Rest, Play, Grow: Making sense of young kids (or anyone why acts like one)

No one is more susceptible to being misunderstood than the toddler, preschooler or kindergartener. Precocious, brazen, obsessive, endearing, hysterical, impulsive, anxious, delightful, unreflective, dogmatic, generous, unstable, aggressive, resistant, compulsive, and anything but consistent - the preschooler could qualify for any number of personality and behaviour disorders. This can create challenges as an educator as you help to guide them through these early years. Unlike infants and toddlers, preschoolers and young children actually bear a resemblance to grown-ups and therefore fool us into thinking that they are much more like us than they really are. Projecting our psychology onto them is a typical mistake. This presentation will address commonly misunderstood preschooler behaviour including resistance, frustration, attachment, the need for play, and impulsiveness. Your role as an educator places you with a unique opportunity to foster their growth. In this session, you will learn how to best support them through the lens of developmental practice.