Understanding the observer role 

First principle: the observer role–Step back and observe the behavior before deciding to act.

The first principle is to spend time observing the child and relate his behavior to what you know about his/her developmental level.

If we are honest, a young child’s behavior is sometimes quite confusing. In fact, it can be be frustrating and infuriating at times. When you as a caregiver feel frustration, anxiety, confusion or anger rising, it is important to take a step back and try to figure out the meaning of the child’s behavior based on his/her developmental stage. Unfortunately, I often hear caregivers explaining certain child behaviors in judgmental, sarcastic or labeling ways without really grasping what is truly happening internally with the child. 

Taking the observer role means that you as a caregiver will:

1. Step back and observe the behavior
2. Resist participating until you are ready
3. Watch, analyze and categorize the situation
4. Decide when you are adequately prepared to make a clearer, healthier decision about your actions

Applying the observer role

Developmentally, she may be at that place in which she does not need a nap. What do you do?

Here is an example of applying the observer role. You may have a two-year-old in the childcare center who suddenly stops napping and begins to cry consistently. It would be easy to think that the child is being manipulative because she does not want to nap. However, developmentally, she may be going through a stage in which she experiences increased anxiety about being separated from her parents. Additionally, she may be at that place in which she does not need a nap.

A good strategy after observing and relating that observation about a possible developmental / temperament change, it might be best to simply tell the child that she only needs to lie down and rest and does not have to sleep. A favorite cuddly toy might help her to settle.

As an observer, you gather information. The more informed you are in what the child is doing and in which developmental / temperament stage the child may be in, the more likely your decisions will be healthy for the child. Applying the observer role will also increase your confidence as a caregiver when the child responds with clarity that she is learning to cope with her dilemma at that time in her life.

Most of the time our children do not know why they are doing what they are doing. While this aspect of development is frustrating, hopefully caregivers will have the knowledge and capability to guide the children in appropriately dealing with these challenges. Effective use of the observer role sets the stage for a safe and healthy environment for child development. 

Stay tuned as we continue to explore these principles.

Gerry Vassar, President/CEO, Lakeside Educational Network

Source: Information taken from Pathways to Competence, Encouraging Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Young Children, Second Edition by Sarah Landy, pp 41-42.

Related posts:

1. Help to Handle Stages and Temperament Issues in Children
2. What New Research on the Temperament of a Child Tells Us
3. Effects of Temperament Traits: Four Characteristic Behaviors

6 Principles for dealing with stage-related and temperament issues

Spend time observing the child and relate his or her behavior to what you know about each child’s developmental level.

Universal principles exist to help caregivers adapt developmental and temperament information to the needs of infants and young children. Find six below.

1. Spend time observing the child and relate his or her behavior to what you know about each child’s developmental level.
2. Set up the environment and child’s schedule to accommodate the child’s developmental and temperament characteristics.
3. Try to learn about the child’s temperament characteristics and any physical characteristics that may be contributing to his/her behavior style.
4. Spend time changing the negative labels into positive ones that reflect the child’s developmental stage and temperament type.
5. Identify behaviors that trigger anger and anxiety in yourself and see how you are affected by your own temperament characteristics.
6. Identify and adopt strategies that can help you adapt to the child’s special temperament characteristics.

Caregivers who are intentional about how they nurture and relate to children should strive to be knowledgeable, observational and sensitive to the children in their care.  Understanding the number of issues related to temperament and stages of growth is essential as it builds the foundation to the approaches that we will take towards discipline, communication and the everyday issues in this relationship.

I will be taking time in my next few posts to review and discuss how each principle can enhance a caregiver’s capability to be aware and equipped to better support the children within their responsibility. Stay tuned as we continue to discuss temperament, its integration and impact with children and caregivers. 

Gerry Vassar, President/CEO, Lakeside Educational Network

Source: Information taken from Pathways to Competence, Encouraging Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Young Children, Second Edition by Sarah Landy, p 42.

Related posts:

1. What New Research on the Temperament of a Child Tells Us
2. Effects of Temperament Traits: Four Characteristic Behaviors
3. The Beginnings – A Regional Model Program for Traumatized Children

4 Characteristics of continuity of temperament traits

Inhibited children

Children who are extremely inhibited typically demonstrate low levels of social competence and high levels of social anxiety.

Inhibited children respond to the unfamiliar with inhibition (reserve, apprehension). They tend to withdraw from unfamiliar people, objects and situations. They may show anxiety and stress. Their inhibition behavior expresses as shyness, low sociability, timidity and introversion. Children who are extremely inhibited typically demonstrate low levels of social competence and high levels of social anxiety. They usually find it difficult to disengage from the threat and shift attention to other things or situations. 

