Dimeji International Schools

Happy new week l

10. Support your child
Tantrums and outbursts can be frightening for your child. Remind your child you are there to work through
big feelings together. Let your child know that while you may not like certain behaviors, they have your
unconditional love and support as they learn positive ways to communicate, cope and manage their behavior.
Summary
Behavior is how your child tells you something that cannot be told in words. It is affected by your child’s
developmental stage, temperament, and type of disability. To understand behavior, it is helpful to be aware of
what they get by using the behavior. Understanding their developmental stage, disability, strengths and needs
will help you develop more effective strategies and encourage positive coping skills and appropriate behavior.

4. Reinforce and name positive behavior
Be sure to praise your child when you “Catch” them behaving as expected. By naming the appropriate behavior
for your child, you are helping them reinforce it. For example, you might say, “Sharing your toys with Sally is a
nice thing to do.”
5. Give words for emotions
Help your child identify emotions and needs in certain situations by teaching simple phrases such as “I don’t
like that!” or “Help me!” Also give your child the language to explain feelings and bring a conclusion to them.
For example, you might teach them to say, “I’m all done being mad.”
6. Change the environment
If you can change the environment so a behavior is reduced or eliminated, it will help your child.
7. Give choices
Give your child a sense of control by offering basic choices. To keep things simple, it’s best to give only two
options, such as, “Do you want to wear your blue shirt or your yellow shirt?”
8. Avoid power struggles
Try to compromise with your child. Instead of telling your child what to do, especially on less preferred requests,
offer support and join them. For example, you might say, “I’ll pick up one toy and you pick up one toy.”
9. Model behaviors
Show your child how to handle stressful situations by staying calm. Let your child see you use positive coping
strategies such as taking deep breaths.

Tantrums, Tears, and Tempers: Behavior is
communication (continued)

How should a parent encourage positive behaviors?

Knowing that behavior has a purpose and is affected by other factors, you can help your child build the necessary
skills to communicate more effectively. Here are some strategies to try.
1. Set clear expectations
Positively state the appropriate behaviors you want to see. Instead of telling your child “Don’t’ stand on the
table.” You might say “Please put your feet on the ground.”
2. Provide structure and consistency
Young children need consistent schedules and ground rules. This helps provide a safe and predictable
environment for them to learn appropriate behaviors over time.
3. Collect data
Keep a log that documents challenging behaviors. Note when the behavior occurs, what your child is doing
before and after it happens, and what is going on in their environment when the behavior takes place. If you see
a consistent pattern of behavior think about other ways you can help your child to get what they need.

we welcome our pupils back to school, and celebrate with all our Muslim friends

Tantrums, Tears, and Tempers: Behavior is
communication

What’s really going on when your child throws a tantrum at a store or cries incessantly before bedtime? Most
likely, your child is trying to express something that they can’t say in words. It might mean they want a candy
bar or toy, or it might mean they are afraid of the dark. By understanding what your child is trying to express,
you can better respond to their needs and help your child learn more positive ways to communicate.
For young children, behavior is communication that’s used to meet needs. It’s how they let you know they either
want something or want to avoid something.
Here are some questions you can consider asking about your child’s challenging behaviors and some steps you
can take to help decrease the likelihood of that behavior from happening again.

1. What is the purpose of the behavior?
To determine the purpose of your child’s behavior, start by looking at what is happening before and after it
begins. Consider changes in routines, times of the day it happens, and social situations that seem to trigger it.
If you can identify the purpose of your child’s behavior, you can come up with other strategies to address their
needs to encourage positive behaviors.
Try to keep your focus on what your child is communicating and avoid labeling the behavior or your child as
“bad.” When you do, you’ll be able to better put the behavior in perspective and focus on strategies to help your
child acquire needed skills.

Facilitating Friendships: Five Ideas

Many students with disabilities—including those with significant disabilities—make friends during the secondary school years and sustain those friendships for years. We know this dream is possible. The goal, then, is to create a context that will make the dream a reality for a wider range of students. Five ways that schools can encourage interactions, build community, and facilitate relationships are listed below

1.Make It a Priority

It almost seems too simple to be true but when students with disabilities do have a robust network of friends it is often, in part, because they are supported by teachers who value and cultivate student collaboration and interaction. In other words, schools that succeed in bringing students together understand relationships as a priority and engage in practices that are related to that priority. In these schools, for examples, social interactions are prioritized on Individual Education Plans and considered in the development of lesson plans.

2. a School Community

The development and sustenance of an inclusive school community involves strategies and practices that purposefully encourage and teach sharing, learning, interdependence, and respect. For example, teachers might encourage community through cooperative learning experiences, conflict resolution opportunities, play and games, class meetings, service learning, social-justice education, cross-age and same-age tutoring and mentoring, and school and classroom celebrations. Teachers can also cultivate community by working for whole-school change. For instance, by lobbying for smaller classes, challenging competitive school structures (e.g., cutting students from sports teams), and developing ways to connect students across classrooms and grade levels (e.g., in-school e-mail pals), teachers can not only strengthen the classroom community but help the school as a whole become more responsive to all learners.

# My child’s social or emotional needs at school.

1. Making Relationships a Priority

One of the biggest myths I hear in my work in inclusive education is about friendship. Teachers commonly share that they struggle to facilitate relationships during the middle and high school years because older students simply are not interested in socializing with students with disabilities. As one teacher told me, “When they are little, they are more accepting but as kids get older…they are just more into their own thing. We can’t force friendship!”

It is certainly true that no teacher can create friendships between students, but it is equally true that every educator can create conditions in the classroom that will give students opportunities to strengthen social relationships, learn about and from each other, and get and give support. These opportunities may then lead to the development of friendships.

educational facts

Day 2 functional week
Interschool quiz competition