How do I deal with this?

Question

I work at a daycare with 16 two year olds. 11 boys and 5 girls. There are 8 out of these 16 that are bad children. When I say bad I mean hitting, kicking, biting, pinching, pulling out hair, you name it, they do it. I am so stressed with these children that I do not know what to do. I cry everyday when I get home and then I can not deal with my own children because I am tired of disciplining for the whole day. There are 2 out of 16 kids that can say words. The rest are still baby talking, grunts and hitting stuff to get what they want. They don't understand what I say and I don't understand what they say. I am so frustrated and I don't know how to deal with them. They go crazy just walking down the hall. Our director seems to not care and she only has me and one other teacher in there to deal with these children. That is not enough! They walk all over us!! HELP!

Answer 1

Two year olds need lots of individual attention. They need to be shown how to do just about everything. They are very physical.
When the kids are driving you crazy try one of these ideas.
Bubbles, get out a bottle and blow bubbles for the children to pop.
Put on some music and start everybody dancing.
Give each child a scarf and wave them around as you parade to the music.
Start building a cardboard block tower and get the kids to help. If someone knocks the tower down - that's OK we build and knock down again. For that size group you probably need both teachers each building with the kids.
Bring a large sheet to work and pull it out when you feel like pulling your hair out. Everybody get under the sheet. Everybody move the sheet this way. Turn, lets all go this way.
Show the kids how to hold on to the edges of the sheet. Shake the sheet to make waves. Put the balls on the sheet and shake them up. Calm everyone down by sitting on the floor and holding the edges of the sheet with your feet and legs out in front of you. Lie back and say "good night" pulling the sheet up to your chin. Snore. After snoring a bit, make a ringing alarm sound, sit up and say, "Good morning." Good night/good morning is a good cool down game. Sometimes one of the kids will turn off the lights. Go with it. Time to read a bedtime story.

Other calming activities. Blowing is calming. Give the kids straws and cotton balls or party blowers. Play the big bad wolf and blow the houses down.
Have the chiden take turns rolling up in a beach towel. Lay the towel on the floor. The child lies across one end and rolls (or you roll them) with the towel rolling up around them. This is calming.
Have small spaces and places for children to hide or be alone. Large cardboard boxes are great. Let childen remove themselves to these hide aways if they feel the need. If a child goes under the table, that is a sign they they are overwhelmed and need comfort and a break.

Put out sponge balls, at least two for every child. kick the balls roll the balls hold them in the air. Put the ball on your head. Put the ball on your knee. You do it and the kids will imitate and soon learn the names of the body parts.
Encourage the kids to toss the ball into a big basket (like a laundry basket)

You can't "talk" to these kids to get them to do what you want.
You have to move and be dramatic and do silly stuff. Use gestures. Want them to stand up? Hold out one hand palm flat and with the other, make two legs with pointer and tall man and stand them on your palm, then make a thumbs up. "Stand up."
Make up gestures for each thing you want them to do and use the same gestures for the same words.

To tame two year olds you MUST have enough toys for everyone. If everyone likes the blue bear, you need to have several blue bears. When children are fighting over a toy or activity, think How can I provide the same of similiar activity to each? When I saw kids fighting over a basket, turning a dress-up hat upside down and grabbing a bucket from the house corner made everyone happy.

If walking down the hall is necessary (twos are not old enough to act together in a group) then make it visual and make it a game. Put footprints on the floor for the kids to follow. Or put pictures or stars on the wall and challenge the kids to find the next star on the wall as you move down the hall. Each child will want to touch each star as they go. That's OK.

Think "yes" instead of "no" . Let them do as much as you can safely allow and redirect the things you just can't let them do.
Spills, broken toys, torn paper, are not a big deal. Show the children how we fix problems together instead of scolding.

Everyday have something in a tub to play with. A water table is great. If you don't have one get dish pans (you probably need 4). Put them on a table put about an inch of water in each with sponges, measurng cups, spoons, ladels, whatever.
Another day put uncooked rice in the pans with scoops, cups, and funnels. Spread out the sheet on the floor and put the pans of rice on the sheet so the rice is easier to clean up and the kids don't slip on it. Beans, snow, ...

Give each child something to hold when you read a story. If you have plastic fruit for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the children can match the fruit to the pages. But each child needs to have a fruit. Or you can make cards for the fruit and each child gets a card.

Carpet squares are great for organizing the kids. Put them out where you want the children to be and jump on your lilly pad (or iceberg, pillow, island, cloud,...) Don't fall off.
Don't have carpet squares? how about a towel for each.

