Social Emotional Skill Building for Young Children Through PBS the Pyramid Model

1. Social Emotional Skill Building for Young ChildrenThrough PBS the Pyramid Model Julia Sayles, LMHC

2. Pyramid Model • Public health, tiered model • Promotion, prevention, intervention • Promote the development of all children • Provides a conceptual framework for a comprehensive array of interventions and approaches

3. The Pyramid Model and Massachusetts • State wide Early Childhood Special Education Social Emotional Learning Initiative/improvement plan • Support social-emotional learning (SEL) through integration of preschool and school-age evidence based practices • Links with PBIS • EEC Program Wide Implementation • PMLCs • Strong family component

4. The Pyramid Model Tertiary Intervention: Few Children Secondary Prevention: Some Children Universal Promotion: All Children

5. Pyramid Model

6. May we all spend the day looking for the goldfish, instead of punishing the shark.

7. Why the emphasis on social emotional skills? Small Group Discussion: What happens when children do not have these skills? • What social emotional skills do children need as they enter school?

8. Common causes of social emotional deficits in young children • Language delays • Cognitive/Developmental delays • Sensory issues • Trauma and chronic stress • Exposure

9. Brain Development Early experiences affect the development of brain architecture, which provides the foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health. The early years are the most active period for establishing neural connections, but new connections can form throughout life and unused connections continue to be pruned. The connections that form early provide either a strong or weak foundation for the connections form later. Source: Harvard Center on the Developing Child

10. Self Regulation 3 Modes of Regulation • Auto-Regulation: Regulating independent of others such as breathing, heart-rate, sucking reflex, foot tapping, etc. • Co-Regulation: Using relationships to either stimulate or calm systems, for example rocking, rubbing a child’s back, bouncing a child on lap, etc. • Self-Regulation: Effective flexible regulating skills built upon the foundation of good co-regulation, such as deep breathing, meditation, counting backwards, etc.

11. What we see when kids are skilled at SELF REGULATION They hit a difficult feeling and: • They go from feeling to THINKING to acting, rather than from feeling to directly acting • Express it and move on • Ask for help • Take a break • Talk themselves down • Find another way to help themselves calm down

12. Crying • Hitting • Kicking • Throwing • Running Away • Screaming • Tantrums Shooting through the Roof Shooting through the RoofandFalling through the Basement • Sad • Withdrawn • Zoned Out • Blank • Falling asleep • Silent • Frozen Falling through the Basement

13. Ability to change and Amount of effort vs Age.

14. The Marshmallow Test

15. We Teach “If a child doesn’t know how to read, we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to swim, we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to multiply, we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to drive, we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to behave, we…… ……teach? ……punish? Why can’t we finish the last sentence as automatically as we do the others?” Tom Herner (NASDE President) Counterpoint 1998, p.2

16. Relationships: The Foundation of the Pyramid

17. Start with the RELATIONSHIP • Relationships are the foundation of everything we do • Build relationships early, don’t wait for a problem • Children learn and develop in the context of relationships. • The importance of INTENTIONALITY • Responsive • Nurturing • Consistent

18. How do challenging behaviors impact relationships?

19. Building Positive Relationships by Making Deposits Maintain a 5:1 (positive to negative) Give attention when the child is engaged in appropriate behaviors

20. It All Adds Up Deposits: • Active Listening • Wait Time • Observation • Mirroring • Self Talk • Parallel Talk • Reflection • Expansion • Modeling Withdrawals: • No • Don’t • Stop • Demands / directions • Using a loud voice • Intimidating request

21. The Benefits! • Influence a child’s emotional, cognitive, and social development • Help children develop secure relationships with other adults • Help children develop good peer relationships • Help reduce the frequency of behavior problems • Help children develop positive self-esteem • Results in higher rates of child engagement

22. Making Deposits: Families How do you make deposits with families? • Are you personally connected to them? • Do they know what is happening in the classroom on a daily basis? • How do you know what is happening at home and how it might affect the child you are teaching? • Do they have information from you for promoting their child’s social emotional development at home?

23. Making Deposits: Teaching Team Why is it important to have a teaching team with good relationships? • To your instruction • To the support of children with challenging behavior

24. High Quality Supportive Environments

25. Classroom Arrangement and Environmental Supports • Physical Design • Environmental Cues • Schedules and Routines • Transitions • Promoting Engagement During Large and Small Group Activities • Simple Rules/Expectations • Ongoing Monitoring and Positive Attention

26. What is This Environment Telling Children to Do?

27. Environmental Cues

28. Task Sequence

29. Create Meaningful and Engaging Learning Areas Stand in center of the room • Is there a clear entry to each center? • Is each center inviting? • Are there enough materials in center? • Is there a system in place for entering and exiting centers? • Are centers and materials/shelves labeled? • Is there a rotation of materials? • Are materials highly engaging? • Are the activities relevant to children’s needs, interests and lives?

30. First Then

31. Environmental Cues with Wiggle Room

32. Visual Guidance Remember, build only to your chin.

33. Visual Guidance Tape on ground cues child to keep his animals on his side so they don’t knock down his friends’ structure.

34. classroom

35. Outside Line Up Environmental visual cues assist children on where to stand in line and where to stop.

36. Individual Schedule

37. Five Minute Velcro Glove Individualized glove with child preference Visual cue paired with auditory cue

38. Expectations Expectations: general ways you want people to act. They will apply to all children and adults across all settings Example Expectations: Be Polite Be Responsible Be Honest Be Friendly Be Respectful Be Safe Be a Team Player Be Peaceful

39. Student Artwork

40. Clear Center Rules and Expectations

41. Library center

42. Setting Limits Acknowledge, Validate & Match Intensity “You are angry, you wanted to play with that.” Communicate the limit (brief, clear, neutral tone). “We are safe , when you can sit on the rug I will Know you are safe” Can be paired with “First Then” First sit then we can play Target an acceptable alternative that meets the function of the behavior. “You are sitting safely on the rug, do you need….”

43. Promoting Play Across the Day

44. Social and Emotional Teaching Strategies • Provides instruction to aid in the development of social skills • Promotes identification and labeling of emotions in self and others • Explores the nature of feelings and the appropriate ways they can be expressed • Models appropriate expressions and label of their own emotions and self-regulation throughout the course of the day • Creates a planned approach for problem-solving processes within the classroom • Promotes children’s individualized emotional regulation that will enhance positive social interactions within the classroom p. 8-12,

45. Scentists Play

46. What skills do you wantchildren to learn and practice during play? • What social emotional skills do you want children to practice during activities • in centers? • outside?

47. Student Artwork 2

48. Friendship Skills • Greeting others • Showing affection • Listening/responding • Playing together • Helping • Encouraging each other • Empathizing • Maintaining interactions (multiple exchanges) • Modeling for peers • Reflecting on interactions • Giving play suggestions (organizers) • Sharing • Taking turns (reciprocity) • Giving Compliments • Understanding how/when to apologize • Initiating and responding to peers: adult proximity

49. What makes exchanges successful? • Social Referencing • Looking • Facial: eye gaze/expression • Physical • Verbal • Listening • Interpreting: tone • Teacher’s Role • Prompts • Verbal • Visual • Physical • Phrase starters How many exchanges makes for a meaningful interaction? Phil Strain and Ted Bovey, NTI 2009

50. Friendship Stencils and Blocks • How could you use “mini friends” to promote nurturing and positive relationships in center activities? • How else might you use these to promote social emotional skills?