Uninhibited children

Uninhibited children are more likely to respond to novel situations rather fearlessly. Researchers describe them as temperamentally exhuberant. Behaviorally, they tend to show significant frustration and anger about restrictions and rules, desiring control over most events they encounter. These children lack caution and are challenged to inihibit their behavior. They may exhibit problems in internalizing standards or rules and require both firm limits and very nurturing relationships with their caregivers. For these children, it is important to provide positive motivations and qualities to help them internalize rules. 

Difficult children have significant behavioral problems.

Difficult children

Approximately 10 percent of children are considered difficult. Difficult children have significant behavioral problems. Most studies show that when mothers perceive their infants highly difficult, this reality alone predicted future behavioral problems. Children identified in this category are more likely to break rules or cause mild damage to people or property. Fortunately, evidence is not conslusive that temperamentally difficult children always continue this behavioral trait into adulthood.

Regulated children

Self-regulated children demonstrate a capacity for effortful control. This refers to the children’s ability “to inhibit a dominant response and initiate a subdominant response.” Self-regulation also refers to capability to avoid distractions and inhibit or activate an appropriate behavior without actually desiring to do so.

While these traits tend to have continuity, how children are parented has a large and lasting affect on the degree that these traits could be carried into adulthood.

To explain, a self-regulated child can change a response from one that would predictably be inappropriate to one that is appropriate through his own ability to control his behavior. Children who display effortful control often show ability to deal with stress, remain attentive, can concentrate and plan. Further, children who are high in this trait express empathy, guilt, shame and low aggression. They appear to be more agreeable and more easily relate to their peers.

Predictors of characteristics in adulthood

Consequently, you can see how these temperament characteristics seem to be predictors of traits a parent or caregiver will face throughout a child’s life, even into adulthood. While these traits tend to have continuity, how children are parented has a large and lasting affect on the degree that these traits could be carried into adulthood.

I think understanding these four characteristics of temperamental behavior is important toward children’s healthy growth and development. When we better understand why they behave the way they do, we can more effectively strategize how to nurture, discipline and encourage their strengths in positive ways.

Gerry Vassar, President/CEO, Lakeside Educational Network

Source: Information taken from Pathways to Competence, Encouraging Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Young Children, Second Edition by Sarah Landy, pp 36-38. 

Related posts:

1. What New Research on the Temperament of a Child Tells Us
2. The Beginnings – A Regional Model Program for Traumatized Children
3. Growth-Promoting Environments for Young Children

Physiology, genetics and continuity: what can we learn about a child’s temperament?

New brain-mapping research shows how children respond to stress.

There has been a lot of physiological research using brain-imaging techniques. This research clarifies individual differences between children although it does not make a distinction of long-term continuity.

One facet of this research shows how children respond to stress. It appears that most of the studies show that when a child encounters a stressful event, increased physiological arousal occurs which displays in intensity of emotion, negative impact, low sociability, poor adaptation to new situations and diffculty in concentration. Caregivers can often be unaware that these stressors impact the biochemistry of a child and, therefore, elicit some predictable behaviors.

Genetics and temperament

Research and theorizing about genetics and temperament continues. It is both predictable and important to have the nature/nurture discussion when considering a child’s temperament. We can see aspects in children that certainly appear to relate to parents or family. However, it is difficult to determine specifically which is most powerful: the genetic make-up of a child or the environmental influences surrounding the child.

While it may be clear that genetic influences have been found for cognitive, temperament and physical characteristics, still, deep influence from the child’s environment contributes to his temperamental growth and development

Perhaps the most helpful measurement has been the genetic influences of children who have been adopted versus that of their biological parents. While it may be clear that genetic influences have been found for cognitive, temperament and physical characteristics, still, deep influence from the child’s environment contributes to his temperamental growth and development.

Continuity: traits growing into adulthood

Another focus of the research is the issue of continuity of temperament. If a child presents certain traits or characteristics early in life, will she keep them into adulthood? One might assume that this passing of traits would be a given, but the research outcomes are mixed. Some traits and characteristics such as intensity, mood and rhythmicity may remain stable while others do not. 

So, as caregivers, there is a lot to discover and learn about temperament. However, those of us who have children or care for children in early childhood, we need to have an understanding of our childrens’ temperaments as we help them adjust to a changing world. Because our children undergo very formative stages in life that will impact them in many ways, we need clarity to navigate them.  

