1. Chapter 6
Building Relationships With and
Guiding the Behaviors of Infants and
Toddlers
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

2. Building Relationships With and Guiding
the Behaviors of Infants and Toddlers
• Creating a caring community of learners
– Learners are valued
– Teachers help children learn to respect and
acknowledge differences and value others
• Mastery climate
– An intentional emphasis on internal motivation
rather than external motivation
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

3. Reggio Emilia Approach to Infant-Toddler
Education
• History
• Developed in a city in Italy after World War II
• Led to nationally funded approach to
infant/toddler and preschool programs
• Philosophy
• 14 principles for educators as a foundation
• Image of the Child
• Competent, active and critical
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

4. Reggio Emilia Approach to Infant-Toddler
Education
• Inserimento
– The strategy for building relationships and
community among adults and children when the
child is first entering an infant-toddler center
– Individualized for each family
• Parent interviews and home visits
• Parent-teacher meetings
• Documentation
• Large or small group discussions with families
• Daily communication
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

5. A Developmental View of Discipline
• Discipline
– Helping infants and toddlers learn to be socially
competent with peers and other adults
– Teaching appropriate behavior and setting limits
on inappropriate behavior
– Our personal experiences have shaped our beliefs
about discipline
• Mental Models
– Self, Environment, Child
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

6. Strategies for Respectfully Guiding
Children’s Behavior
• A caring community involves the social,
emotional and behavioral environments
• Infants and toddlers learn to self-regulate
• They must have the power to choose their own
actions (locus of control)
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

7. Strategies for Respectfully Guiding
Children’s Behavior
• Labeling Expressed Emotions
– Emotional talk labels feeling states
– Teachers model and mirror feeling states
– Caregivers accept emotions and the need to
express them as normal
– Good caregiving in emotion-centered
• Teaching Emotional Regulation
— Use the 3 As to develop self-soothing
— Encourage positive self-talk
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

8. Building the Foundations for Perspective
Taking
• Perspective-taking
– Leads to successful, positive relationships
– Helping children to explain how others feel
• Setting Limits
– Specific, positive language
– Selective use of “no”
• Establishing consequences
– Natural and logical consequences are most
effective
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

9. Strategies for Respectfully Guiding
Children’s Behavior
• Providing Choices
– Balance too many with too few
• Redirecting actions
– Divert and distract
– Provide substitute activity
• Problem solving
– Learning to reframe the issue helps toddlers feel
more powerful and in control of outcomes
– Involve families in problem solving
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

10. Spotlight on Research
• Early Intervention and Building Collaborative
Partnerships
– Strength-based perspective
– Sharing expectations
– Meeting emotional needs
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

11. Checkpoint Discussion Questions
• Why should infant-toddler teachers focus
their attention on creating a caring
community of learners?
• Review the principles of the Reggio Emilia
approach to early education on Table 6-1.
Which of the principles support the practices
of inserimento?
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

12. Checkpoint Discussion Questions
• Why is taking a developmental approach to
guidance beneficial for children and teachers?
• Compare and contract the two mental models
for guiding children’s behaviors.
• List and explain three strategies for positively
guiding and supporting the development of
very young children’s self-regulation skills.