Effective preschool behavior management is a set of strategies used by educators to support children's learning, encourage prosocial actions, and maintain a positive classroom environment. When done right, these strategies reduce disruptions caused by challenging behaviors. They also encourage prosocial actions that support children’s social-emotional development and promote skills like conflict resolution, self-regulation, and peer collaboration.
Implementing behavior plans for preschoolers can be difficult when you’re working with 20 or more children between the ages of three and five, or if you have limited strategies to draw from. While managing a classroom of energetic preschoolers is challenging, it's not impossible. We’ve put together this guide to illustrate the best behavior management strategies for your childcare program.
What is preschool behavior management?
Preschool behavior management uses proactive strategies to support children in learning, increase prosocial behaviors, and reduce challenging behaviors.
Behavior management for preschoolers is vital as it helps set expectations, forms the foundation for social-emotional learning, creates a conducive learning classroom environment, provides strategies families can use at home, and promotes positive behavior.
With brightwheel's preschool classroom management feature, you can assign staff and children to specific rooms, check ratios, and record observations in real-time. Share classroom highlights with families directly in the app and keep them informed of any behavior incidents as they happen.
What are the benefits of effective preschool behavior management?
The main benefits of effective preschool behavior management include setting clear expectations, building a foundation for social-emotional learning, and creating a positive learning environment.
Sets expectations
Developing a preschool behavior management plan and sharing it with the children is the best way to set expectations correctly. This way, the children know what behavior is acceptable.
In addition, a clear plan reduces anxiety and supports children in making positive choices.
Forms the foundation for social-emotional learning
Besides learning to read and write, children need to develop social-emotional behaviors like regulating their emotions, social awareness, and relationship skills. Clear, concise, and easy-to-understand classroom rules can help children manage their stress levels and create an environment where they feel safe.
A solid behavior management plan may also support children’s ability to communicate with others and listen well. Learning these essential social-emotional skills at an early age sets them up for success later in life.
Creates a positive learning environment
Classroom management strategies for preschool play a crucial role in promoting classroom orderliness. A positive learning environment is free of interruptions and distractions, making it the best for learning.
Classroom management strategies facilitate smooth learning by defining expectations and guidelines children should follow.
Provides strategies families can use at home
Implementing a detailed preschool behavior management plan at your childcare program will appeal to families as they choose a program that will teach their children essential skills to succeed in the classroom and beyond. Families can follow the same guidelines and expectations from the classroom as a way to provide consistency at home.
Promotes positive behavior
A preschool behavior management plan isn't only about consequences. A well-done plan can instill helpful skills and motivate all children to uphold positive behavior.
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What are the best classroom management strategies for preschool?
The best classroom management strategies for preschool include developing clear guidelines, following a daily routine, using positive language, providing visual cues, and engaging with families.
Implementing preschool behavior management strategies can be challenging when you don’t know what strategies to employ. Try these proven classroom management strategies for preschool to get started:
1. Develop clear preschool behavior guidelines
Whether you call them rules, guidelines, or agreements, your preschool should have agreed-upon expectations for behavior in your classroom.
Depending on the age group, you can create these guidelines with input from your children.
Rather than a laundry list of “don’ts,” you’ll want to keep your behavior guidelines simple and short. For example, expectations such as “Be safe. Be respectful. Be kind.” are common in early childhood education settings.
2. Be specific about your expectations
The more specific your behavior guidelines are, the better for your children. Then, continually working from the preschool classroom rules from above, you will address any particular classroom behavior expectations.
For example, “We use walking feet in the classroom to be safe.” You’ll review these guidelines each morning and every chance you get as your children move throughout the day.
3. Follow a daily routine
Preschoolers thrive on routines. They need to know precisely what is expected of them and what to expect out of their day. So, run through the day’s activities each morning, following your carefully planned preschool schedule.
Your morning routine might include a health check at drop-off. With brightwheel's daily health check feature, you quickly record the health of each child upon arrival and proactively monitor child health throughout the day.
The consistency in your routine will help build trust between you and your children by clearly communicating expectations. It also empowers children to “own” their day and promotes autonomy.
4. Use positive language
Everyone thrives on praise, no matter their age. Recognize and call out when good things are happening at your preschool. Instead of “Don’t run,” you’ll say, “Thank you for being safe and using walking feet.”
Another strategy that often works is focusing on all the good things happening, even if someone is having a rough day. For instance, ignoring an outburst and instead focusing your attention on a positive interaction will do magic.
The trick with preschool behavior management is to recognize that some behaviors need immediate attention for safety reasons (i.e., biting). But other times, children might self-regulate if they witness a classmate receiving positive attention. Simply saying, “I notice that Katie is doing a great job picking up the blocks!” might motivate others to pitch in, too.
Redirecting behavior or changing the focus of a child's attention from an undesirable behavior to a more positive one, can prevent challenging behavior from escalating and help them find a more constructive way to express themselves. For example, if a child is throwing toys, you might take their hand and lead them to a different activity such as throwing a ball outside.
However, it’s essential to acknowledge that some behavioral issues might be rooted in wanting or needing attention. In this case, ignoring what is happening may only escalate the situation.
