My recent blog, Childcare Emotional Assistance dealt primarily with the sudden issues that can result in emotional stress in the children in daycare, such as the death of a parent. This installment explores more fully the long-term issues that can result in emotional and behavioral issues in a childcare/daycare setting.
One of the most prevalent issues that childcare providers confront is the growing trend of children who are dealing with the divorce of their parents -- and in some cases the dissolution of their stepmother or father and parent's marriage.
One good example of the issues resulting from this can be seen in the case of one of my daycare children Ricky,* whose family had fallen into the trap of using him and the childcare workers at my center as a means of fighting with one another. At the time I was co-teaching St. Michael's Early Fives program, which involved the children using the A Beka curriculum for math and phonics. At the conclusion of the year we had worksheets left in each child's book, and we chose to send them home for the kids to complete as fun, or if their parents wanted to work with them over the summer.
On that day, Ricky's father picked him up and took all of the materials home. His mother was to regain custody of him just in time for our yearly "Graduation" ceremony that we hold for all of our Pre-K students. That morning she ran into the daycare section of our building and frantically looked for either myself or my co-teacher. Once we were found she apologized profusely to us and stated that her former husband had told her that Ricky couldn't graduate or take part in the Graduation Party if he didn't finish all of the remaining worksheets in his book. She had apparently kept him up until 11 pm the night before in an effort to finish them, but hadn't been able to do so. She asked us if this were really true, and if it was if he could keep working all day during daycare to finish in time. We explained to her that they were given simply to be something fun to do when the children were at home over the summer.
Obviously, this was not the only incident regarding this child and family, and it was clear that this took a toll on Ricky emotionally, and in this case physically. For the rest of the day he was tired, and irritable, which we were able to understand.
The key is the childcare providers understanding of the unique issues that each child is confronting in their daily lives. While inappropriate behavior should still be disciplined and dealt with, but each child must be disciplined in an individual manner rather than by a collective system. For Ricky, especially on this day, any emotional outbursts or stubborn behavior could be understood as resulting from the continued situation in his home life, and that day's particular incident.
(Coming Soon- Page 2 of this article)
To visit my blog on this topic, click here.
As for all of my articles, the names of the children mentioned have been changed.
Copyright © 2007, Carrie Henderson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
Carrie Henderson Weston - Carrie Henderson Weston is a writer from Kalamazoo, Michigan who has found herself living in the big city of Minneapolis, MN. Formerly she ...
