Exploring Early Childhood

Core C- Promoting Positive Behaviour

Course Description

This component of the core is designed to help students develop an understanding of normal child

behaviour at different stages of development. Students then become familiar with a range of

strategies, such as encouragement of self-control for young children, which can be used to promote

positive behaviours of, and interactions with, young children. This component of the core aims to
increase awareness of expectations relating to interactions with young children, whether in a home

setting or an early childhood service, with specific reference to legal expectations.

Core C- Promoting Positive Behaviour

Week Topics to be Covered

1 Developing Realistic Expectations of Young Children

● the image of the perfect child
● positive and negative behaviour

2 Age Appropriate Behaviour and Its Link to Child Growth and Development for:
● an infant
● a toddler
● a preschooler
● a child in the early years of school

3 Positive Strategies for Interacting with Young Children

● listening to young children
● talking to young children
● effective uses of praise

4 Behaviour Management
● discipline strategies
● the authoritative approach
● strategies to resolve group conflict

5 Fostering Autonomy and Independence

● self-regulation and self-control
● setting limits

6 Responsibilities and Obligations When with Young Children

● The Child Care and Protection Act 1987
● Family Law Act
● Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998

Contemporary Issue Investigation

7 ● medical management of behaviour
● trends in parenting styles and behaviour relates to child behaviour management
● social skills development in young children
● gender issues and behaviour management
 8 Contemporary Issue (continued)

9 Exam Revision

10 Exam Revision

Core C Glossary:
Activity 1: use the missing words below and match them to the correct definition. Once completed, use
your personal device to search for at least three synonyms for each word.
Term Definition Synonyms

Discipline The capacity to make informed decisions with regulation

self-control and free from external decisions.

Egocentric Thinking only of oneself

independance Not relying on others

Realistic Practical idea of what can be achieved or expected.

Capable of being touched or felt

Tangible

Autonomy The ability to learn routines and good habits

Reinforce Strengthening or providing support to change or

encourage a particular behaviour

Sanctions Threatened penalties for disobeying the rules

Demanding that people obey completely and

Authoritarian refusing to allow them freedom to act as they wish

Accepting or allowing what happens without

Passive resistance
Assertive The ability to speak up for yourself in a calm and
respectful way.

Add your own words

here!! :)

Egocentric Reinforce Authoritarian

Tangible Discipline Independence
Autonomy Sanctions Realistic
Passive Assertive

Realistic Expectations of young Children

Activity 2: Make a brainstorm around the heading ‘What is the Perfect Child’ with anything you
can think of.

What is the Perfect Child?

Today there is a lot of pressure on parents to be perfect and to raise the perfect child.

There are many books, websites and programs that promise parents that if they follow

their advice their child will be the brightest and the best. However, we need to remember

that neither parents nor children are perfect and that they will fail at some point, may make

bad choices or do something we shouldn’t. Sometimes parents have unrealistic

expectations and may react to negative behaviour with “you should know better”, but often

the child doesn’t because they don’t have the experience to know what to do in a situation

if they have never been taught what to do. Children are humans in a process of learning.

Parents need to guide and instruct them, but also realise that sometimes they will act their

age and show their imperfectness.

Positive Behaviour

Positive behaviours are learnt over time. Children learn these behaviours through

interacting with others, experiencing effective behaviour management and by developing

independence.

Activity 3: Complete the text by filling in the missing words in the correct order.

share courage Patience achieve

feelings think deceiving take-turns Honesty
explain honest listening Respect resilient
give-back charitable naturally Generosity

………………. for self and others is a fundamental aspect of desired behaviour in our society.

In order to ………………. this, children need to be able to ……………… about others and their

…………………… and needs. This means that children need to be able to …………….,

………………….. , listen to others and be courteous and helpful. Children will learn this

behavior from how they are treated by parents and other carers.
……………….. and truthfulness make children reliable. This behaviour is described as not

hiding the truth or ………………………. someone, not breaking the rules or cheating, not taking

something that isn’t theirs and other actions that a child might hide because it is against

what he/she knows is right. Parents need to make it safe for children to be …………….. ,

remembering that it takes …………………… to tell the truth. Let the child know how much you

appreciate this behaviour and explain why.

……………….. learning how to wait for the right time for things, children can develop the

ability to think through and solve problems. It leads to children being less impulsive and

more …………………… and calm. To teach this behaviour parents should refrain from

snapping impatiently when a child asks for something or interrupts them, and instead

…………………. That he/she may need to wait or that it could take some time before what

he/she wants can be done. By ……………………. carefully when a child is talking and giving full

attention even when they are busy, provides good role modelling of this behaviour for their

child.

………………. is about giving without expecting anything in return. An example of this

behaviour is sharing belongings with their siblings and peers. This behaviour may not come

…………………… for some children, while others are happy to share at a young age. Many

times parents and other adults will have to teach children about the need to ……………………..

to the community, provide for others, share what they have and act …………………………….
Negative Behaviour:

It is normal for children to behave badly or be difficult at times. Children tend to show

negative behaviors for different reasons.

Activity 3: Complete the text by filling in the missing words in the correct order.

frustration challenging centre name-calling

praise encouraged swearing Attention-seeking
unhappiness deliberately fear permission
Aggressive stealing attention ignore

………………………….. behaviour is quite common, especially in children aged 1-3 years old.

