When we reframe our thinking, we can turn a negative into a positive. Write down some behaviors that you see in the classroom as a problem statement. Then rewrite those statements using what you know about child development to reframe the statements as shown in the examples. Then, share and discuss your responses with a trainer, coach, or administrator.

Problem Statement Reframed Statement

He whines from the moment he gets here until the time he gets picked up to go home.

Possible responses: He must really miss his parents.

She is clingy not only with her mother but with the other adults as well.

She might be slow to warm up in new settings or in the presence of other children and adults.

I have to watch him like a hawk or he’ll run down the hall or go out the gate.

He may not understand my expectations about staying with the group.

He is very active.

她在其他孩子的若干不停地敲门uctions or destroys other children’s art work.

She may want to join other children’s play, and she may not know how to ask.

She may be frustrated because she does not know how to play with the materials or complete her art project.

Adapted from Multicultural Early Childhood Team Training, 1998. The Center for the Social and Emotional Foundation for Early Learning, Vanderbilt University.