Unit 2

Unit 2: Learning and Development
1. Understanding Social Emotional Development (What is it

and how does it happen?)
Social-Emotional Development from 0-5
The developing capacity of the child from birth through five should include:
1. To form close and secure relationships FAMILY
2. Experience, regulate, and express emotions in socially and culturally appropriate ways
3. Explore the environment and learn - all in the context of family, community, and
culture.
Key Social-Emotional Skills for School

1.Self-Confidence
2.Capacity to develop good relationships with peers and adults
3.Concentration and persistence on challenging tasks
4. Ability to effectively communicate emotions
5. Ability to listen to instructions and be attentive
6. Ability to solve social problems

When children do not have these skills, they often exhibit challenging behaviours.
We must focus on TEACHING the skills!
Natural opportunities to promote SED in children

•One-on-one time
•Play
•Quick and predictable responses
•Cuddling and gentle touch
•Talking to them
•Reading and singing
2. Understanding Behaviour – Making Sense of What You

See and Hear Careful Observation
OBSERVATION… What for?
Help teachers:
• UNDERSTAND
• ADAPT
• DESCRIBE
• WORK
OBSERVATION Tips
•Record what you see and hear
•Be objective – just the facts
•Use all of your senses (see, hear, taste, touch, feel, smell)
•Note your own responses and how you are feeling
•Observe different days, different times of day
Learning from Families

• Parents are the first educators
• Families usually know their children better than teachers
• Encourage families to share their observations and let families know their observations are
important and valued
• Plan your schedule to have interviews with the families and listen carefully to what they have
to say about their children
Understanding Behaviour – Making Sense of What You See and
Hear Ways Children Communicate
Cues of Young Children
Engagement cues –
Behaviours that show the child is ready to interact with others
“I want more”
Disengagement cues –
Behaviours that show the child needs a reduction or change in level of stimuli
“I need a break”
Young Children Communicate in Many Ways

• Gaze aversion (looking away)
• Yawning
• Smiling
• Eyebrow raising
• Eyes widen and sparkling
• Dull look/blank facial expression
• Giggling
• Squealing
• Squealing
engaged or disengaged?
• Pulling away
• Joining of hands
• Arching back, stiffening
• Reaching for caregiver
• Lowering of the head
• Lengthy mutual gaze
• Hand to mouth
• Hiccups
• Stiffening muscles
Understanding Behaviour – Making Sense of What You See and

Hear TEMPERAMENT
Temperament
The way an individual approaches and reacts to the world
• Biologically based
• Fairly constant over time
• Affects children reactions to other people// environment
• Learning about child´s temperament can help teachers to understand and respond to
a child, in terms of emotions as well
9 Temperament Traits
1) Activity level – always active or generally still
2) Biological rhythms – predictability of hunger, sleep, elimination
3) Initial reaction of Approach/withdrawal – how is the response to new situations
4) Mood – tendency to react with positive or negative mood, serious, fussy
5) Intensity of reaction – energy of emotional reaction
6) Sensitivity to senses (what´s going on around his/her): comfort with levels of
sensory information; sound, brightness of light, feel of clothing, new tastes
7) Adaptability – ease of managing transitions or changes 8) Distractibility – how easily
a child’s attention is pulled from an activity
9) Persistence – how long child continues with an activity he/she finds difficult
Temperament Types: Flexible, Fearful, Feisty

Flexible
• Biologically regulated. Regular rhythms
- Regular eating and sleeping patterns
- Tends to learn to use the toilet easily
- Sleeps through the night
• Usually has a positive mood

• Optimistic in approach to new people
• Quick to adapt
- to new situations-
- Enjoys new people and places
• Low intensity
- Mild signals of distress.
- Even when unhappy, may cry little
• Low sensitivity
• Easy to care for
- They do not demand attention, never demand or complain
- They NEED attention
- Check in regularly - Set aside special time
Fearful
Recognized as fearful, shy, or slow-to-warm
• Slow to adapt
- Often has difficulty adapting to new people and places
- Need extra-time to feel comfortable
• Withdraws
• Mood: not easy to gauge because it takes longer for them to engage with a group or
a new activity.
• Biological rhythms: may or may not be regular
- Do not push them
- Slowly encourage independence
- Prepare child for change
Feisty
• Moody
- Frequent unhappy moods
• Active
• Intense
- May cry at loud noises
- Escalate to tantrums quickly if frustrated
- May be very noisy when even slightly unhappy.
• Distractible
• Sensitive
• Often wary of new people and things
• Slow to warm up
• Biological rhythms are irregular:

• Hard to get to sleep
• Eating and sleeping patterns irregular.
• Toilet training may be difficult because of irregular bowel patterns.
• Give them opp.to be active

• Make the most of quiet moments
• Be flexible
• Use re-direction
Clarifications about Temperament

1) Not all children´s temperament are neatly included in flexible, feisty or fearful
2) All temperament traits range in intensity
children with the same temperament can react in different ways
3) Although basic temperament does not change over time, the intensity of reactions
can be affected by parenting styles, family´s values and learning
Strategies to Develop a “Good Fit”: How to Adjust Your

