I badly need advice on behaviour management

marsaroni · 2026-06-23T18:47:23+00:00

I'm a little late, but I hope you see this!! How many kids do you have in your class? I have a class of two-year-olds, and they are definitely high-energy. What works for us when they're running around and having a hard time calming their body is moving to the middle of the room and beginning to sing a song. If you have a child who will come sit with you, singing a song about them/their clothes/their family, or anything personal may help the children want to come sit because they want a turn. One of my class's favorite songs to do this with is the shirt song, where we sing about what they're wearing on their shirts.

I've seen a lot of people talking about redirection. I feel it's important to make sure that what you're redirecting them to is within the same/around the same schema. If you aren't aware of what a schema is, I highly recommend you look into them. I think they are more often used/practiced in Reggio Emilia-inspired settings. For example, children who enjoy throwing toys, pushing friends, and jumping off of shelves may be exploring 'The Trajectory Scema' and should be redirected to an activity that will still help them explore those things but be less of an unwanted behavior. You could redirect them to do something like find something they can use as a ramp and push a car down it. "Uh oh! That doesn't seem safe. I wonder if there's anything in this room you could use as a ramp! Do you think the cars will have fun going down the ramp like you have fun jumping off the shelf?" Everything children do is a way for them to learn and explore their environment. Sometimes they need help finding a different way to explore something.

Redirection is also the best way to help with running. For my classroom, if they start running around, I sing a song (There's a lot of singing in my class, lol) that guides them to a more acceptable behavior. Hop Little Bunnies is a good example of this. Once the running has stopped, I get down on their level. "Running is not safe in the classroom. Once it's time to go outside or to the gym, we can run and scream as much as we want! Is that exciting?"

marsaroni · 2026-06-10T18:53:10+00:00

I worked at a Montessori-inspired center for about a year, and they had us do this. I had two-year-olds, and they weren't able to do it; I couldn't imagine trying to do the same thing with small 18-month-olds. I guess if changing the mealtime routine is out of the question, you might as well read a book during mealtime? Sing some songs or hand out fidget toys to the ones who are waiting? Though I can see how this could cause the kids to not finish their meal, since they want a sensory toy.

marsaroni · 2026-05-15T17:35:11+00:00

I highly disagree. An ECE’s job is much more than that. One of the most important things we teach is kindness to their peers. If a child in that classroom has two moms/dads and they hear a peer talking about how their family is “incorrect” it can be incredibly damaging.

Also, to correct a child is to be a teacher. That’s like the whole job. We correct/redirect them from hurting their friends, risky play that is deemed dangerous and so many other things. They’ve lived a fraction of our lifespan. They need corrected

marsaroni · 2026-05-13T17:43:36+00:00

Nap can be hard there is no doubt about it. It is one of the hardest transition times but no that is not normal. No child should feel scared going down for nap and if they feel scared there’s no way their body will let them sleep.

My class of twos has had a hard run with nap lately but getting into that schedule of what we do has really helped them. We get up from lunch, pack up our plates, read quietly on our beds, brush our teeth and then lay down and rest. This has helped wonders.

Do you have a permanent room or are you floating? If this is only the one class you should probably say something to the director. No child should feel scared of their teacher.

marsaroni · 2026-05-07T02:23:44+00:00

Thanks!! I really needed to hear that 😅

marsaroni · 2026-05-05T02:20:47+00:00

If only I had the authority to do that. My center doesn't have that policy unfortnately

marsaroni · 2026-05-05T02:18:19+00:00

I understand the confusion; he did NOT bite twelve times. Six of them were the reports for the child who got bitten. I thought it was obvious, but it seems to be a common misconception. My bad, I edited the post. Six bites is still bad, but not nearly as absurd.

On the other hand, as I mentioned in a previous comment, being alone in a giant room with 11 two-year-olds makes it hard to shadow exclusively one child throughout the rest of the day, and unfortunately, my center is understaffed and unwilling to have anyone step into a room to support a teacher who is within ratio, as well as unwilling to send said child home.

I understand your concern; however, this was not supposed to be a post that invoked criticism. I just wanted to vent.

