Shakin Bones Time...Leo Topin wrote a quote that I keep with me everyday. “When a child is placed in failure experiences he/she will do anything to avoid it. Even if that means getting hurt or hurting someone else. Failure adds so much stress to the brain.” When challenging situations occur with children this reminds me to look at what I might be doing to cause failure and change what I am doing. Here are some examples of what I have observed in settings that might cause failure.
Competition (“lets see who can pick up the fastest”)
Standing in lines (invites the child to push the one in front of him/her)
Waiting for my turn (waiting is very difficult for young children)
Asking children to share (not appropriate for young children)
Expecting children to act like little adults (they are children, we have to remind ourselves of this)
It is important to take a look at what we are expecting from young children. You don’t want to be the cause of a child feeling failure.