I will discuss more about this very important topic of temperament. Hopefully, a better understanding of this topic will provide new awareness toward creating an environment that will help children grow into emotionally and relationally healthy individuals. 

Gerry Vassar, President/CEO, Lakeside Educational Network

Source: Information taken from Pathways to Competence, Encouraging Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Young Children, Second Edition by Sarah Landy, pp 32-36.

Related posts:

1. The Beginnings – A Regional Model Program for Traumatized Children
2. Research on Early Childhood Education Proves Need
3. Growth-Promoting Environments for Young Children

Understanding the impact of trauma with the NMT model will give us new tools for treatment and intervention for child trauma

Dr. Bruce Perry is an internationally recognized expert in child trauma and Senior Fellow of The Child Trauma Academy in Houston, Texas. Dr. Perry will be providing training to a group of clinicians in our area who will be the core of this new movement. This training will begin in September and continue for two years. The training will feature the Neuro-Sequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT), which is Dr. Perry’s latest diagnostic tool for helping clinicians understand the nature of the trauma through a unique mapping system of the brain. Understanding the impact of trauma in this way will give us new tools for treatment and intervention for child trauma.

On Tuesday evening, May 1, we held our kick-off meeting of this new trauma cohort.  There were 21 professionals in attendance who will be part of this new initiative.

Suzanne O’Connor of United Way gave an overview of the role of United Way and the connection of this new program to the world of ECE (Early Childhood Education) in Philadelphia. Diane Wagenhals then provided an overview of how a regional triage for traumatized children will be designed. This triage will include the NMT training for clinical professionals, a newly-developed training for educators, and another training for caregivers of children and parents.

The principles of NMT set the foundation of all the trainings. The intent is for the entire region to develop a comprehensive and coordinated system of trauma education for all those who care for children as well as a system of care for traumatized children.

A model program to replicate: follow updates on this blog

In a day where funding for programs like this one is seriously in jeopardy, where the systems that care for children are so very fragile and the need so great, this is an extremely bold and innovative effort. I encourage you to follow this program via this blog as we deal with this life-dominating problem in the lives of our precious children.

As we listened to these dedicated professionals express their excitement and hopes for this new initiative, the enthusiasm and energy within the group was palpable. It is exciting to be part of a cutting edge movement that has the compassion and sophistication of the NMT program. Dr. Perry is a caring and extraordinary professional who has dedicated his life to the healing of traumatized children. We are privileged to have him and his staff as a vital part of the clinical fabric of this program as we attempt to permeate our region with a new understanding of the diagnosis and impact of trauma in children.

A renewed hope

It is inspirational to think that we could create and establish a whole new paradigm for diagnosis and treatment of our children in crisis.

As I looked around, I felt such admiration for the professionals around me. I realized that I may be a part of a new movement of hope in our region.

While it is exciting to think about what will happen in our region, it was doubly exciting to consider that this program could happen nationally if we could embrace this model throughout our country. It is inspirational to think that we could create and establish a whole new paradigm for diagnosis and treatment of our children in crisis.

Each of us feels very privileged to be a part of this new beginning. Now that is thrilling! I will continue to update you on the progress of this exciting movement as it continues to develop and unfold.

Gerry Vassar, President/CEO, Lakeside Educational Network

Related posts:

1. Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics
2. Trauma Symposium for Service Professionals in Philadelphia
3. How Do We Categorize Traumatized Children?

9 Principles of Developing Body Control and Positive Body Image in Children

Provide the infant or young child with plenty of experiences of touch and physical contact.

The principles below are found in one of our most popular texts about early childhood, Pathways to Competence, by Sarah Landy. This book is standard in early childhood research.

1. Provide the infant or young child with plenty of experiences of touch and physical contact.
2. Encourage the toddler and preschooler to get to know his body and body parts.
3. In order to encourage fine motor control, provide interesting toys and fine motor activities that the infant and young child enjoys.
4. Provide activities that allow for the integration of a number of senses.
5. Join the child in fun motor and movement activities.
6. Help the child develop appropriate eating, sleeping and toileting routines. Avoid creating battlegrounds around them.
7. Respond to the child’s early sexual curiosity by providing answers to questions, acceptance of interesting and appropriate limits for sexual play.
8. Express delight in the child’s body and her control of it. Adapt to the child’s physical self.
9. Respond to body language and validate the reality of the experience being expressed.

