Information for Child Care Providers
Positive child guidance and supervision
Sara Gable, Ph.D.,
Human Development and Family Studies,
College of Human Environmental Sciences, University of Missouri
Principles of Positive Child
- The safety of the children is
your first concern. This includes both physical and emotional
- Children learn most from our own
conduct. Be a good model and the children will follow you.
- Have age-appropriate
expectations of children’s behavior.
- Be clear and consistent when
explaining and enforcing limits to children and follow through
(e.g., “I told you 5 minutes ago not to throw sand because it
makes a mess and gets in other children’s eyes. I also told you
that if I saw you throwing it again, you’d need to find something
new to do--it’s time to find something new to do. You can climb,
read books in the treehouse, or ride a trike; what would you like
- When enforcing limits,
disapprove of the child’s behavior, not the child.
- Be patient and kind with
children, they are trying to understand the world we live in and
need our care and teaching.
- Maintain a clean, safe, and
stimulating learning environment in your program.
- Establish a predictable schedule
that meets individual and group needs.
- Plan and implement
developmentally appropriate activities.
- State your suggestions and
directions positively (e.g., “Please keep the puzzle pieces on the
table. It’s too easy for them to get lost when you play with them
on the floor.”)
- Keep rules to a minimum. Remind
children of rules and limits before they start an activity (e.g.,
“Remember, keep the beans IN the water table”). Children need to
know what is expected.
- Catch the children being good
(e.g., “I see you picking up those blocks! Thank you, it helps
keep the block area clean and organized.”; “What a good idea to
take turns on the slide, everybody likes to have a turn.”).
Responding to Problems
- Use discipline encounters to
teach children acceptable behavior.
- Seek to understand the reason
for the misbehavior (See the world through the child’s eyes).
- Emphasize that the behavior is
the problem, not the child.
- Avoid using a harsh, frustrated,
or tense tone of voice; this often leads to escalation and power
- Remember to end conflicts with a
reconciliation or apology: Hug the child and tell the child that
you still care for him or her, it was the child’s behavior that
made you unhappy. Showing children how to resolve conflicts helps
them learn that when things go wrong, they can be made right again