Behaviors and Theories Essays - Behavior, Psychology,

Behaviors and Theories ECE 313 Donna Thompson Final Paper Karree FahOctober 18, 2010 Behaviors and Theories They are many theories, concepts, and local resources that apply to the early childhood classroom and the child's family. Among these things it also includes behaviors that need to be encouraged in a pre-school setting and at home with parents. In this paper I will hopefully answer the following question: How do educators/parents encourage desired behaviors from pre-school aged children in both the child care and home setting? And I will also list and explain strategies for teaching these behaviors to children and how parents can reinforce these behaviors at home. The five behaviors that I will be discussing that need to be encouraged in the pre-school & home setting are as followed: a. Attachment b. Aggression c. Problem-Solving Skills d. Building Self-help Skills and e. Self-Esteem. Attachment is a lasting emotional relationship that begins to develop in infancy and serves to tie the infant to one or more people in his or her life. Many parents do not realize that the first early attachment sets the tone for a child?s development and defines some of the issues that he or she will carry into adulthood. The strategies for teaching parents how to use behaviors at home for attachment are to stress that attachment contributes to cognitive development in infants. When children feel secure, they are freer to explore the environment around them, and that education is social-emotional development and the basis of that is attachment comes from a synchronous relationship, Behaviors and Theories which grow from a number of synchronous interactions. As a pre-school provider it is important that you express to the parents that children can have attachment to both the parent and the caregiver that it is not a competition , and you must work together to better the child?s education. Encourage the parents to have a vision for the child?s future, just as they have the knowledge of the past. Also you should help the family and also become close to family as well as the child to make sure that the child is not receiving neglect from either source The theorist that was responsible for this was John Bowlby (1969;1973), a researcher noted for his attachment theory. He studied children separated from their parents while in the hospital, which was common practice at the time because children are easier to work with when parents aren?t ?in the way.? Bowlby found that separation from family can be devastating to children?s development and mental health, even if the professional care and me dical procedures take care of their physical problems. He did the classic work on attachment and hospitalization, which made a difference in how doctors and hospitals treat the parent/child relationship today. Medical personnel no longer exclude parents from their children?s presence in the hospital. We know now about attachment and hospitalization; we are still learning about attachment and education. The strategies for teaching parents how to use behaviors at home for Aggression, is to educate them on the behavior of aggression which would include: The child will repeat aggressive behavior if he/she was rewarded for Behavior and Theories this behavior in the past. So be careful as a parent what you reward your child for. Aggression in children could be that the behavior is the result of bottled-up emotions or the behavior might stem from a physical source, or from watching others get what they want through aggression. Aggression can come from an extreme defensiveness. The parent and teacher can help children clarify situations, and explore alternatives to aggression. As parents and teachers we should both show firmness and empathy. And take a problem-solving attitude rather than a power play towards the child?s aggression. Way back in 1975, Barclay Martin reviewed 27 studies on the effects of harsh punishment and concluded that children were likely to store up frustration from being punished and vent it later, using the violence that was used on them. The message regarding avoiding using aggression to deal with aggression is still today. Among behaviors, problem-solving behaviors are a very important one for a child. Learning problem solving techniques will help the child to solve problem though-out his/her lifetime. Strategies for teaching parents how to use behaviors at