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From: Joan
Date: 30 Jun 1997
Time: 15:30:37
Remote Name: ip5-97.globalink.net
I might try establishing an area in the room that you can direct angry children to go until they calm down. Have a red crayon and some paper avialbel for them to write(draw) an angry letter (picture). This govesw antohter avenue for the child to vent his emotions. This might make discussion easier after your reluctant talker clams down. Try not to give her to much attention while she is in the trows of the tantrum as that will just reiforce type of activity. Our center had a difficult student this semester that got our classroom really thinking about how we could spend more time on positive reinfrcement than on repeated intervention to stop negative behavior. Some of the things we found helpful took place at other times of the day. in circle times or in small group activities. For example we had dicussions on warm fuzzzies versus cold prickles. What kinds of things make us feel good - a warm fuzzy; what kinds of things make us feel bad - a cold prickle. You could make a chart. We made little yarn pom poms Warm fuzzies and had them available to give to anyone we caught in the act of a warm fuzzy. A Bug chart was another activity. Keep a list somewherein the room of things that bug us. Storytelling is antoher techniques we've been using. Take some problem incidents, like biting or tantrums and incorporate them into a "Once Upon A TIME Story" talk about how the story will end. - Another activity we discovered weas "Problem Puppets" - have a set of puppets available that students can play wwith to act out their problems. This may be a tool that can be used with your four year old who will not talk to you. Finally we have started incorporating deep breathing, yoga exercises and guided meditations into our porgram to help teach our children how to get control of their bodies, relax and clam down. I am developing a workshop on these ideas and keep you posted if you are interested in m,ore information. My e-mail is jjava@ioc.net