www.inclusivechildcare.org || Concordia University, College of Education
Cindy Croft, Director || croft@csp.edu || 651.603.6265
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CICC E-News, Issue #2. September 2007
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Consultant’s Response to Inclusion Q & A Question
Consultant’s Response:
Some questions you may want to ask the child’s Mom (or perhaps you already have) include:
- Was the child examined by a physician in an attempt to discern if any abuse had occurred?
- Did she display these social/emotional and developmental concerns before the event in her last child care occurred or following the event?
- How has she typically reacted to change?
- Are there any available records from her prior child care center such as: teacher’s observation notes or conference records? Are there any reports?
- Does she have contact with any of the children she was close to in the previous child care?
Whether or not she herself experienced abuse, she still experienced a huge change in her life. She had to leave her child care, her teachers, and friends. Generally when children experience major changes in their lives, they really need structure, routine, and predictability in order for them to regain a sense of security and trust. A predictable daily schedule and routine during her time with you would be really great. One way to promote and assure children of what is going to happen next is to provide them with a visual daily schedule.
Some great (and free) resources include:
www.do2learn.com
images.google.com
www.usevisualstraegies.com
www.angelfire.com/pa5/as/boardmakerfiles.html
If there will be changes in the schedule or routine it is important to let her know prior to the change. Other things that can be done to provide predictability and sameness are to sing some of the same songs each day. These songs might be related to clean-up time, group time, story time, meal time or any other part of the day. You could play the same calming music at nap/rest time each day. Greeting the children in the same way each day and having departure time the same as possible each day also promote a sense of consistency.
Since she has experienced a major change by starting a new child care, she may need to have some opportunities to make choices. Being able to make choices gives us the feeling of having some control. The choices could be as simple as "Do you want to read this story or the other story?" or "Do you want to use the red marker or the blue marker?" Giving her a choice between two things allows her the opportunity to make a choice, but not be overwhelmed.
Although it can be difficult, she may need more attention than some of the other children. She really needs to know that the adults in her life are going to continue to protect her. It might be helpful to schedule a time each day in which the two of you do something together or perhaps she can be a special helper. One of the resources I read talked about the fact that traumatized children need "emotional glue." They need to know that they will be safe, protected, and learn how to identify, express, and manage their emotions. Doing some themes and activities around recognizing emotions and appropriate ways to express might be really helpful. A website that has some great ideas is www.vanderbilt.educsefel. This is The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. You will find some activity and game ideas in the "resources" section. There are also modules that can be used for training and "What Works Briefs" that provide ideas and resources.
The Zero to Three website also has some great information regarding children and trauma. The address is www.zerotothree.org. Although she is not a toddler the information is still pertinent and educational for you.
Articles I found helpful include: What are the Signs and Symptoms of Trauma in Young Children?, Seeking Additional Help, and Love, Learning, and Routines. Another wonderful article I discovered is titled Bonding and Attachment in Maltreated Children - How You Can Help. This article can be found at: http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/bruceperry/index.htm. The information is very pertinent to your situation. A list of articles written by Dr. Bruce Perry can be found at: http://home.earthlink.net/~hopefull/TC_bruceperry.htm.
Another website to explore is www.childtrauma.org. When reviewing these articles it is important to focus on the information that can be helpful to the child and resist the inclination to diagnose.
It is important to know if her social/emotional development and behavior was of concern in her prior child care experience. Perhaps some of these behaviors existed before the event occurred. So it might be helpful to get any information that the child’s Mom has from conferences, etc. This information might indicate a need for further developmental screening and evaluation. Another resource to investigate is early childhood screening. In Minnesota, all children must go through a screening process to look at readiness for school before beginning kindergarten. This screening sometimes leads to further more formal evaluation and might be another avenue to pursue in getting the child some helpful services.
It may or may not be helpful, but perhaps the child might enjoy having a play date or two with a special friend(s) from her previous child care. I’m sure it is difficult for her to understand why she doesn’t see these friends anymore.
I’m glad to hear that the child’s Mom has scheduled an appointment with a mental health professional for her child. It is amazing how long it sometimes takes to get an appointment to see someone. In the meantime, I hope some of this information is helpful to you and her Mom. I do understand the concern about her not going to kindergarten next year. I tend to come from the philosophy that the most important thing is that she can experience success when she does start school. This may be possible next year with the right supports. She may need another year to mature socially and emotionally so she can be successful learning and developing relationships with her peers.
Best of luck to you! Please let me know if you have further questions or would like more information. Thank you for your concern and dedication to helping this child in your care.