How can i handle a child of 5 yrs old after kicking other children in the class several times of the day?

Question

i am doing a childcare course and need to know how can i handle this situation.

a child is kicking the other peers in his class several times. how can react with him? showing him that it is not good?

Answer 1

Try to determine what is making this behavior occur. Is it at a certain time of day? At a certain center? With certain children?  Trying to find an antecedant will help you determine what course of action to take.  Maybe you will find he does it when other children get too close in his personal space for example. Then when he is NOT showing this behavior have a calm private conversation with him about what he can do instead of kicking.  Tell him you are there to help him figure this out if he cannot do it on his own.  Putting a child in time out, in my opinion, leads to nothing but negative feelings it does not teach the child what to do instead, only makes them feel like failures.  Learning how to behave socially is part of the preschool years as much as learning their ABC's.  You would'nt punish a child for not getting those right the first time so why do we punish for learning how to navigate the social world?

Answer 2

Thumbs up to  Karen's answer.  She definitely knows what she is talking about.

In extreme situations I've been known to have an aide shadow a child and intervene before the kicking happens.  But finding out what is exactly going on is necessary.  A 5 year old can comprehend and think through problems.  Discussing this with him when he is not showing the behavior will help.  Note the term DISCUSSING... not lecturing!  Let him do most of the talking...have him tell you what he's feeling, etc.   Give him something more appropiate to do if when gets "angry" (if that's the feeling).  I've had success wotj a notebook.  They can draw and just plain scribble their "anger" out.  You can also find a picture book or tell a story about what happens when we aren't kind to others (they don't want to be our friend).

Answer 3

sit him down and say how would u feel if someone kicked you? and then give him a 3 minute time out for every person he kicked. Then if it keeps happening make it 4 minute etc. And have them say I'm sorry like your parents used to make you.