When Young Children Need Help

This book presents a successful approach for helping children, using observation and reflection to create a comprehensive action plan.

Learn how to reach children who need special help.

Almost anyone who works with 3- to 6-year-olds knows what it feels like to spend time with youngsters who are particularly puzzling or hard to help.When Young Children Need Help examines how early childhood educators can make sense of what is going on for such children and then use that understanding to help promote growth and mastery. Written for child care center staff, family child care providers, preschool teachers, and pre-service teachers, this book can be useful to any adult who wants to learn more about reaching the most troubling children in his or her care.

When Young Children Need Help provides a framework for understanding a range of emotional, behavioral, and developmental challenges. It explores a process through which early childhood teachers and providers can translate their growing understanding of a child’s difficulties into sensible goals for intervention. The author lays out practical strategies that help kids connect and communicate with ease, focus their attention, manage their bodies and their feelings, engage in constructive problem-solving, and experience themselves as successful friends and learners. The book suggests approaches for collaborating with parents and other caregivers and emphasizes that even when a child needs outside services and supports, what goes on in school or care remains central to making progress.

Ranging from the classroom to the playground and back againWhen Young Children Need Help offers its perspectives and strategies through highly engaging stories that bring challenging kids alive in all their quirky uniqueness.

Working Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I. GETTING SPECIFIC BEFORE GETTING TO WORK
Introduction
1. From Reflection to Action: Looking Closely, Thinking Clearly, Intervening Effectively
2. Generating "Maybes": Observing with Depth, Breadth, and an Eye for Surprises
3. Spotlight on Development: Understanding the Building Blocks of Early Childhood Mastery
4. Spotlight on Causation: Considering the "Why's" Behind Worrisome Behavior
5. Developing Child-Specific Portraits: Making Sense as a Foundation for Making Progress
6. Pathways to Growth: Joining Big Picture Thinking with Practical Strategies

Part II. CONNECTION IS KEY
Introduction
7. Spotlight on the Three C's: Connection, Communication, and Cue Responsiveness
8. Getting to Work with Hannah: Helping a Child with Dark Moods and a Dark Past
9. Getting to Work with Hannah, Continued: Seeding the Day with Connection and Other Strategies
10. Getting to Work with Jenny: Helping an Intensely Shy Child
11. One Child is Delayed, The Other Despondent: Helping Children Climb (or Re-Climb) Developmental Ladders
12. When Language is Limited: Helping Two Boys Who Struggle to Communicate

Part III. ADDRESSING PROBLEMS IN SELF-REGULATION
Introduction
13. Getting to Work with Gabrielle: Helping Out When Energy is High and Focus is Low
14. Getting to Work with Brian: Helping an Easily Frustrated Child
15. Getting to Work on “Big Feelings”: Helping Children Who Get Swamped by Anger or Anxiety
16. Spotlight on Parenting: Helping Families Set Effective Expectations at Home

Part IV: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Introduction
17. A Letter About Sam: Helping a Child with Multiple Challenges
18. Successes in the Sandbox: Big Changes Start with Small Steps

Appendices
References
Index