pgs11-20
Session 3
Characteristics of Children living
in Multistressed Environments 
Overview for Trainers 

Objectives

Materials
Agenda
I. Discussion of Session 2 Follow-Up Activities (10 minutes)

Use the discussion to reinforce the following:

Answer questions and/or address participants' concerns before beginning the discussion.

II. Discussion Topics and Activities

A. How Children Are Affected by Living in Multistressed Environments (35 minutes)

As you lead a discussion on how children are affected by high levels of stress, encourage participants to share their own thoughts and feelings about children's home and community environments. Some participants can particularly gain from an opportunity to vent frustration and anger towards families experiencing stress. For some individuals it may be a necessary step in learning to recognize the many stresses families face, and learning to accept children and families.

As you review the examples of classroom behaviors that might be exhibited by children living in multistressed environments, ask participants to share their own experiences working with children who exhibit behaviors similar to the ones in the examples. The examples of children's behaviors and teachers' responses are provided as "discussion starters." As you review the examples, you may think, "These sound like typical preschool children, not children who are affected by stress." It is true that typical preschool children may behave in these ways at times, however, a highly stressed child is likely to exhibit several of these behaviors, day after day, and for long periods of tune.

The examples show a teacher's response within a classroom setting. The teacher would also consult with other classroom team members and component coordinators to address the child's needs.

End this segment of the training by explaining that the behaviors described in the examples might be due to a variety of stresses including: exposure to violence, child abuse or neglect, homelessness, and so on. Children do not respond to stress in the same ways that adults do. They may develop coping mechanisms that make it difficult to play and make friends with other children. Regardless of the cause of the stress, what children need most is a safe, supportive environment, including caring adults. They need many opportunities to play because play helps them cope with stress and develop friendships. Session 6 will discuss ways to help individual children cope with stress.

B. How Children Develop Self-Esteem (10 minutes)

Because self-esteem is important for sound development and learning, classroom teams need to understand how children develop a sense of self. During this discussion encourage participants to share examples from their own experiences of how children develop self-esteem.

C. Helping Children Learn to Trust (10 minutes)

Explain that children begin developing trust when they learn to rely on an adult such as a parent, caretaker, or teacher. Their feelings of trust grow as they develop friendships with other children. A once withdrawn child may begin acting out as she begins to develop trust. While staff may be frustrated and confused, the child is making progress. A newly developed sense of trust allows her to test the rules and boundaries of the classroom. Classroom teams need to continue supporting the child so she will learn that adults will continue to care for her even when she misbehaves.

Ask participants to offer examples of how they help children develop and use self-help skills and how they help children who need to relax and explore their interests and skills.

E. Helping Children Develop In Other Domains (10 minutes)

Ask participants to share examples of what they do to promote cognitive and physical development.

F. Conducting Observations to Get to Know Individual Children (30 minutes)

Begin this training segment by reviewing the purposes of observation and suggested strategies for recording observation notes. (The amount of time you spend on this segment will depend on the skill levels of participants.) The bibliography in the Introduction for Trainers includes several resources on observing children's development.

Next, ask classroom teams to think of a child they would like to know more about. Individual team members will use Handout 3: Getting to Know an Individual Child (Part 1) to record what they already know about the child. (They will observe this child to learn more about his or her development as a follow-up activity for this session.) After reviewing this information ask classroom teams to discuss with each other what they have recorded on the handout. Are their responses similar or very different? What can they learn from each other about an individual child?

Explain that there are many more suggestions for meeting the needs of children who live in multistressed environments during the rest of these sessions. Note that as children grow and mature-gain self-esteem, use a variety of cognitive abilities, practice newly acquired motor skills-they are challenged. This challenge creates stress-the kind of stress that we normally think of as healthy. Children who live in multistressed environments need help from classroom teams to learn ways to cope with stress. How to provide this support will be discussed throughout these sessions.

III. Closing (5 minutes)

Session 4
The Learning Environment 
Overview for Trainers 

Objectives

This session will enable participants to:

Materials and Equipment
 
Agenda
I. Discussion of Session 3 Follow-Up Activities (10 minutes)

Use the discussion to reinforce the following:

Answer questions and/or address participants' concerns before beginning the discussion.

