Supporting the emotional & psychological development of children

Identifying temperament and personality

What do you think these terms mean?• Temperament• Easy temperament• Slow-to-warm-up temperament• Difficult temperament

Temperament refers to the behavioural characteristics that shape reactions and responses, and is believed to be a trait that individuals are born with.The temperament of a young child affects the way you interact with the child, and may alter your expectations of a child. It may even affect the bond you have with a young child.

There are three temperaments that relate to young children:• Easy temperament (approx 40%)- cheerful,

adaptable, fit well into routines, positive moods• Slow-to-warm-up temperament (approx 15%)-

adjust slowly to new experiences, tend to be in a negative mood, inactive and mildly responsive to world around them.

• Difficult temperament (approx 10%) slow to adapt to new experiences, strong reactions to change, irregular routines, negative moods, often withdrawn

• As children develop socially and emotionally, various positive and negative life experiences affect them and their temperament may change as they begin to develop a personality that is not based on their inborn traits.

• When you understand the impact of a child’s temperament, you can adapt your interactions to suit the child’s temperament. You may even be able to assist a child with a difficult or slow-to-warm-up temperament to become more settled and ready for change.

Building self-esteem

• What is self-esteem?• What is negative self-esteem? What

behaviours would someone with negative self-esteem display?

• What is positive self-esteem? What behaviours would someone with positive self-esteem display?

Self-esteem encompasses the variety of impressions we have of ourselves. The closer our self-concept is to our ideal self, the greater our self-esteem.Self-esteem refers to our personal judgement and feelings about who we are (how we feel about ourselves based on these judgements).Self-concept describes the perceptions, feelings and attitudes that a person has about themselves (including physical characteristics, cognitive ability, gender and ethnic identity).The ideal self is who you think you should be or want to be (includes your characteristics, roles and associations; all the things that are involved in your self-concept).

Example• Daniel is drawing with crayons at a table when Sally (the

carer) approaches and sits at the same table. Daniel is proud of his work and waits for Sally to notice and give him some positive feedback. Sally is distracted and once she finished talking to another child, she picks up a crayon and starts to draw a horse.

• Daniel is surprised- he had drawn a horse! But his horse is nowhere near as good as Sally’s.

• Daniel's self-image and ideal self began closely together- he had a strong self-esteem when it came to drawing. When Sally drew a horse, Daniel’s ideal of how to draw a horse became very different to what it was earlier, making his self-esteem fall.

To positively influence a child’s self-esteem, you must:• Give individual attention to each child• Encourage children to attempt skills and activities• Give positive feedback• Provide opportunities for children to be independent• Support children to be considerate of others• Assist children to be clear communicators• Acknowledge children when they help you or others• Provide children with positive messages about themselves• Encourage realistic ideals by providing materials, activities

and models that show diversity• Prohibit put downs

• Avoid comparison and competition• Accept mistakes as learning opportunities• Be genuine in your interactions with children• Allow children to make decisions, problem-

solve and negotiate• Provide age- and stage-appropriate activities,

equipment and expectations• Identify and celebrate children’s social,

emotional and psychological successes.

Involving children in decision-making

• The arrangement of the environment and the questions you ask, help children to become more independent through providing opportunities for decision-making.

• Decision-making skills help to promote positive behaviour as children choose what they want to do.

• There will be decisions that children can make, but there are decisions that adults will need to make for children.

• What are two decisions that children are capable of making?

• What are two decisions that adults must make for children?

• Why should we involve children in decision-making?

Acknowledging, encouraging and appreciating children’s efforts

• Why is acknowledging and encouraging children important?

• Write an example of how you would provide encouragement to a child

• Acknowledgment and encouragement shows children that you value them and their efforts- it gives them the motivation to do things for intrinsic reasons (to please themselves or because the task is worth doing). It helps children feel good about themselves, which in turn develops their self-esteem.

• What ways could you demonstrate acknowledgement and encouragement toward a child?

Task

How would you feel if another carer said:• “Well done! You worked really hard to read that

story today while there were many disruptions.”• ‘Thanks for reading the story.’• ‘You seem to really get into/enjoy storytelling.’• ‘I think your storytelling is okay.’Which responses would you prefer? Why?What would you say?

….?

• Provide feedback on work by providing a comment about the effort that is being taken etc

• Ask questions that demonstrate your interest and appreciation

• Thank children for their contribution

Recognising & responding to issues of concern

Some emotional and psychological feelings or responses are common, such as separation anxiety and age-appropriate fears. Other responses may be uncharacteristic or overwhelming, such as highly aggressive behaviour or extreme withdrawal; it is these responses that may alert you to an issue of concern.

If you observe any of the following behaviours, you are being alerted to the child’s emotional and psychological difficulties and an issue of concern that should be reported:

• Inappropriate interactions with others• Withdrawal from social interactions• Aggressive behaviour• Verbal expressions of particular need• Physical and emotional presentation• Concerns conveyed by parents or other carers• Sudden and/or extreme changes to behaviour or emotional

states• No interest in activities or experiences• Expressions of negative emotions through use of external

materials and resources.

If a child expresses these feelings or responses you should:

• Act to manage the situation as best as possible• Record what you notice; remember to document

what you see or notice rather than what you think about what is happening

• Discuss what you have recorded with senior staff• Identify whether action needs to be taken to

manage the situation• Implement actions as soon as possible• Involve support agencies if required.

ACTIVITY• You are to research the following areas of concern

and provide answers to the questions below. Write on Butchers paper.

1. Separation anxiety2. Stranger anxiety3. Fear- (different for infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers)• Define the concept.• What are common signs of distress?• Provide a list of strategies to settle/help a child and

their family

Recording and reporting concerns relating to emotional and psychological development

• Your ability to record and report concerns as soon as they are noticed is essential if you are to meet the individual needs of children and prevent further. Your skills of observation and interpretation may be challenged as you get to know each child and then consider their everyday actions and responses.

• It is vital you record observed social, emotional or psychological concerns in a way that allows others to understand and use this information.

• Objective recording involves the skill of writing only the things that you see or hear and eliminating any information that you think (or are not sure of) about the situation.

• Why do think you need to do this? Why should you only record information that you see or hear?