Honesty Houle

Guiding Childrens Behavior

#6 Guidance Philosophy
I think the most important thing I learned about guiding childrens
behaviors is that its not patience that it takes to work with young children,
but understanding. There are no bad children, only children with mistaken
behavior. Understanding the developmental level of children will help me
understand the behavior is developmentally appropriate and not an
opposition. Patience tries to control the child and patience will run out
eventually, but understanding based on developmental theory will never run
out.
Guidance means teaching. Guidance is giving children the democratic
life-skills they will use for the rest of their lives. Guidance is teaching children
to solve problems ethically and intelligently. Guidance is teaching children to
be understanding of other peoples feelings and viewpoints. Guidance
teaches children to work cooperatively in groups, with acceptance of human
differences among members.
I believe it is my job as an early childhood teacher to provide the
children I work with an environment set up for them to succeed. My class will
be developmentally appropriate to the children I work with. It will foster
curiosity and support exploration. I will observe the children I work with and
make changes to my environment to fit their individual needs. My curriculum
will be developmentally appropriate and relevant to the childrens lives. I will
get to know the families I work with and their cultures will be represented in
my classroom. I understand that mistaken behaviors most commonly result
from environmental issues.
I understand that mistaken behaviors happen on 3 levels. Level 1 is
experimental mistaken behaviors. These are often the result of inexperience
and are the least severe. Often natural consequences are enough to handle
these types of mistaken behavior. Level 2 is socially influenced mistaken
behavior. These types of behavior usually occur when a child is trying to gain
acceptance. These are learned behavior. By building childrens self-esteem
and social skills, these types of behaviors usually stop. The most severe
level, level 3, is strong-needs mistaken behavior. These mistaken behaviors
often continue over time and are sometimes difficult to handle. Sometimes
these types of behavior can require more serious intervention or IEPs. I will

work collaboratively with families and co-workers to find a plan that works
best for the child in these situations.
I understand that boys and girls learn differently. Boys require lots of
opportunity to be active. Boys need to rough house and play super hero. I
need to allow for the pause state that boy often experience while following
instructions. I will plan curriculum with lots of hands-on sensory play. Setting
my classroom up with the knowledge I have of how boys learn will lessen
mistaken behaviors from them.
Understanding the needs of the children I work with on an individual
level will make me a more intentional teacher. I will observe the
developmental needs of the children and plan activities that promote growth
in the areas needed. I understand that children benefit most when parents
and teachers work as partners. I will have open communication regularly
with parents and care-givers. I will have a welcoming environment that
parents feel comfortable in. I will use on-going assessments to keep parents
informed of their childs developmental level.
I will have an anti-bias classroom. I will help my children learn and
recognize unfairness and do their part to stand up against it. We will be
accepting of human differences and welcome diversity. I will welcome all
children if all abilities into my classroom with open arms and make them feel
a special part of my class.