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Child care centers are finding ways to cope with increasing numbers of preschool children with behavior problems.
"Often violent or harmful to others."
"Extreme problems with transitions."
"Inability to follow directions."
"Verbally explosive behavior."
"Vulgar speech."
"Severe depression."
"Noncommunicative behavior."
"Previous expulsions."
These are descriptions, not of problematic adolescents, but of preschool-aged children-children, according to one state's child care licensing law, "whose presence is detrimental to the group." Too often, these children have teachers who lack the resources to help them mature past their behavioral problems. The result? The child is bounced from program to program. And the problem is on the rise, as more and more child care centers are seeing higher numbers of young children with challenging behavior.
"My staff tells me again and again they are seeing more and more children with more and more serious issues," says Sheri Adlin, Executive Director of South Shore Day Care Services (SSDCS), just outside Boston. Of the 219 preschoolers served at SSDCS in 2004, 69 were involved in some sort of intervention plan.
Expelling children from preschool programs for problem behavior is a common but increasingly controversial response. Many programs are just saying no to expulsion. Instead, they are developing prevention and intervention strategies to ensure the young children in their programs work through their behavioral issues successfully.
Centers are finding they can prevent behavior problems even before a child's first day at school by closely observing children before they enter a child care program. Training teachers in developmentally appropriate approaches to challenging behavior is also proving successful. Where intervention is necessary, child care centers are creating customized intervention plans and even establishing separate "therapeutic preschools."
Some child care centers have resorted to using mental health consultants to intervene and address the difficult behavior of their young charges. The Children's Council of San Francisco (CCSF) has a Mental Health Consultant Program that serves 75 child care centers in the San Francisco area. It is just one of eight agencies offering mental health consultation in the Bay area.
What Is Challenging Behavior?
Challenging behavior is difficult to define. What one teacher might perceive as difficult behavior, another may not. The Council for Exceptional Children's Division for Early Childhood urges professionals "to consider cultural and...