II. Discussion Topics and Activities

A. Supportive Head Start Environments (1 hour)

Lead a discussion on the characteristics of classroom environments that can help reduce children's stress. As you review each characteristic, ask participants to suggest ways they could adapt their indoor and outdoor environments. Remind participants that developmentally appropriate programs are individualized to respond to all children's skills, needs, and interests. In addition, developmentally appropriate programs adhere to Head Start's multicultural principles. The bulleted items in Reading 4: The Learning Environment are suggestions that may work in your program.

B. Changing the Environment to Meet a Child's Needs (45 minutes)

Handout 4: Adapting the Environment, is used for this activity. Ask classroom teams to focus on one area of the environment-for example, blocks, outdoors, dramatic play, library, sand and water-and list the toys, materials, and equipment located there.

Next, teams should focus on a child in the room who needs help to get positively involved in this area. The child might be one who is withdrawn and seldom gets involved with materials and activities. The child might have a short attention span, be very disruptive, or be over-whelmed by the area. Teams will discuss what this child might need to benefit from the area.

When teams have completed their plans, ask them to share their ideas with the other participants. Discuss the importance of making changes gradually, over time, so that children won't be overwhelmed by too many changes at once.

III. Closing (5 minutes)

Session 5
The Daily Schedule, Routines, and Transitions 
Overview for Trainers 

Objectives

This session will enable participants to:

Materials and Equipment
Agenda

I. Discussion of Session 4 Follow-Up Activities (10 minutes)

As you discuss the Session 4 Follow-Up Activities, reinforce the following:

Answer questions and/or address participants' concerns before beginning the discussion.

II. Discussion Topics and Activities

A. Handling Disruptions in Our Lives (15 minutes)

Ask participants to think about a time during the past week when their schedules, routines, or transitions were disrupted and write down what happened, how they felt, and how they handled it. If needed, you can use the examples provided as prompters.

Draw three columns on a flip chart: What Happened?, How Did I Feel?, and How Did I Handle It? Ask participants to volunteer to share their responses to these three questions.

Ask participants what they do to minimize the stress brought on by disruptions. Do they make changes to avoid them in the future?

Next, ask participants to share examples from their work of how different children might respond when their home or classroom schedules, routines, or transitions are disrupted. If participants can't think of any examples, you can use the questions in the reading to stimulate discussion or make up some of your own.

Explain that disruptions to the daily schedule, routines, and transitions can be very disturbing for children who live in multistressed environments because they tend to have great needs for consistency and predictability in their lives. It is important to understand these needs and anticipate and plan for the times when children may have difficulty coping with changes in the day's events.

B. The Daily Schedule (20 minutes)

Review the purpose of the daily schedule and the characteristics of a well-planned schedule that supports children. You may want to write these characteristics on a flip chart.

Spend a few minutes discussing why large group activities can be particularly stressful for some children. Ask teams to describe what happens in their classrooms when children are gathered in a large group. Encourage them to plan daily schedules that allow children to be in small groups for most of the day.

Also, emphasize how important it is for children to have lots of time to play. For children with high levels of stress, play can be an important outlet and a way to try to make sense of what is going on in their lives.

Ask classroom teams to share with the group their own daily schedules, as recorded on flip chart paper. (This was a Session 4 Follow-Up Assignment.) Each team should discuss the following:

C. Routines (20 minutes)

Summarize what children gain from participating in routines and why it is important to handle them thoughtfully. You can use the following discussion questions or make up your own:

Use brainstorming to come up with some suggestions that classroom teams can use to help children during routines. Record these on a flip chart. You can use the suggestions in the reading as prompters or add them to the list if they aren't generated by participants.

D. Transitions (20 minutes)

Summarize why children who live in multistressed environments may need extra attention during transitions from one activity to the next. You can use the following discussion questions or make up your own:

Use brainstorming to come up with some suggestions that classroom teams can use to help children during transitions. Record these on a flip chart. You can use the suggestions in the reading as prompters or add them to the list if they aren't generated by participants.

E. Handling Routines and Transitions (30 minutes)

Handout 5-1: Handling Routines and Transitions describes six situations in which children have difficulty handling transitions. Divide the participants into small groups (3 or 6 per group, depending on how many participants are in attendance) and assign each group 1 or 2 situations. Ask the small groups to read and discuss the situations and develop strategies to help the children.