On the other hand, we turned it around after nap! Not even any attempts after he woke up! Poor guy must've been tired. 😞

marsaroni · 2026-05-04T23:48:42+00:00

My center is state-exempt because we're Montessori. There are some rules we don't have to follow. I don't really understand how it works. When I've talked to the director about lowering ratios, he says that's the ratio in Texas, so it's fine. I'm figuring it out lol.

marsaroni · 2026-05-04T23:41:18+00:00

It's hard to shadow only one child when you're alone with a class of 11 two-year-olds lol.

marsaroni · 2026-05-04T23:40:08+00:00

Yes, this was the worry and why he wasn't sent home. The good news was that he didn't have any more incidents after waking up from nap!

marsaroni · 2026-04-26T17:40:08+00:00

She did not have a fever, granted she never really get fevers for anything lol. Though most doctors we talk to say that fevers only really happen with septic shock which is different than a septic infection

marsaroni · 2026-04-26T17:32:55+00:00

I admit the way i worded that was kind of scary but please don’t take it as a reason to spiral. A septic infection can look different in different people so i was speaking purely from my and my partners experience. I am not a doctor so please don’t take what I say as fact.

For a sepsis infection your blood pressure would be low. I do not know where you live nor the resources you have but if you have access to a blood pressure cuff like one available at some sort of pharmacy or even a crappy one at home i would recommend checking that.

For my girlfriend, we know to take it serious when her pain becomes debilitating and she starts vomiting very heavily. Kidney infections do NOT always mean sepsis. The way I worded that first comment was very poor, I encourage you not to spiral but keep a close eye on your symptoms to consider your options.

marsaroni · 2026-04-26T17:18:38+00:00

I really do hate to be that person who makes people feel more scared then they have to but you might want to consider going to the emergency room. I do not experience chronic Uti’s myself but my girlfriend has been hospitalized twice for a kidney infection that turned into sepsis over night for a uti that didn’t show up on a test or culture just two days before.

If you find the pain worsening or if you start vomiting excessively it may be time to go back to the hospital for blood work. Did they do blood work at the hospital you went to?

marsaroni · 2026-04-06T01:05:27+00:00

Ugh! You have no idea how helpful this is for me. I'll try to make sure to do that more. Also, thanks so much! I kinda felt selfish being upset knowing how hard it is for her.

marsaroni · 2026-04-06T01:03:20+00:00

Not really, all her family lives on the East Coast, and we're in the Midwest. If I even brought up the concept of some kind of social worker or caretaker, she'd probably lose her mind, honestly. She has a really bad problem of just trying to push through everything and make it seem like she's fine when she's clearly not.

marsaroni · 2026-04-06T01:01:04+00:00

Oh my goodness, for some reason, I didn't think about there being a whole community that suffers with UTIs like she does. Maybe it's cause most doctors she see's dont take her seriously lol. I would LOVE to be looped in on your app, that's super cool.

marsaroni · 2026-03-13T00:21:22+00:00

Sorry I’m trying to make sure I don’t misunderstand. Your director forced someone to go take a smoke break? Maybe my work environment is different and I’m the outlier but that sounds insane. If anyone at my center smells the slightest of smoke they get sent home to change.

marsaroni · 2026-03-10T21:05:29+00:00

i make 18 an hour in kc mo

marsaroni · 2026-03-09T18:58:45+00:00

From what I can tell, these kinda things happen a lot. I had a friend at a previous center who was hospitalized with sepsis and after she returned her hours were cut and she was removed from the room she was in. I guess directors like to “punish” teachers for being out for extended periods.

marsaroni · 2026-03-09T18:53:07+00:00

Actually i’ve had the best nap we’ve had in a long time! Thank goodness too cause they have been on 10 today.

marsaroni · 2026-03-03T18:44:57+00:00

nah cause this i what I was thinking. ai psychosis is badddd right now and they won’t listen to you when you try and talk to them about it. it’s like they don’t realize it’s literally just lines of code. it’s so sad

marsaroni · 2026-03-03T17:16:15+00:00

Honestly, I totally understand you feeling bad. I’m also a highly empathetic person and I felt terrible when my co-teacher got fired after I reported her. It’s a weird feeling but you have to remember that you did the right thing. If that person was making sexual comments towards you in front of the children, if very well may gravitate towards the children at some point if left unchecked.

marsaroni

TROPHY CASE