Challenging Behavior: Reveal the Meaning
Children express their needs through words, facial expressions, body language, and behavior. When communication is sent in the form of challenging behavior, understanding the message can be difficult. Participants will explore the ways children speak to us through behavior and will examine the role teachers play in the two-way conversation. Participants will learn how to interpret children's behavior, how to effectively teach social skills, how to develop an environment that supports cooperative and meaningful learning, and how to build partnerships with families. This is a 3-hour course worth 0.3 CEUs.
Watch this short video to learn more about this class.
Children express their needs through words, facial expressions, body language, and behavior. When communication is sent in the form of challenging behavior, understanding the message can be difficult. Participants will explore the ways children speak to us through behavior and will examine the role teachers play in the two-way conversation. Participants will learn how to interpret children's behavior, how to effectively teach social skills, how to develop an environment that supports cooperative and meaningful learning, and how to build partnerships with families. This is a 3-hour course worth 0.3 CEUs.
This course can be utilized to meet the training requirements to earn or renew your Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. Course content is aligned with the CDA Subject Area 3: Supporting children’s social and emotional development.
- Guidance
- Child Development
Approved for 0.3 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) in all 50 states.
This course is approved for CEUs in every state. It is also approved for state training hours in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.
All teachers and administrators of children birth to age 5.
“My action plan is to use all the strategies that were given in this very meaningful course. First to see behavior as a child's communication tool would be so helpful to me as a teacher. To identify that behavior as one of three things would teach me to be more patient and look at our classroom dynamics differently. Although I feel our environment is one of my strengths, I can still change specific things to help with behavior. Specifically, I will use the HOMES scale to rate our activities and improve upon them to ensure more active learning. I believe the kids in my class thrive on active learning so I will use this to make our class better.”
-Emily V., IN, 2021
“I'm going to try understand what a student with challenging behavior needs. I think the communication pyramid is helpful in understanding why a child is acting out… The information I'm most excited to implement is the positive ways to discipline and avoid the negative. I am guilty of many negative tactics including "'ime out' and 'ultimatums.' I love the positive suggestions on dealing with negative behavior.”
-Christine S., UT, 2021