What is a good positive discipline method for a preschool child with out of control behaviors?

Question

I am a preschool teacher with a class of 12 4 and 5 year-olds. One of my students, a girl, has been exhibiting very aggressive behaviors (kicking, hitting, screaming) towards teachers and other students when she does not get her way. We have tried several dfferent methods (rewards for good behavior, etc.) to subdue this behavior and replace it with more positive ones, but all have backfired. My frustration level with this child is getting to the breaking point, and it is affecting the entire class. Any ideas? (The parents are aware of the behavior and also see it at home.)

Answer 1

Do you know what triggers this behaviour and are the parents doing anything constructive about this behaviour? Are their signs that show she is getting close to this behaviour that you can step in before it starts and possible use distraction of some sort to divert her attention? If her behaviour is extremely out of control have her parents considered taking her to someone who deals in behavioural problems in children and who might be able to give them some good strategies for dealing with this behaviour. Is it behaviour that she has always shown, had since starting preschool, or only recent? Maybe there is some underlying problem and she might not be able to vocalise it so instead acts up. Having a 'contract' between you and the girl could help. There are two contracts. One the behaviour you wish to see and what positive benefit/reward she will receive and the other the behaviour you do not wish to see and the punishment she will receive. Both you and the child 'sign' these and you put them somewhere she can refer to them. At first make them only small steps so she is not expected to achieve too much at once. Otherwise, it might be too daunting for her. Has anyone sat down with her and asked why she feels the need to act like this. Maybe get her to draw a picture of what makes her feel like this or want to act like this or even use dolls/toys to explain. And I know that sometimes young children find it hard to communicate and that adults find it hard to understand all that they are saying and that can be frustrating for everyone, but I sometimes ask my 4year old to associate things with the word I can't understand. Eg big, hot, toy, like…

Answer 2

You've to coordinate with the parents and figure out what to do and what methods BOTH of you will use. Brainstorm with them as to WHY she's exhibiting these behaviors. Remember, the child is only with you for a few hours, the rest she spends with her parents. The methods used should be consistent in school and the home or else it won't work and could possibly get worst.

I think you need an assistant to help you with this girl. Her main job would be similar to a shadow teacher. This way, when your student starts having one of her tantrums, the assistant teacher can stay with her while you stay with the rest of the class.

Most important, be firm in your rules. Try Redirection or maybe you've to change your teaching style. Change your tone of voice, facial and body expression and let her know that you're in control and you're not happy with what she's doing.

You can also invite the parents to sit in so that they can see how she behaves in class. Good luck!

Answer 3

Set boundaries and let the child know what will happen if she acts out. Setting boundaries and giving the child consequences gives the child structure. It is the lack of structure at home and in school that makes her more aggressive. This child feels out of control and she is therefore you need to give her the consequences so that she can learn self-control, she becomes responsible for her behavior.
If she kicks another student, take something she likes to do away. Write it on a piece of paper and read it too her before the incident. Keep things short, maybe she has six bad behaviors but keep the consequences to three so she can remember them.

Your frustration is understandable. It is difficult dealing with one such child, but remember you may be contributing to her aggression because she can feel your emotions. Separate from the child when you feel overwhelmed with frustration. Children like this little girl are very sensitive to adults and to what is going on around them.

Answer 4

Is there an area where she could be separated from the others when she acts out. I take care of 5 kids (home daycare) and I was having problems with one of the kids, she is only 2 but this method really worked with her. Whenever she acted aggressively towards another child I would take her away from the play area and put her in a playpen with nothing to do. It only took a few times for her to realize that she would be alone with no one to play with if she continued so I wonder, if there was a place for this child to be left alone with nothing to do for just a few minutes, maybe it would work.

Answer 5

Have you tried having other students talk to her? We had a little boy who was very aggressive and would get very upset if something didn't go his way. We talked about it at class meeting in a general format ("How do you feel when things don't go your way? What do you do about it?") This gave the child a few other options of ways he could appropriately express himself. Also, when he hit a child, we had that child talk about how s/he felt. One child said "When you hit me, I don't want to play with you anymore". After that, it was as if you could see him mentally replaying those words everytime he was about to lash out. He still had a few incidences here and there, but for the most part we saw a big change.

Try giving her options of better ways to express herself. If she's upset, she can draw a picture of it, she can play a more physical game, she can do jumping jacks, she can find a place to be alone until she feels able to control her body, etc. Be sure you're giving her options of what she CAN do.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Redirection is the only safe way to deal with a behavior problem.
You can't restrain them (unless you've been taught the proper way). and unless you have the staff to do one on one she eventually should be removed from your program.
We had a child with a similar circumstance, and prepared the parents that if an evaluation, therapy and or change in her behavior did not occur she would have to be removed.
You can not jepardize 11 other children and risk an injury to them
unless your program is county, state or federally run you do not have the background to deal with a problem such as this.
Yes, it is a behavior problem brought on by a medical condition, it is that condition that warrents a further look.
Good luck to you, our child was eventuallly removed, the risk was to great.

Answer 7

This child needs you to remove her from the situation.She knows she gets what she wants when she acts this way.she needs to be removed and not heared.just pick her up and do what the state allows to control her.She is not a medical problem but this is brought or taught at her home.A lot of times parents feel sorry for their children and the child is wrecked.Maybe a walk to the bathroom she cant get her way .She needs to know that.

Answer 8

The child needs to be evaluated by a child behavior specialist. She may need to be on medication or she may need to be in special education. It is not fair to the other students to subject them to her behavior.

Answer 9

You might want to check into psr (psycho social rehabilitation ). i have been in your situation and i know it's hard. Have you ever heard of Love and Logic. It's a great program. They have books and seminars, see what kind of advice you can get with that.

Answer 10

First than all I'll talk to the parents of that little girl tha