ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

My question is how are we as a body of early childhood professionals still allowing NAEYC to be the voice of our work? I realize that CCIE is an information outlet, not an overarching membership organization; however, there is more wisdom in a single Exchange Everyday article than the whole of NAEYC's current document! What advocacy steps do we need to take to draw the attention of policy makers in a healthy direction on behalf of children, caregivers and parents?

The article on 7 reasons for Challenging Behaviors was good. Yet, it did't mention the brain and adverse effects that impact children in negative ways. Adverse effects disrupt the organization of the brain and cause the stress response system to be activated in a way that contributes to challenging behavior. The article eluded to disrupted relationships, but didn't call it out. Poverty of relationships is also a major cause of challenging behaviors for children. Neglect and abuse are more common than we would like to admit as a society. But it is real for these children and challenging behaviors is one response.

NAEYC is currently seeking input on their revised edition of DAP. I encourage everyone to forcefully respond to this document, as it will become the foundation for what we do with young children. I am about 3/4 of the way through the document, and in my view it is still too academic and too focused on "preparing children for school success". Its curricular section is particularly bad. So please, please review this document!

Agreed, Karen! To me, it all comes down to adults seeing things from the children's point of view!

Thank you for sharing this! Not only are children acting out as a result of these 7 situations -- and others -- they're also experiencing previously unseen levels of anxiety and depression. We need to start appreciating and respecting the nature of children (and childhood), and we need to do it immediately.

There's an 8th reason: About 1/3 of young children are being cared for and taught in an environment where they don't understand the language so they don't understand what's going on. When children who are dual language learners act in challenging ways, teachers need to stop and think about what it's like to be that child and give particular attention to communicating in non-verbal, inclusive, and supportive ways.