Temperament
FLEXIBLE CHILD
1. Initiate communication about her emotions. Less likely to demand attention.
2. Make sure she knows that her feelings and preferences are recognized and
validated
3. Work with her to communicate his feelings
4. Encourage her to seek help when he needs it
FEISTY
1. Provide opportunities to make choices
2. Promote active play to expend high energy levels
3. Peaceful environment
4. Transition from playtime to rest time
5. Label children´s emotions: describing what they seem to be feeling
6. Stay calm when child´s intense emotions: acknowledge her feelings
7. Point out when calm so he can learn to recognize his emotions
FEARFUL
1. Set up a predictable environment
2. Stick to a clear routine: remind what will happen next.
3. Go slowly: step by step, little by little
- Give ample time to establish relationships with new children or to get comfortable
in new situations
-Drop-off and pick-up might also require extra time from you in order to support the
cautious child
4. Provide support and encouragement for her exploration and independence

1. “I’m here
2. I’ll be right in this chair watching you try on the dress-up clothes”
4. BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Building Positive Relationships: Making Deposits in the Emotional Bank
• We all have an “emotional bank”
• Make frequent deposits in your children´s bank
• Maintain a 5:1 (positive to negative): provide a higher ratio of positive and
encouragement statements to those corrective or perceived as negative
Positive Adult-Child Interactions

• Greet children by their name
• Engage in one-to-one interactions, at eye level
• Use a pleasant, calm voice and simple language
• Provide warm physical contact: hugs, etc
• Follow the child’s interests during play. Play with children, follow their lead.
• Listen to children and encourage them to listen to others
• Acknowledge child’s accomplishments & efforts
• SELF TALK: is a strategy in which the adult describes what he or she is doing. The
adult provides the words to describe her actions, without expecting the child to
respond. Short sentences
EG: “Now I am writing a ‘W.’ I start here and go down, up, down, and up again. There--
-a ‘W’.
• PARALLEL TALK: is a technique in which the adult describes what the child is doing
or seeing. Acting like a broadcaster. She watches the action and describes it to the
child, without expecting a response.
EG: “Oh, you put the yellow block on top. The tower is getting taller”
• MIRRORING: Behaviour in which one person imitates gestures, attitudes or speech

patterns
• MODELING: when a particular behaviour is elicited by the observation of similar
behaviour in others
The Benefits!
1. Help children develop positive self-esteem
2. Help children develop secure relationships with other adults
3. Help children develop good peer relationships
4. Help reduce the frequency of behaviour problems
SOME CONCLUSIONS
1. Prior relationships are very important (teachers)
2. Childhood, with basically satisfying and supportive experiences
- easy to go into new relationships
- good expectations about them
3. Personal history of emotionally difficult// traumatic experiences
-harder to manage new experiences as adults, particulary stressful ones
Building Relationships with Families

•A child´s first and primary educator is the family
•Teacher´s role is complimentary
•One of the most important roles teachers have
Supporting and enhancing the parent- child relationship
•Caring for children… is caring for the family as well
Strategies to Build Relationships With Families

• Communicate often with families and share information
• Invite conversation, listen and follow up
• Have regularly scheduled times for face-to- face meetings
• Respect families’ views
• Seek families’ knowledge of their child: strengths, needs, interests
• Ask families questions about their child
•Ask families to help
•Get to know family members as individuals
•Share something personal
•Share observations about their child
•Seek family evaluations of your care

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Unit 2: Learning and Development

1. Understanding Social Emotional Development (What is it

1. To form close and secure relationships FAMILY

Key Social-Emotional Skills for School

2.Capacity to develop good relationships with peers and adults

3.Concentration and persistence on challenging tasks

4. Ability to effectively communicate emotions

5. Ability to listen to instructions and be attentive

6. Ability to solve social problems

We must focus on TEACHING the skills!

Natural opportunities to promote SED in children

•Quick and predictable responses

•Cuddling and gentle touch

•Reading and singing

2. Understanding Behaviour – Making Sense of What You

Learning from Families

• Families usually know their children better than teachers

Young Children Communicate in Many Ways

Understanding Behaviour – Making Sense of What You See and

Temperament Types: Flexible, Fearful, Feisty

- Tends to learn to use the toilet easily

- Sleeps through the night

• Usually has a positive mood

- Enjoys new people and places

- Even when unhappy, may cry little

• Biological rhythms are irregular:

• Eating and sleeping patterns irregular.

• Toilet training may be difficult because of irregular bowel patterns.

• Give them opp.to be active

Clarifications about Temperament

Strategies to Develop a “Good Fit”: How to Adjust Your

4. Provide support and encouragement for her exploration and independence

Positive Adult-Child Interactions

• MIRRORING: Behaviour in which one person imitates gestures, attitudes or speech

Building Relationships with Families

Strategies to Build Relationships With Families

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