As you can see, the effort to help our children develop a positive body image is comprehensive. Caregivers have a constant presence that influences establishing healthy touch and body image environments for the children in their care, a vital part of our children’s healthy growth and development.  

Gerry Vassar, President/CEO, Lakeside Educational Network

Source: Information taken from Pathways to Competence, Encouraging Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Young Children, Second Edition by Sarah Landy.

Related posts:

1. How Caregivers Influence A Child’s Body Image
2. How Body Image Affects A Child’s Development
3. Child Body Image: How Do Children Perceive Their Bodies?

3 Key areas of child development affected by body image

Self-Esteem

Difficulty with body image can affect a child’s self-concept.

Difficulty with body image can affect a child’s self-concept. A child who cannot make his body “work” as he wants it to may experience a sense of frustration and inadequacy that can be heightened if he also receives criticism from parents or caregivers or teasing by peers.

Academic Achievement

Difficulties with fine motor control may influence a child’s adjustment to ECE care or kindergarten, which may affect his ability to build with blocks, draw and print letters and numbers. If the challenge is extreme, it could influence the child’s ability to use a computer or learn and facilitate other important academic skills. Once a child experiences early failures in school, he will likely tend to continue failing. This pattern of failure may potentially lead to chronic school failure or dropping out.

Social Competence

Children rely on their ability for physical play in order to connect with their peers. A child who experiences body control problems may withdraw from playing with peers, particularly on the playground during recess. Conversely, a child who has physical prowess or ability in sports will likely become accepted, even popular, with other children.

Healthy physical development with appropriate affirmations and caregiving is core to beginning a life of success.

Self-esteem, academic achievement and social competence are such key areas to the healthy growth and development of a child in relationship to their caregivers, their peers and themselves. Healthy physical development with appropriate affirmations and caregiving is core to beginning a life of success. It may sound basic, but too often, our children are not in environments that promote healthy development.

Certainly, we should not be setting up our children with life-dominating negative consequences that occur because of less than healthy environments–especially when they are so young. This is why quality childcare is a significant issue for our communities.

We each need to support early childhood education centers that have trained staff who are attuned and aware to issues that affect young children. These caregivers will be important influencers to the health and well-being of thousands of children during some core issues central to their lives. 

Gerry Vassar, President/CEO, Lakeside Educational Network

Source: Information taken from Pathways to Competence, Encouraging Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Young Children, Second Edition by Sarah Landy, pp 89-90.

Related posts:

1. How Caregivers Influence A Child’s Body Image
2. Child Body Image: How Do Children Perceive Their Bodies?
3. Growth-Promoting Environments for Young Children

Body image, caregivers and related disorders

(Reminder: Body self describes a child’s sense of physical self. Body scheme and body control refer to the subconscious understanding of motor capacities and abilities that enable movement. Body image is the mental picture one has of his/her body.)

Caregivers need to express in words and show in facial expressions their delight in children’s appearance, movements and explorations.

One theory of body self focuses on the development of self as involved in relationships and activities with significant caregivers. It is important that children see their caregivers enjoying them in their bodies; meaning, the caregivers express in words and show in facial expressions their delight in the children’s appearance, movements and explorations. If this does not happen, children do not develop a positive body image and can believe that they are unattractive, unacceptable and unlovable.

Research has taught us that infants and children who are brought up in isolation or certain orphanages in which they experienced a lack of touch and holding (see post on attachment ) often develop significant disorders that are revealed in feelings of bodily damage or distortions. Related disorders due to physical or sexual abuse neglect, lack of touch, understimulation or overstimulation and rejection of a child’s body in infancy and early childhood may also be present. 

Core to the child's self-image is how he/she is acknowledged and appreciated at the body image level as an infant and child.

Some disorders associated with these deficits are: 

• Anorexia nervosa and bulimia (eating disorders)
• Narcissistic and borderline personality disorder
• Character disorders manifest in criminal and violent behavior
• Promiscuity and sexual perversions
• Body dysphoric disorder
• Somatic delusions
• Self-mutilation

Certainly there is more than one determinant possible as why children end up with these types of disorders.

At Lakeside, we are aware of such causes and disorders as we see many students who portray some of the issues above. However, core to child’s self-image is how he/she is acknowledged and appreciated at the body image level as an infant and child.

Our early childhood caregivers have huge impact to the early experiences of children in their care. Their training includes an awareness and recognition of their impact and opportunity to be a positive influence on the body image of children as they encounter, engage, provide feedback and enjoy them.

Caring for the body image of children is a critical stewardship for everyone who cares for a child. It is an awesome responsibility and certainly a privilege! 

