Hitting, biting, pushing—the bad news is that young children are being expelled for bad behavior from California preschools at three times the rate of grade-school children, according to a recent Yale University study. Why are so many young children misbehaving?

“Children act out because of stress,” says Anne Abrams of the Multicultural Child Development Center in Santa Rosa. “Preschool is a new environment, full of noise and the unknown.”

Expecting children to perform like older children can increase this stress. Laurie Prusso, who teaches early childhood development at Modesto Junior College, says new academic pressures may be increasing behavior problems. “When we put wrong expectations on young children—for example, asking them to sit at a table and work on their papers—they roll pencils, touch their friends, and lean back in their chairs, because they can’t say, ‘You’re putting expectations on me I can’t meet!’”

But the Yale study also showed that the quality of the early care environment has powerful effects. In this first of a six-part series, early childhood educators talk about ways they create environments that promote positive behavior.

Lower stress through predictable routines

“The more you can set up your environment with rituals and routines that are the same every day, the more a child has a sense of security,” says Abrams. “Not knowing what will happen next is stressful.”

Mentor Teacher Ellen Moss, at Temple Solel Early Childhood Center in Cardiff by the Sea, has a schedule in photos posted on the wall. Children can look at the photos to see what comes next.

Restructure the space

Minerva Perez, a mentor teacher for family child care providers, recalls one provider in Fremont who had problems with kids running inside. “She had everything against the wall,” Perez says, creating a large open space in the center.

They took out a big piece of paper and sketched ways to change the space. “She put furniture on the carpet to create several smaller centers. It was more intimate for the children and they got more interested in the activities.” She also rotated the toys, so there was always something new. “The children behaved better because it was more interesting.”

Redecorate to change the mood

Two years ago, veteran teacher Melanie Hollister at the First Presbyterian Preschool in Oceanside wondered, “Was it my environment that made my kids wound up?” So she decided to try something different.

She changed the mood by removing plastic bins and bright primary colors and creating a cozy home feeling with soft lighting, muted colors, and wicker baskets. “We have nice things the children can handle. It encourages children to have respect for the materials and their environment.”

The next year, she says, “I noticed the change [in children’s behavior] immediately”—and the change has lasted for three years.

Find ways to say yes

When an active 12-month old boy in Sue Robson’s Center in Oceanside discovered the joy of throwing blocks, Robson made some changes to make it work. She bought a basket and filled it with small, soft balls he could throw safely. Outside, she filled a basket with tennis balls so he could work on overhand pitching.

Provide ways to be active

In their very urban community, San Francisco’s Tenderloin Learning Center has two places for children to “get the wiggles out,” says preschool coordinator Susannah Keller—a rooftop playground and a room for physical activity. On rainy days, teachers are ready with lots of activities including jumping on a mattress.

Outdoors, Perez says, the Fremont family child care provider “needed more challenging toys that the kids hadn’t already mastered,” so she added climbing structures and other equipment “to get the physical energy out.”

Create ways for children to soothe themselves

Robson’s classroom has calm places like carpeted boxes that children can climb into and snuggle with pillows and blankets. Keller creates a hide-away with sheer curtains where children can get away from the bustle of the larger classroom but still be seen by teachers.

But music might work better for some kids, says Jean Monroe of the Bay Area Network for Diversity in Early Childhood: “African American and Latino children often use music to calm themselves.”

Develop strong bonds

In Abrams’ center, each teacher is assigned a specific group of eight children. “Like a family, they eat together twice a day,” says Abrams. Teachers work with all the kids, but the special grouping creates a “closer bond with the primary caregiver” and gives the child an extra sense of security.

“What’s important is what goes on between the teacher and the kid,” says Kadija Johnston, director of Day Care (mental health) Consultants. “All (our) strategies underscore the importance of the relationship between adults and children.”

Promote positive adult relationships

When the Day Care Consultants go to a center, says Johnston, they often find that children’s behavior is made worse by “conflict and lack of clarity” among the adults. “We talk about the ways we want to teach children—clear communication, clear expectations, letting people know when they’re doing something well—and apply that to adults.”

“Our premise,” she adds, “is that the important adults in that child’s life had better understand each other and the child.”

To build positive relationships with parents, says Missy Dannenberg of Santa Rosa Junior College, “The first question we ask when we have a disagreement with a parent is, is this is cultural thing?”

For example, some Latina parents, when their children enter the program, want to stay at the center and feed them—something often frowned on in Anglo culture. Instead of disapproving, staff try to empathize. “We give parents the space to feed the kid,” says Dann-enberg. “We figure after a while she will feel more comfortable leaving the child. It’s part of her process of separating.”

“The environment is another teacher in the classroom,” Moss concludes. “It has a strong impact on children’s behavior

Resources

To learn more

• Contact your local community college or First 5 office

On the internet

• “Designing the Environment to Build Connection to Place” (in Young Children, 5/05), http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200505/05Wien.pdf
  
  
• “Guidelines for Decisions about Developmentally Appropriate Practice,” www.naeyc.org/
  
  
• “Reflections from Teachers of Culturally Diverse Children” (in Young Children 9/05), http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200511/ColomboBTJ1105.pdf
  
  
• “Positive Discipline,” www.aplaceofourown.org/question_detail.php?id=151