Get the kids to help with routines. When it is time to clean the table. Everybody who wants to, gets a sponge. When the table is good and wet everybody gets a paper towel and we dry the table. A small floor brush and dustpan is helpful for children to clean up crumbs.
Things don't have to be perfect. Messy is fun and fun is messy.

Remember make it physical, and make it touchy feely. They need something for their hands to do and something for their feet to do.

To get the language going use short phrases that are declarative. Don't ask questions. Tell them what they are doing.
Sitting in a circle on their carpet squares you can bring out a big teddy bear. Say "Big Bear." Hug the bear and say "Hug bear"
Pass the bear to one child and say "hug bear" Gesture that you want the chid to give the bear to the next chid and say "Joey hug bear." Teach the children to pass the bear around. Try this with another object the next day.

OK the hardest part is disciplining because you probably do not have enough time to do it well. Use short phrases "no hits" and then tell them what to do. "Ask Amy, My turn?" or "Tell him, give it back." The key is not to have to discipline because the children are busy and happy.

You set the tone. The children will feel frazzled if you feel frazzled.

Answer 2

I work with 3-5 year olds, and I had the same problems you are having right now. The only difference is that my kids could talk. Boy could they talk, and yell, and swear...

Anyway, I find that in any age group, the children need routines and consistency. I would probably research some toddler sites on the internet and try to find consistent routines that will work in your space.

Also, it helps to build centers (small spaces for 2-3 children at a time) so that they can play individually. I don't recommend time-outs for children under 2 as thay don't have the mental capacity to inderstand what is going on.

You can also work with your partner to find a routine that works for both of you. You will both need to use a consistent approach for disipline as well. Try gentle reminders, then remove the child from the activity if they are unable to change their behaviour.

And hang in there. You'll be surprised how quickly things can change if you stay consistent and provide a routine. Good luck!

Answer 3

Deal

Answer 4

Children are not bad, and at that age its learned behaviour. I guess you work in a private nursery been there bought the t shirt experienced the pain. The ratio of 2 adults - 16 children within the age group you are working with is against the law, remid your manager/director of that. If it doesnt get better report it to the Care Commision or Her Majestys inspectorate (HMI) you can do this annonomously (Thats if your in Sctland not sure about England or any other country). Offer the children more stimulating experiences which are age related. Come on the sooner the better then you wont dread going to work.

Answer 5

Where do I start.
Have multiples of resources to limit the amount of disputes. Have the children in a large space to give them room to use the resources without invading each others territory.
Give the children large blocks of time to play.
Make sure they are fed and rested.
Use picture cards, props or hand signals to communiate combined with language.
Dont be afraid to ask for help if you need it. The other staff probably assume you are coping.
Remember there is a reason behind "bad" behaviour and it is not to make your life difficult!
Practical short term solutions which can lead to a bond between you and the children -
bubble blowing
painting fingernails
making playdough
dancing
playing instruments
balloons
making up songs & poems about them. Eg:
Wibbly Wobbly Wee
an elephant sat on me
Wibbly Wobbly Woo
an elephant sat on you
Wibbly Wobbly Wames
an elephant sat on James.
(change the elephant to a Barbie or anything the child like - you can sometimes get a clue from their T-shirt!)

Answer 6

Well, it would be easy for me to say do this, do that, but classroom management all depends on the space you are given. If you don't have space to separate kids, then you can't do it. "Time outs" would be fine only for those kids who understood what a timeout is. I agree with the one poster that said it is very hard on the day care kids. These children are used to a different environment, and (hopefully at least some of the time) having parents around. Their routine is comletely disrupted, and one (or two) complete strangers are introduced to them.

Routine is important of course, but there is one thing that hasn't been mentioned: what income level do these kids come from? How far in the car are they travelling from house to day care? If these kids are tired and hungry, these could be issues that need to be addressed.

Hang in there. If it gets too bad, you can always quit, but from the tone of your question it doesn't seem like you want to.

Good luck

Answer 7

I would get out of there now. There is not a job in the world that is worth losing your mind over. Your children do not deserve to suffer from your inattention and stress.

The 2-year-old children are in daycare, and they don't understand why their mommies drop them there everyday for such a long time, and then pick them up, feed them and put them to bed. These children do not bond well with any adults because their parents do not spend the time to bond with them. I feel terribly sorry for them.

Answer 8

Dealing with a lot little ones is very hard, so try to be firm, routine in the room and lots of time-outs if needed. Good luck!!!

Answer 9

Check you childcare legislation. If I am right you are understaffed to deal with so many children of that age. I think it is no more than 5 per adult in that age group.

Answer 10

Sorry to say, but you sound like you have little experience or contral and classroom management. Plesae establish routines for everything. have toys for when they enter. Circle time. How did you get his job?