Gerry Vassar, President/CEO, Lakeside Educational Network

Source: Information taken from Pathways to Competence, Encouraging Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Young Children, Second Edition by Sarah Landy, pp 88-89.

Related posts:

1. Child Body Image: How Do Children Perceive Their Bodies?
2. Growth-Promoting Environments for Young Children
3. The Value of Early Childhood Education

How critical is a child’s sense of body image?

Important concepts to understand about how children perceive themselves are body self, body scheme, body control and body image.

Important concepts to understand about how children perceive themselves are body self, body scheme, body control and body image. 

Body self describes a child’s sense of physical self.  It includes an infant’s realization of physical separateness. Later, a child’s sense of body self is gained from his/her experiences: being able to control one’s body as well as how attractive one believes his/her body to be.

Body scheme and body control refer to the subconscious understanding of motor capacities and abilities that enable movement. Body scheme is more innate but open to sensorimotor actions and visual, tactile, or auditory experiences throughout life. Body control refers to a child’s ability to have fine and gross motor control.

Body image is the mental picture one has of his/her body. It is formed from critical, multiple body experiences and physical engagement with objects and people beginning in the early days of life.

Body image is the mental picture a child has of his body.

In Pathways to Competence, this story (pages 87-88) illustrates how a child’s body image and a sense of body self is formed from a sense of body control and body experiences from the way in which caregivers interact with him.

When Jonah was born, he seemed to be a healthy and typically developing infant. But soon after birth he experienced multiple seizures and later had difficulty achieving motor milestones, such as sitting up, walking, jumping, and catching a ball.  Before he went to school, Jonah seemed to be unaffected by his challenges and to have a good sense of self-esteem. When Jonah entered kindergarten, however, his problems became much more obvious and he was teased about his clumsiness and difficulties in performing tasks. As a result, he felt inadequate and unpopular.  With help from his teacher and an occupational therapist, Jonah was able to master many fine motor tasks. Also, his parents helped him by asking other children over to play. A year later, Jonah was able to make a much smoother adjustment to first grade.

Healthy self-esteem and body image begins to form from birth

A child’s body image is so important to self-esteem during early childhood growth. Almost immediately, a child recognizes how he/she is functioning in relation to other children and how he/she looks in the framework of his/her world. If problems with body image surface, they can have a negative impact on the child’s overall self-esteem.

It is of paramount importance that caregivers clearly understand how a child’s body image impacts how healthily he/she develops, grows and adapts to the world.

Gerry Vassar, President/CEO, Lakeside Educational Network

Source: Pathways to Competence. http://www.amazon.com/Sarah-Landy/e/B001H6ENCC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Related posts:

1. Growth-Promoting Environments for Young Children
2. Research on Early Childhood Education Proves Need
3. Early Childhood Education and School Drop-Outs

Principles for promoting a healthy growth environment for ECE centers

All children have different temperaments, and their growth comes in developmental stages

Here are six key principles for dealing with stage-related and temperament issues as found in Pathways to Competence, by Sarah Landy and Elizabeth Thompson (page 42):

Principle 1: Spend time observing the child and relate his behavior to what you know about his development level.

Principle 2:Set up the environment and the child’s schedule to accommodate the child’s development and temperament characteristics

Principle 3: Try to learn about the child’s temperament characteristics and any physical characteristics that may be contributing to his behavioral style

Spend time changing negative labels into positive ones that reflect the child’s developmental stage and temperament type

Principle 4: Spend time changing negative labels into positive ones that reflect the child’s developmental stage and temperament type

Principle 5: Identify behaviors that trigger anger and anxiety in yourself and see how you are affected by your own temperament characteristics

Principle 6: Identify and adopt strategies that can help you adapt the child’s special temperament characteristics

Core beliefs and the character of ECE Centers

These principles are excellent core beliefs that could shape the character of an early childhood education center, the staff’s attitudes and reactions, and the manner in which children will be safe to grow. Although managing children at various stages of development and with different temperaments can be inherently difficult and challenging, caregiving for these precious lives should require a growth-promoting environment.

It is my hope that early childhood leaders will continue to work diligently to insure that early childhood program environments will be places where our children can be who they are in developmental stage and temperament, and be shown dignity and affirmation in their processes of growth.

Gerry Vassar, President/CEO, Lakeside Educational Network

Related posts:

1. Early Childhood Education and School Drop-Outs
2. The Value of Early Childhood Education
3. Research on Early Childhood Education Proves Need