BP260 Early Childhood Education for Positive Relationships

1. How do you establish positive relationships with children?

 

2. Are all your interactions respectful and responsive? What could you do differently? 

 

3. How do you use the environment as a means to promote children’s pro-social skills and to build relationships with others?

Answers    

1. In order to establish a positive relationship with a child, it is of utmost necessity to focus on the three R’s which are, reflect, respect and relate. For developing a successful positive relationship with children, an adult must generate confidence of security in them by constantly providing them with reliable support. An adult must also help to promote the ideas of self efficiency and the concept of agency in a child. Bestowing a child with affection encourages him or her to develop self esteem from within. An adult must also take the child through channels of reciprocal interaction which will help the child to understand the symbiotic give and take methods of society (Arthur et al. 2018). An adult must also remember to protect the children from the harms that drive the fear centre of a child’s mind. Furthermore, the adult should also encourage a child to sharpen his or her skills regarding anything that may interest him or her. A child must also be imbibed with the sense of respect, in the way that he or she develops a sense of being respected by others as well as being able to respect others. Children must be helped by adults to build the concept of self identity and to create an influence among others who are concomitantly living in the society (Michelson et al. 2013). It is necessary to develop a positive relationship with children as the phenomenon let them socialize as successful individuals. It lets them perceive society as a holistic concept as well as giving them a chance to become one with it.

2. Most of my interactions can be termed as respectful and responsive. I try to observe the non verbal and verbal communication of the children in order to make them feel warm and accepted. I often like to give opportunities for the children to create a lead and let them elaborate and present detailed versions of their own adventures and work. I tend to show genuine interest in their work by constantly asking them to explain minute details to me. It is always followed by recapping, a great way to show the children that their words have been accepted and acknowledged which in turn helps to build their self esteem (Merrell and Gimpel 2014). I also help the children to model their thinking process rationally by sharing one or two anecdotes or experiences which will work as a means of metacognition. Besides, I offer help whenever I feel that any child is struggling to finish a task, thus offering my expertise at the right time. I clarify ideas by reiterating my own ideas about a particular topic and to ensure the input from all the children I always seek for intricate details.  

I do encourage children to think beyond the given channels of finishing the task. However, I have realized that I should offer them proper guidance to develop a sharp critical thinking ability. In order to let them successfully develop the said trait, I must offer them a channel to think in a different direction. I should also direct the children to think about hypothetical situations of what might happen which will, in turn, develop their speculating habits.

3.Pro social skills enrich children to help, to share and to cooperate within the society so as to contribute as a member of the society. To develop a successful set of pro social skills in any child, it is mandatory that the child has been imbibed with the sense of empathy n sympathy for others. It has been seen that the child developed the sense to differentiate between the self and others later in the childhood and only then can feel sympathy for the situation of others (Flook et al. 2015). The classroom environment can be favourable for the child to develop pro social skills as the classmates are the first tier of social peers that he or she has been acquainted with. The child can be introduced to group activities and can be given the BSP or Behaviour Specific Praise so as to motivate them to also appreciate the skills and output of others. A simple appreciation or kind feedback often let the children have a sense of achievement as they feel respected. This helps them to build a sense of self value and self esteem. Besides, the method of positive behavior support can also be incorporated in the classroom which will let the little children be appreciated for the rational and expected behavior that they showcase. This is a wonderful method to teach any child, the difference between wrong and right.

References

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S. and Farmer, S., 2018. Programming and Planning in Early Childhood Settings with Student Resource Access 12 Months by Elizabeth Death, Bronwyn Beecher, Leonie Arthur, Mixed media product, 2014.

Flook, L., Goldberg, S.B., Pinger, L. and Davidson, R.J., 2015. Promoting prosocial behavior and self-regulatory skills in preschool children through a mindfulness-based kindness curriculum. Developmental psychology, 51(1), p.44.

Merrell, K.W. and Gimpel, G., 2014. Social skills of children and adolescents: Conceptualization, assessment, treatment. Psychology Press.

Michelson, L., Sugai, D.P., Wood, R.P. and Kazdin, A.E., 2013. Social skills assessment and training with children: An empirically based handbook. Springer Science & Business Media.