Have you ever found yourself saying, “Why is this child acting this way?” Yeah, I thought so. Decoding children’s behavior can be challenging. In this training, teachers will gain working knowledge of brain development to help them understand the brain reasons for behavior.
Connecting adult behavior to children’s behavior
Attuning to a child’s “interior landscape” is the first step toward understanding the connection between an adult’s behavior and the child’s. When we teach with the brain in mind, we consider the child’s thoughts, feelings, body sensations, beliefs, perceptions; their mental activity, not just their behavior!
What can I do to support brain development?
When adults direct and correct children more than they ask open-ended questions, narrate their actions, or validate their thoughts and feelings, they risk draining the child’s safety, satisfaction and connection needs. Accordingly, children’s challenging behavior signals their distress. They flip their lids because their brains pick up on signals of warning from the environment, including interactions with adults where they don’t feel seen, soothed, safe, or secure.
The brain reasons for behavior
When adults understand the brain reasons for behavior, they find it easier to update their “software” about children’s actions. With this, adults may replace habitual ways of reacting to children with practices based on science. The result? Adults works smarter, not harder, and children feels seen, soothed, safe, and secure.
This training can be stand alone or part of the “Teaching with the Brain in Mind” series and adapted for infant, toddler, pre-school through sixth grade. For more about this important topic, please check out my article on “Seeing the Child behind the Behavior,” or visit my You Tube channel!