Preschool children today are exhibiting more and more challenging behaviors that many early childhood teachers feel ill equipped to handle. Utilizing proven practices, current research and practical strategies this workshop is essential for all that work in early childhood. To meet the needs of teachers and care providers of preschoolers, this workshop offers a unique staff development opportunity in a one-day interactive, solution-focused workshop that systematically deals with solving challenging behaviors in preschool children.

Objectives
Upon successful completion of the workshop, the participants will:

• Be skilled at solving 85% of minor misbehaviors by using proactive response styles and proven interventions.
• Have a plan to intervene with the other 15% of problem behaviors
• Have an understanding of the continuum of normal preschool behavior
• Be able to recognize and identify potential problem behaviors.
• Have a formula for sorting out  short-term developmental delays, immaturity, and more serious mental health issues.
• Be skilled at determining whether  concerns are fundamentally behavioral, social, or emotional in nature.
• Be able to utilize social-emotional-behavioral checklists to create interventions
• Be prepared to diagnose the impact of the family situation, the children developmental progress, and the domain that is being affected by the behavior.
• Be able to view the behavior in light of known abuse, loss and trauma on developmental progress.
• Write and implement an effect behavior management plan that addresses prevention, teaching and monitoring.
• Be able to implement hundreds of proven interventions and strategies for working with the challenging behaviors of preschoolers.

Outline
Day 1:
#1 Keeping Minor Behaviors Minor and
#2 The Behavior Detective
85% of behavioral problems can be classified as “minor”  (defiance, oppositional behavior, minor aggression etc).
Day One focuses on the following key points:

• Why kids do what they do
• What adults do that create misbehavior in children
• Purposes of challenging behaviour
• Cycles of development
• Solicit helpful information to put together a successful plan
• Identifying target behaviors
• Identifying triggers
• Observation techniques
• Working with parents and caregivers
• Using social emotional checklists to develop interventions
• Asking the right questions to find out the underlying issues

Day 2: Solving the Other 15%
We spend 80% of our time with 20% of the children, because this 20% of children present the most challenging behaviors.  They are the ones that get our attention and the ones that we feel most ill-equip to handle effectively.  This training day focuses on developing a successful intervention plan and process for further referral with the following points:

• Four components of Complete plan
• Pre-requisites, teaching and monitoring
• Behavior tracking
• The rule of three
• Sharing data with parents
• Enlisting the support of parents and caregivers
• Monitoring the plan and consistency
• Evaluating
• Underlying behavioral issues of trauma, grief, and abuse
• A procedure for referring for mental health or behavioral support

Trainer’s Profile
Kathryn is an internationally recognized presenter, consultant and author with more than 30 years of experience in education.  Her background includes teaching at all levels – preschool through university, behavioural and academic consultation, staff development and strategic planning for schools in working with special needs students.

Kathryn is a published author, consults with more than 100 school districts throughout North America each year as well as the ministry of education in the US. She speaks to more than 150 audiences a year and has trained over 14,000 educators in the last five years.   She has published nine books school professionals, including Successful Strategies for Working with Challenging Elementary School Children, A Smooth Ride: Management for Bus Drivers and Ideas that Work for Students with Sensory Processing Disorders. She is also the commentator on a full length DVD produced by the United States Bureau of Education and Research. She has made several radio and television appearances throughout the United States regarding a variety of current issues in education.

Kathryn has been providing workshops on learning issues for special needs students for over 30 years.  Her expertise of the content area is interwoven with videos, group activities, story telling, humour, and a plethora of practical strategies with hands-on examples.  A skillful educator, Kathryn recognizes that adult learners require a multi-modality approach with real life experiences, opportunities to practice and timely topic

Methodology
Multi-media including videos, role plays, small group work, lecture, slide presentations, individual reflection, case studies, and activity-based instruction.  Humor, reflection, and question-answer are formatted to the unique needs of adult learners.

Target Audience
Preschool teachers, ancillary personnel, administrators, educational assistants, mental health consultants, behavioral and education specialists, coordinators, support staff and parents.

Duration: 2 days, 12 hours
Closing Date:  1 Apr 10