5. Provide visual cues
Pictures speak louder than words, especially when your audience can’t read yet! Visual cues for behavior guidelines are necessary. Ideally, photos of your children engaging in positive behaviors.
But don’t stop with your preschool behavior guidelines. Label material stations with photos so children can self-manage the clean-up process, hang photos of hand-washing steps in the bathroom, and display photos of children lining up–you name it. Give your preschoolers visual support to encourage independence or post a visual schedule by the classroom door to support end-of-day routines.
6. Manage transitions carefully
Moving between activities throughout the day can be a common time for behavior issues to arise in preschoolers. You’ll manage these hectic times best if you carefully train your children on your expectations at each stage of their day.
Consider a transition timer or countdown and build transition time directly into your daily routine and lesson plans. Some preschool teachers benefit from building a repertoire of go-to transition activities they can build into the day or pull out on the fly as needed.
7. Teach empathy and other social skills
Just like all other school subjects, you must teach social skills. Use circle time to share mini-lessons on positive behaviors like being a good friend, sharing toys, etc. Read books that address empathy and that focus on recognizing and managing feelings.
Use puppets or children volunteers to model treating others with kindness and respect. Children start to develop the ability to empathize around two years old, so encourage interactions that consider classmates’ feelings. Building strong bonds with and among your children will promote positive classroom culture.
8. Pay close attention to challenging behaviors
If you notice that most behavior problems occur during a specific time of day, consider making a change by examining what could be happening. For example, are you asking your preschoolers for a high concentration level before a nap when they are tired?
If so, you might consider rearranging your scheduled activities. For example, do things start to fall apart halfway through circle time? Maybe circle time is too long. If this is the case, modulate activity levels throughout the day and always keep a pulse on what’s working and what isn’t.
With brightwheel's childcare records, you can easily access each student's profile from any device and track progress toward specific developmental skills. Centralized record storage means you can easily view insightful data on attendance trends, health, developmental progress, and more.
9. Engage with families
A strong home connection is beneficial in so many ways, including behavior management. Get input each morning on how a child’s day started. For example, you'll want to know if one of your preschoolers didn’t sleep well or had a rough morning.
Keep families in the loop and enlist their help when behavior problems occur. Is it happening at home too? Communicate your strategies to manage any challenging behaviors with families so they can continue them at home if necessary.
10. Consider a behavior chart
Preschool or pre-k behavior charts are special charts displayed on classroom walls to track preschoolers' behavior. These charts often assign a reward, like a sticker, to a specific behavior. The goal is to motivate children to display positive behavior while in the classroom.
While a behavior chart is one way to influence positive behavior, it does have its drawbacks. For example, it teaches children to expect a reward in exchange for a particular behavior and may undermine any intrinsic motivation to behave in a certain way. It’s best to use a reward system like this sparingly and strategically.
Frequently asked questions about preschool behavior management
Q: How do you handle challenging behavior during preschool transitions?
A: You can handle challenging behavior during transitions by using countdown timers, visual schedules, and engaging transition activities. Planning these shifts into your daily routine helps children know exactly what to expect next.
Q: Should childcare programs use behavior charts?
A: Childcare programs can use behavior charts strategically, but they should avoid relying on them entirely. Overusing charts can teach children to expect a reward for basic expectations, which may undermine their internal motivation to behave well.
Q: How can families help with preschool behavior management?
A: Families can help by reinforcing the same behavioral guidelines and expectations at home that are used in the classroom. Open communication between teachers and families ensures consistency, which is crucial for a child's social-emotional development.
Q: How do you manage a child who bites?
A: Biting is a common behavior among toddlers and young children as they develop communication and self-regulation skills. When a child bites, it’s important to stay calm and address the behavior immediately. Comfort the child who was bitten and ensure they are safe, then help the biting child understand the impact of their actions with simple, age-appropriate language. Redirect the child towards more positive behaviors, and over time, teach alternative ways to express frustration or needs. Consistency and clear communication with families are key to managing and reducing biting incidents.
Q: What strategies can help reduce temper tantrums in preschoolers?
A: Reducing temper tantrums starts with understanding the triggers behind them, such as hunger, fatigue, or frustration. Offering choices, using positive reinforcement, and setting clear expectations can help prevent outbursts. When a tantrum occurs, staying calm and providing a safe space for the child to express feelings is essential. Teaching children coping strategies, like deep breathing or using words to express emotions, can build their emotional regulation skills over time. Coordination with families to use the same strategies at home reinforces consistency.
Q: How do you encourage sharing and turn-taking?
A: Encouraging sharing and turn-taking involves modeling these behaviors regularly and providing structured opportunities for practice. Group activities, role-playing, and using tools like timers can make turn-taking more manageable and fun for young children. Praising and celebrating moments when children share or take turns reinforces the behavior and motivates them to repeat it. Patience and ongoing guidance are important, as sharing is a skill that takes time to develop.
Wrapping up
Strategies that build consistent community and positive experiences in your classroom will reduce the occurrence of behavior problems at your preschool. Setting clear expectations around acceptable behavior will help your children learn positive values and habits that will enhance their learning environment.
