1 Reflection on Challenging Situations EC311 EEC3011 Empowering Contemporary Families Kiersten Waller Rasmussen College Jamie Wendt 18 December 2020 2 Reflection on Challenging Situations Scenario Justin is a four year old child who lives with his mom and has been attending the local preschool center intermittently for approximately three months He has been released from a previous preschool center due to his negative behavior Justin has a hard time following directions and often becomes angry and physical towards his teachers and classmates His mom is overwhelmed being a single parent she does not know how to make Justin behave at preschool Reflection Steps I would take to addressing Justin s family s situation would be first to make an initial response of showing compassions towards the family s situation This is important because in order to help the mother seek the support that Justin needs it is important that I gain her trust and that she genuinely knows I care about her situation and how she is feeling Once I achieve this I would be able to address the short and long term goals of this family I express my support to her by explaining how difficult it must be to be a single parent and that she should not feel like she has to do it all on her own Justin s teachers program and educators are here to support both her and Justin in any way that will make this transition the easiest and make these challenging behaviors subside I would address the short and long term needs of the family by addressing each difficulty and problem individually For example Justin was released from his previous preschool center due to negative behavior so there may a big chance that this mother is afraid of our program also doing this In order to prevent this I would explain to this parent how we address challenging behaviors and respond to these behaviors as a program meaning the policies we have in place concerning expulsion I would continue to explain that we will document Justin s behavior over time If we feel there is a pattern of behavior that cannot be addressed in our setting or it comes to being a safety issue she will be notified weeks prior However that this would be very last resort for our program to do so if she was opened to 3 helping and supporting Justin at both home and school Regarding Justin becoming angry and physical towards classmates I would explain to her that often for a child a new setting can be just what a child needs to help his social and emotional development We will use positive guidance strategies in the classroom to help him address his struggling and challenging behaviors that she has seen previously and will document anything we see that concerns us I would explain to her what challenging behaviors are and how they are addressed Often challenging behaviors are present because a child is trying to communicate something and this is the way they exhibit this behavior It can also mean that there are other underlying problems disorders or issues that the child needs more support for Once we can identify Justin s patterns of behavior and what is triggering is anger we will be able to further help support and identify where this anger is coming from In the meantime we have ways of handling challenging behaviors in the classroom Trying to subside challenging behaviors does not mean we are only guiding the child when these behaviors are exhibiting We are redirecting behaviors throughout the entire school day to provide this child with the consistency they need to be successful This all includes setting clear rules predictable routines and positive warm and welcoming interactions in the classroom This is where I would provide Justin s mother with resources I would specifically refer her to early intervention service This is because should behaviors ensue it is most important for a child to get evaluated at the youngest age possible to determine whether these are behavioral problems developmental problems or directly related with life long disorders that may seek further treatment Evaluation services will not only support her as a mother but they will also provide her other resources that will help her in her struggles with Justin and her lack of support