FRUSTRATION means both boredom and overstimulation. Teachers need to know the children’s interests and needs and make sure the experiences and materials being offered are right for them as far as interest, expectation, ability, and challenge.

It’s not easy to determine the individual needs abilities, and interests of a large number of children who come from a variety of backgrounds and have a variety of preferences and experiences, but it is your job to do so. The first way to do it is to return to your knowledge of basic child development. Understand the your program’s general and specific Strength Expectations (objectives, standards, milestones) that answer the question, “What Should They Be Learning?”

Look and Listen – These are the next best ways to figure how to make your classroom learning experiences child-centered, appropriate, and both ‘doable’ and challenging at the same time. Stand back and watch as the children play. See what is attractive to them. Listen to their conversations and questions to see what kinds of things they show interest in. Don’t be afraid to be flexible. If you think a learning experience about the circus would be fun, but all your Twos run screaming from pictures of clowns, shut that big top down!

Very often, children who are not sufficiently challenged will exhibit ugly behaviors out of sheer boredom. If you have a three-year-old who needs experiences that are more suited to older children, raid the kindergarten teacher’s cabinets for more challenging materials. On the other hand, if there is a child who shows a delay in a particular area, head for the toddler or baby class for more basic equipment, because children who are frustrated by their inability to succeed at a task will also act out those feelings with inappropriate actions.

Let’s lump into frustration the fact that young children have a seemingly ravenous appetite for your attention and will very often exhibit ugly behavior if they are not getting what they think is their fair share of it. A wonderful parenting teacher, Marge Nelson, taught me the “Law of the Soggy Potato Chip”. If you are dying for a chip (or a Snickers or a glass of Chardonnay) and the Pringles are stale, the 7-11 is closed and the wine box is empty, you will eat a soggy potato chip! If a child cannot get you to pay attention to him, he will do anything to make you “Look At Me!”

FATIGUE means both tiredness and illness. Children who are tired get cranky and fussy and should not be expected to fully participate in the learning process. Teachers must always “give in” to fatigue and if a child needs to rest, there must always be a place in the classroom or on campus where he can lie down and sleep. Parents must be made fully aware of continuing or habitual fatigue and both parents and teachers should know how much sleep young children (and individual children) need. If a child is habitually tired, attendance should be limited.

SHHH – Every classroom should have a Quiet Space for tired (or sad) children where they may go to rest. This is NOT A TIME OUT or NAUGHTY SPOT for ‘bad’ behaving children! It is a place where there is a soft pillow, soft blanket, soft toys, soft music and/or books and a soft teacher to offer a lap or shoulder when she can.

Children who are physically sick or coming down with an illness (including cutting teeth, runny noses due to allergy, growth spurts, reactions to immunizations) or those going through emotionally upsetting events (divorce, moving, new baby, new school, new bed, loss of pet, and even inability to wear what they wanted to school that day) will act out their physical discomfort and emotional feelings by misbehaving. Teachers need to be watchful for these things and to adhere firmly to program regulations about child attendance when illness is a factor.

Very often a child who uncharacteristically misbehaves is doing so because of illness and you will find that he or she is absent within a day or so of the odd behavior. Duh!

Administrators MUST support teachers when they say a child is ill and needs to go home! There is nothing more frustrating to a teacher when she asks the ‘office’ to call a parent to pick up a sick child and there is reluctance to do so. Sick children must be removed from the classroom for the health of the other children, the teaching staff, and the administrators who must find subs for sick teachers.

So, Voila! Now that you have all four of those “F’s” taken care of, all the ugly behaviors will magically disappear, right? Nope. Sorry to say, Stuff Still Happens. The next blog may answer your obvious question. . .

Next Blog: So What Do We Do Already?!?!?