They like to be ………………… of attention and feel important. Attention seeking is shown in

many ways, including refusing to eat, screaming, having temper tantrums, …………………….

instructions or answering back. In most cases it is best to ……………………. the behaviour

unless it is dangerous and give plenty of ………………….. when they show positive behaviour.

……………………. behaviour, includes biting, hitting, kicking and throwing objects that children

can display towards their environment and other people. This behaviour can be a sign of

…………………. , anger or ……………………… and it is important that adults stay calm yet firm

when dealing with this behaviour. Adults must ensure that they find out what caused the

behaviour and make it clear that it is unacceptable.

Inappropriate remarks, such as ……………………… and ……………………….. are also negative

behaviours. Often young children just repeat what she or he has overheard and knows that

the word got the speaker ……………………. But don’t understand what the word means.

Selective deafness usually works well in this situation. The adult may not ‘hear’ the

inappropriate remark, but responds positively to a positive one. However, older children
may …………………….. make a remark to hurt others. In these situations adults must ask the

child about the remark and explain why it is hurtful and wrong.

Telling lies is negative behaviour that may occur because of …………… , to avoid

responsibility or for attention. A young child’s fantasies are different from telling lies

because they don’t understand the difference between what is real and what is a fantasy.

This creative stage of development should be ……………………….. . By about 4 years old, most

children can tell the difference between reality and fantasy but may still tell ‘fibs’. Parents

should treat lying sensitively and truthfulness develops over time.

…………….. Is not usually a problem in young children, but does occur in school-aged

children. Young children have a natural desire to take what they want and must learn that

they can’t take another’s belongings without …………………….. . Parents can model positive

behaviour by being honest in their daily dealings, rejecting attitudes such as, ‘finders

keepers’ and respecting others possessions.

If children show negative behaviour, the adult should make clear that it is the behavior that

is not pleasing, NOT the child. Words like ‘naughty’ and ‘bad’ should be avoided , as some

children come to believe that they were born that way and that they will never be ‘good’.

Each new situation with children should be started fresh, with children not being reminded

of past failures. For example, greeting children with “I hope you’ll behave better today”

contains a hidden message of “I am expecting you to behave badly again and have no hope

for you to improve”.

Activity 4: Read the following article to answer the questions provided below.

The "Perfect" Child

The perfect kid will never exist, so give your kids a fair shot at happiness anyways.

To every parent who’s ever wished their kids could be perfect, could be more like they wanted or more
like their friend’s kids: the perfect kid does not exist. But a happy kid does.

Growing up, it was easy to convince other parents that I was the perfect kid. I got good grades, was
courteous, and had gotten my “you can trust me” smile down to a tee. Parents consistently told me they
wanted their kids to be more like me (which, by the way, please never do that, it’s ridiculously harmful
and causes resentment between the kids). It was a running joke among my friends that I was their
parent’s “favorite”. My senior superlative? Best to take home to your parents, even though I had never
had a boyfriend.

I used to take pride in the label of convincing adults I was perfect, but now when I get those type of
comments I give them an awkward smile and try to turn the conversation back to their own kids. I’m so
far from perfect; I’m well-rounded at best. But, that’s not my own doing; it’s that of my parents. Every kid
has their own inclinations, of course, but it’s up to the parents to let them follow those leads. My parents
never once compared me to my peers, never inquired as to why I couldn’t be more like them. They built
me up based on the things I was good at. They listened to my opinions, valuing it as they would that of a
fellow adult. They allowed me to follow my crazy ambitions, teaching my how to use Microsoft Word
when I wanted to start a magazine when I was 8. And good thing they did, because here I am, working
toward my journalism degree and writing for three different publications.

A story that has really stuck with me about this topic is something that happened to me over fall break. I
went back home and got my hair done with the same hairstylist I’ve had since I was in the 6th grade. As I
was sitting there, getting my hair dyed purple with my mom’s money and support, a woman walked in
with her teenage daughter. The woman kept touching the girl’s hair, gesturing intensely and detailing
what her daughter “wanted” done. It made me uncomfortable enough that she was speaking for her
daughter, but then as the daughter was being led away to get her hair washed, the mom shouted out,
“Don’t listen to her, I know what she wants!”

This was a scene similar to ones I had seen multiple times growing up, but not something my parents had
ever done to me. When I was 12 I was convinced that cutting my hair really short was a great idea; my
mom knew it wasn’t (she ended up being right, as she usually was), but she let me do it anyway. In this
small act, she gave me the two most important things you can give a child-independence and the
realization that their voice matters.
You can’t have the “perfect” child, they simply don’t exist, because perfection is only something parents
can try to make happen, not something that can genuinely be found. But you won’t even have a happy
child if you don’t give them a chance.

1. Why was Angelica called the ‘perfect kid’ growing up?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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2. Explain Angelica’s views on her upbringing and her parents.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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3. Why does Angelica think it is important to give children a chance?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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 Activity 5: For each of the following situations below, identify the type of behaviour (by using the

cloze passage text above), suggest reasons why the child is acting in this way and propose

strategies to deal with this behaviour.

Situation Type of Reasons why? Strategies

Behaviour

3 year old Eloise tells her

mother that she has lost her
teddy when she has actually
hidden it.

4 year old Zhao throws

himself on the floor and
screams when his
grandmother won’t buy him
a wind-up car at the shop.

3 year old Alana calls

another child at daycare
“fatty”

2 and a half year old

Shannon bites her twin
sister, Jo-Ellen, who won’t
share the yellow crayon with
her.

Please upload your completed workbook to Google Classroom via the assignment submission
portal located in Core C.