
'Challenging Behaviour' is categorised as behaviours that impact someone's life negatively, this can not only impact their own quality of life, but also others. Alongside affecting their ability to engage with others and their participation in everyday activities, these behaviours can manifest in different ways - such as aggression, self-harm, disruptiveness, or destructiveness, but does not mean that the person is inherently defined by any of those descriptors. The term 'challenging behaviour' is only a description of specific behaviours that can be helped with the correct management techniques and interventions.
"When we don't understand a behaviour, we tend to assume a child is doing it on purpose."
How to approach Challenging Behaviours
Challenging behaviours can display and signal different needs in children, and communication is key to enabling support as an early intervention - but how do we as practitioners, parents, carers, families, and friends approach these behaviours?
We have to consider why these behaviours are presenting - communicating with children, assessing their surroundings, modelling behaviours, and thinking about how they may feel. Many children don't know how to express emotions, or understand what they mean or how to deal with them, so we must help them in the a calm and understanding way.
For more information regarding challenging behaviours:
Phonics in Early Years
Phonics are used to help children learn the sounds of each letter, with a visual reminder to help solidify learning.
We introduce all children to phonics by using these sounds to encourage mimicking and the developing of sounds that can later create words. These letters are used at circle time everyday as a fun and interactive way to encourage learning the alphabet, letter sounds, how to spell and even how to write letters at a later stage!
Phonics are a crucial development skill that allow both practitioners and families to work together to encourage both language and literacy growth, which later prepares children for big school when learning to read.
Potty Training
Potty training children has become a large part of being school ready, as part of their physical health and ability - children sometimes need to be encouraged to start this process themselves with rewards such as sticker charts and encouragement.
Many families and children struggle with toileting and consistency - so we have found some links for anyone who feel they made need support or information!
Potty training can be different for SEND children due to understanding, sensory issues, changed in routine and more - please find more information regarding this on our SEND page.
Circle Time
Circle time is implemented across all of our nurseries as a way to encourage development in concentration, understanding of the world, and listening skills in children. We begin this in our younger rooms, but our over 3's take part in this twice a day to prepare them for school in a controlled environment.
This designated time allows children to express their emotions and more. During circle time we discuss the days of the week, what month and year it is, the seasons, the weather and more - we also use this time to introduce the children to registration, phonics, music and big news in both the practitioners and children's lives.
This allows children to become familiar to school routine, express themselves, and to be school ready, with encouragement, nurturing and some fun mixed in!