At the end of the discussion you can distribute Handout 5-2: Suggestions for Handling Routines and Transitions which includes some suggested strategies. These may repeat or be in addition to the strategies developed by the small groups. Discuss any new suggestions and determine whether they could be used in your program.

III. Closing (5 minutes)

Session 6
Helping Children Cope with Stress 
Overview for Trainers 

Objectives.

This session will enable participants to:

· Help children develop acceptable coping skills.
· Use positive guidance techniques to help children learn self-discipline.
· Analyze the reasons for children's behavior.
· Develop strategies for handling children's challenging behaviors.

Materials and Equipment

Agenda
I. Discussion of Session 5 Follow-Up Activities (10 minutes)

Use the discussion to reinforce the following:

Answer questions and/or address participants' concerns before beginning the discussion.

II. Discussion Topics and Activities

A. Helping Individual Children Cope with Stress (30 minutes)

Use a flip chart to record examples of the kinds of stress all children have to cope with and the kinds of stress that affect children who live in multistressed environments. Refer back to your earlier discussions of this topic in Session 3. Discuss the following:

Next, review the important principles related to helping children learn to cope included in the reading (page 2-3) and record them on the flip chart. Then ask classroom teams to work together to come up with examples from their own classrooms of when they applied these principles. Ask classroom teams to share their examples.

Distribute Handout 6-1: Helping Orlando Learn to Cope. Ask participants to work in pairs to read and discuss this example of how a teacher helped a child learn to use appropriate coping skills. With the full group discuss the following:

Review the information in the reading about how teachers model coping skills. As you discuss each example, ask the group for examples of modeling this coping skill.

B. The Reasons for Children's Behavior (20 minutes)

In this activity, classroom teams will work together to analyze what children might be trying to communicate through their behavior. First, teams will read the vignette on Handout 6-2: The Meaning Behind Children's Behavior, and answer the questions that follow. Next, they will describe a behavior of a child in their class and analyze possible reasons for this child's behavior.

Ask participants to share what they think are the reasons for Janine's behavior. Reasons might include the following:

Discuss what participants might do to help Janine cope with the situation. Ask participants to share their examples of children's behavior and what children may be trying to communicate.

C. Using Positive Guidance to Promote Self-Discipline (30 minutes)

In this discussion, emphasize that effective discipline helps children develop self discipline, is individualized, and is based on realistic expectations for children's behavior.

As you review the positive guidance techniques described in the reading, ask participants to provide examples of when they used the technique or a similar one and how a child responded. Encourage participants to share their own ideas for positive guidance.

After leading a discussion on ways to handle challenging behaviors, ask participants to work in four small groups to discuss challenging behaviors and to generate strategies for addressing them. Participants might discuss:

Ask each group to share their strategies. You can use the information in the reading to summarize these discussions.

III. Closing (5 minutes)

Session 7
Supporting Parents 
Overview for Trainers 

Objectives

This session will enable participants to:

· Describe how parents are involved in the Head Start program.
· Implement strategies for supporting parents.
· Accept children and families without passing judgment.

Materials and Equipment

Agenda

I. Discussion of Session 6 Follow-Up Activities (10 minutes)

As you discuss the Session 6 Follow-Up Activities, reinforce the following:

Answer questions and/or address participants' concerns before beginning the discussion.

II. Discussion Topics and Activities

A. The Role of Parents in Head Start (15 minutes)

As you review the role of parents, provide several examples of how the Health, Social Services, and Parent Involvement Components in your program support parents.
Explain that the Education Services Component's role in supporting parents is defined in the Head Start Program Performance Standards in three of the Education services objectives. As your review the objectives ask participants for examples of what they do to meet each one.

B. How the Education Services Component Can Support Parents (15 minutes)

As you review the suggestions in the reading, ask participants for examples of what they do to support parents. Remind participants that some of these suggestions can be implemented by the Education Services Component alone. Others can be accomplished in conjunction with other components.

C. Effective Parent Education Techniques (30 minutes)

Handout 7-1: Effective Parent Education Techniques includes several "stories" based on the experiences of a Head Start teacher. Ask participants to read each one and discuss their reactions with their classroom teams. The second part of the activity asks participants to write their own "stories" and prepare to share them with the full group.

