In this follow-up to "Guidance for Every Child," author Dan Gartrell, EdD, expands on the advice broached in that book -- that children need guidance rather than discipline. Guidance is teaching for healthy emotional and social development. On a day-to-day basis as conflicts occur, guidance is teaching children to learn from their…

Never give up on any child. Tying together the theory and developmentally appropriate strategies of child guidance and behavior, this book provides you with best practices for teaching children healthy social-emotional behavior and conflict management. Through current brain research, real-life stories, and a plethora of key concepts and discussion…

Rules are not helpful in the adult-child community. They are usually stated in the negative: "No," "Don't," etc. The way they are worded, adults seem to expect children to break them. Even when they are not totally negative, like "Be nice to your friends," rules have an "or else" moral implication that adults carry around in their heads. When…

This column explores bullying from the viewpoints of the bully and the victim. It recommends an approach that goes beyond immediate follow-up to a broad-based effort that includes holding class meetings, building an encouraging classroom, and modeling inclusive group spirit. The authors cite research and illustrate their view through vignettes.…

Guiding children in finding social acceptance is on of the most important parts of the early childhood teacher's job. Opening the column with an anecdote from a pre-K teacher, Gartrell discusses what teachers can do when children cause conflicts on purpose and how teachers might prevent such conflicts.

Children with only months of life experience and brain development are just beginning to learn social problem solving. No wonder young children frequently make mistakes! Teachers tend to complain about tattling more than any other behavior. To many teachers, tattling is irksome, but there is more to this behavior than meets the eye. In this…

Conflicts happen all the time in early childhood classrooms--and just about everywhere else in life. Conflict management includes the ability to: (1) prevent conflicts from becoming too serious to resolve easily and (2) resolve conflicts peaceably no matter how serious they get. When a third person assists others in resolving a conflict, this is…