Originally Posted by Lizette:
I have twins at my daycare and the little girl is one of my better kids. Her brother seems to not like to be told what to do. He yells, spits, kicks, and hit the staff this has happened twice. The mother says that he NEVER acts like that at home. Then she tells us that she had to go through the same thing with his older brother. So she had just contradicted herself and then later on the Dad tells me that the little boy will test his limits. My question is how would y'all handle this family?
Parents almost always say the child doesn't do X at home.
They aren't always lying....the home and the child care environments are vastly different and create a different level of behavior for everyone.
I would try to spend some time figuring out WHY the boy hits, spits, kicks etc... He may be frustrated, tired, hungry, angry, hurt etc.... who knows....but finding the root of the behavior almost always leads to finding the answer or cure for the behaviors.
Depending on his age, I might not tolerate the aggressive and physical behaviors but I would definitely start looking closely at why they are happening and make some changes to prevent him from needing to resort to using that type of negative behavior. He needs to be taught the appropriate response to his feelings and frustrations.
You mention he doesn't like to be told what to do...why? Is he in the middle of playing something when told to stop and clean up? He may need a better transition routine so he has a warning that it will be time to clean up soon.
Is he feeling helpless or without control and acting up (not listening to authority)? If so, give him some choices... "Do you want to pick up the blocks or the cars? Johnny will pick up the other one." Allow him to have some control over aspects of his day.
Is he missing his mom/dad?
There are many reasons why a child acts up but the answer is almost always in the root of why they are acting up.