Reconvene the group and ask classroom teams to share their own "stories" about effective parent education techniques. Next, ask the group to identify what these techniques have in common. Generate a list of "Principles of Effective Parent Education Techniques."

D. Acknowledging Your Feelings (20 minutes)

Begin by discussing the difficulties that can arise when classroom teams become overwhelmed and have trouble accepting families. Next, explain that the purpose of this activity is to help participants identify negative or judgmental feelings they may have about children and families.

Use a piece of flip chart paper to label the left side of one wall as the area representing "totally agree." Label the right side as "totally disagree." Ask participants to imagine a line drawn on the floor between these two signs. Tell them that the left end of the line represents their total disagreement with a statement. The right end represents their total agreement with a statement. The line forms a continuum of disagreement and agreement. Ask participants to stand on a place on the line that represents their feelings about each of the following statements. After participants place themselves on the continuum, ask a few volunteers to share the reasons for their responses.

E. Accepting Families (25 minutes)

Ideally this activity will be conducted by the Mental Health Specialist, who may want to adapt it to reflect the program's needs and characteristics. On a national level, 35 percent of Head Start staff are former Head Start parents. In some programs, many staff live in the same community as Head Start families. These characteristics can lead staff to be very empathetic towards families. On the other hand, staff may have strong feelings about what they think Head Start parents should do. It can be helpful to explore these feelings.

Handout 7-2. Accepting Families is used for this activity. Ask participants to think of a child and family whom they find difficult to accept. Tell them to write down all of their negative feelings toward this family. For example, "He only wants to do what he wants to do." "She ran out of money before the end of the month, again, so her daughter comes to Head Start hungry." Assure the group that nobody will see their papers and after they are finished they can throw them away.

Now, ask participants to think of the same child and family and make a list of their strengths. For example, "He really enjoys the block area," or "She comes to all the parent workshops." Some people may find this to be a difficult task, so offer lots of support and encouragement. The lists don't need to be long-two or three items are sufficient. You might want to ask staff to think of their own strengths and how they can be applied to working with this child and family.

Finally, participants should plan ways to use the strengths as they work with the child and family. Ask for volunteers to share their plans. If there are no volunteers continue with the agenda. Participants may not want to share their feelings openly.

Explain to participants that this exercise is a first step in learning to accept children and families. It can take a long time to learn to accept rather than to judge.

III. Closing (5 minutes)

Session 8
An Approach to Problem Solving 
Overview for Trainers 

Objectives

This session will enable participants to:

· Use problem solving techniques to develop strategies for helping individual children.
· Establish ongoing support groups.

Materials and Equipment

Agenda
I. Discussion of Session 7 Follow Up Activities (10 minutes)

Use the discussion to reinforce the following:

Answer questions and/or address participants' concerns before beginning the discussion.

II. Discussion Topics and Activities

A. Using Problem Solving to Identify and Address Children's Needs (1 hour)

Reading 8: An Approach to Problem Solving shows how a classroom team examined the reasons for a child's behavior and developed strategies for helping the child. The example introduces the steps in problem solving. Participants can use the reading to follow along during the discussion. Be sure to point out that some families are so stressed that they cannot deal with the questions posed by well-intentioned program staff. Talk about how to proceed in these situations. Also distribute Handout 8-1: Problem Solving Format, which is a blank form participants can use in the future.

B. Establishing an Ongoing Support Group (50 minutes)

Use Handout 8-2: Support Groups and the questions below to discuss whether to continue meeting as an ongoing support group, facilitated by the Education Coordinator and/or the Mental Health Specialist (or other component coordinator as appropriate in your program). Emphasize that the facilitator's role would be to guide the discussions and contribute ideas based on classroom observations. Participants would serve as resources to each other.

If you decide to continue meeting you will need to agree on when, for how long, how frequently, and where. At your first meeting, you can review the ground rules and logistics.

If you decide not to continue meeting, congratulate the classroom teams for their hard work in these sessions and let them know that you will continue to be available as a resource. (You might want to provide certificates or other concrete evidence of their accomplishments.) Remind them that they also can refer to the readings, handouts, and follow-up activities used in the sessions.

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