As a teacher, how do you control a violent kindergartener?

Question

I have a student that has emotional outbursts when he doesn't get what he wants. They are getting progressively more violent. Today he knocked a flower pot off my shelf and shattered it. The other day he threw a box of crayons onto somebody. My principle says to give him as little positive/negative attention as possible. I would like to find a way to prevent the outburst to begin with.

Answer 1

kid needs help, send him to counseling......

Answer 2

Quite frankly, it does not sound like your Principal has the classrooms best interests in focus. Does he/she know how often or how progressively violent they are getting? It seems a meeting with the students Parents is in order. Possibly some testing on the child as well. Is the child looking well cared for? No marks, bruises, signs of abuse? Does the student already have a situation that you know of making him prone to outbursts? If he/she does, his/her Parents should be able to give tips on how they handle a situation. Have you spoke with your school counselor? They should be able to give some help and guidance.
Perhaps this student is not ready for Kindergarten yet emotionally?
Maybe the student needs to have a few moments to adjust to what is going to go next. Say maybe if you are learning the alphabet and they are coloring in the letter P. Then after, they will be going to story time. Maybe 1 minute before you go to story time, you could let the class (maybe even with an egg timer and especially said student) know that in one more minute it will be story time. The children and especially the student could take turns setting the timer for fun. It would be very difficult having a student in class like that if it happens on a daily basis. At one of our schools, a girl was removed from the school in 3rd grade because of emotional outbursts. She is now back (this is years later) in at the local high school. Still troubled, but doing ok so far.

Answer 3

Ignore AND isolate the child. You must be consistant. I would also suggest that the school psychologist test the child. It may be more of an issue than you alone can handle. Call in the parents for a conference. What behaviors are they observing at home? This cannot be the only place and time such behaviors occur. What are their consequences for such behavior at home?

My guess is that there are no consequences at home. Then that is where the problem lies. This behavior has gotten the intended response so many times before that the child continues and continues because sooner or later he is sure that you will respond the same way mommy and daddy do.

Perhaps a chair in the Principal's office is not to harsh a consequence for a child that easily may harm another. What if that flower pot was tossed at another child instead of the box of crayons? This should not be taken lightly by the parents. They need to know that if he continues to abuse others they may be in for a lawsuit.

Answer 4

bust their a_ _ !!! NO NO JUST KIDDING !!... the best thing is to first take the kid out of the room and see if he can tell you why he got upset. THEN, whether he tells you or not, let HIM know exactly how you felt and ask him one time that you cannot tolerate that anymore. Then contact his parents then have them talk to him while you back to the class and tell him that you will come back for him and to stay put. Go back to your class and do this.... appoligize for his behavior and that these things will need to be done.... 1st. The class will need to work together and try not to pay attention to the act that he does. That he does not mean to do it and you will not let him harm anyone. 2nd, that when he acts out, stop if you must but do not let him know that he is affecting you.... do not pick anything up... leave it lay.... ask him if he is ok, if he says no.. just send him to the office... if he says yes,... then continue on with the lesson without missing a beat... leave all lay for at least 15 minutes .... if and when you come near the mess and you can do it without missing a beat... non-shelountly pick it up. Without emotion.... and just go on... give him a few days to settle... then if he doesn't improve need to do re-eval with the counsilor and principle to see what further steps need to be taken.... i would be watchful of times when he does it.. ... maybe not getting enough energy out before he gets to class.... maybe have a few chores to do for him to kinda wear him down a little... but definately sounds like there is an issue and it needs to be addressed. Then ... when has good days.... make sure those are the days you notice him !! GL.... so hard now adays.

Answer 5

I teach 4 year olds, and I also have a child like this. While he is having his tantrum - you can't reason with him.
I talk to him when he is calm about how nobody get what they want all the time and it can be frustrating. I tell him that next time he decides to throw things and have a tantrum ,instead of using his words he will have to apologize to the class because it takes up the class time. I also think you should have the option to remove him from the classroom while he is doing this ( Have an aide lead him outside and sit with him.) Or take him to the office. This can be so disruptive to a class and not fair to the rest of the students. You should be able to call the parent and try to work with her about his behavior.
Make sure the parent knows that you aren't angry with her child, but he needs to learn to deal with his frustrations in a more positve way. Try to work with her- like a reward system - she gives the reward after you send home good reports.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Hi. I'm Ashley. I'm a teacher from Australia. Understand that children who lash out are trying to find a voice for their discomfort, frustration and their own perceived lack of power. They lash out to gain control and to make you, the teacher, seem less powerful.

So the trick to controlling student aggression is to make them feel important, special, listened to, validated without them using violence to get your attention.

If you feel like a child will become aggressive, tailor the classroom environment to be safe. Hide the scissors. Put the flower pot away from childrens' reach. Put the crayons in a box behind your desk and only take them out just before its' time to use them.

Create a song you sing with your students first thing each morning and talk about in the song how EVERYONE in the room is loved and apart of your classroom 'family'. It's harder to hurt someone if you regard them as family......please don't bring religion into the song....

Children like to visualisae. They don't respond to language at age 5. Put up posters in your room that will CAPTURE their IMAGINATION. They'll be so transfixed by the picture of the unicorn (or whatever) they will calm down. Do a group afternoon "breathing" exercise where you get them to relax and close their eyes for 10 minutes....

Ask the viiolent child "What would you like to see happen?" This will make him think and it will make him realise you care about his opinion. He'll have control then over the consequences of his GOOD behaviour....

Kids lash out because they don't feel safe. Get the parents in to talk about why the boy is unsettled. Get to know his triggers. While not punishing him, do separate the boy from the others. Have a place at the back of the room, call it the "Thinking Square" for kids to be by themselves if violent. He will know then it is unacceptable to lash out......

Answer 7

Good answers from everyone, so far. What you need to do immediately is get help for yourself in the sense that an extra hand is needed to isolate this child from the rest. Then immediately contact the parents. They must come and calm the child down. Any restraint you use is going to get you in trouble as we have seen. A couple of visits from the parents and the child may get in line. This child probably needs counseling as well.

Answer 8

I would look into what is happening at home. usually kids that are being abused or neglected at home lash out at school where they see a lot of happy kids. Talk to the little guy and ask him if he is having any problems at home. Ask if mom and dad argue and check for bruises or other signs of abuse. Talk to his parents and ask if there is something happening at home or if something changed like a new baby or a loss of a family member. If all else fails recommend a specialist to his parents. It could be early signs of ADHD or some other chemical imbalance.

Answer 9

has any official at your school came up with the theory that he may be emotionally handicaped?
my brother suffers from this condition and has to go to a special class and all the students take the same controlled medicine. also it wouldn't hurt to have a talk with his parents. he may get this from them at home.

Answer 10

Ok, well when he does these things, just don't give him what he wants. He will soon notice that no matter what he does, he is not going to get what he wants. He might just want attention, so don't give him it. If it gets to the point that he is destroying things or physically hurting others, you might have to send him to the principal or have a meeting with his parents.

Answer 11

Talk to the parents and find out what may be causing this behaviour.