St. Paul Catholic Preschool Tampa

🏡 Positive Behavior Support at Home: Why Family Rules Matter

Children thrive when home and school work together! When children experience consistent rules in both places, they are more likely to:

• 💙 Feel safe and secure
• 😊 Know what is expected
• 🌱 Build independence and self-control
• 🤝 Make positive choices
• 🚧 Understand boundaries and expectations

This Positive Behavior Support resource offers practical tips for creating family rules that are simple, positive, and easy for young children to understand. We hope you'll find it helpful as you continue supporting your child's growth at home this summer!

Check out this family resource below for easy tips on creating rules that work!

Teaching Rules at Home:https://www.challengingbehavior.org/docs/Rules_Tipsheet_Home.pdf

Our Rules! Sample Poster for Home:https://www.challengingbehavior.org/docs/Rules_poster_home_sample.pdf

🐢 Positive Behavior Support at Home: Think Like a Turtle!

At St. Paul Catholic Preschool, we use the Tucker Turtle Technique to help children learn how to calm their bodies when they experience big feelings like anger, frustration, or disappointment. This simple strategy teaches children that it's okay to have strong emotions—and that there are healthy ways to manage them.

Read the Tucker Turtle story together using the link below, then practice the four steps at home:

💚 Recognize your feelings.
🛑 Stop your body.
🐢 Tuck into your "shell" and take 3 deep breaths.
🌈 Come out when you're calm and think of a solution.

The Turtle Technique works best when children practice it while they are already calm. Make it part of your daily routine by pretending to be turtles during playtime, practicing deep breaths before bedtime, or reminding your child to "think like a turtle" before situations that may be challenging.

When your child uses the strategy, celebrate their effort! Every time they practice calming their body, they are building important lifelong skills for self-regulation and problem-solving.

Tucker Turtle Takes Time to Tuck and Think at Home (English):
https://www.challengingbehavior.org/docs/TuckerTurtle_Story_Home.pdf

Tucker Turtle Takes Time to Tuck and Think at Home (Spanish):
https://www.challengingbehavior.org/docs/TuckerTurtle_Story_Home_SP.pdf

CHECK IT OUT! HOP INTO SUMMER FUN: 10 WEEKS OF LEARNING, PLAY, AND CONNECTION

Learning doesn’t stop when school ends! Staying active and engaged over the summer helps prevent the “summer slide” and keeps children building on the skills they worked so hard to gain during the school year.

To support families, the Hillsborough Campaign for Grade Level Reading (HCGLR) created Hop into Summer Fun, a 10-week, themed resource guide just for caregivers and kids. Each week focuses on a fun and important theme, including getting ready for school, reading together, staying safe, healthy habits, STEM activities, family engagement, character building, getting moving, art, and school attendance.

https://files.constantcontact.com/9884b83a501/6d03c00e-8f6f-43c3-b3ad-26fdc24de3c1.pdf?rdr=true

We are PROBLEM SOLVERS! 🧠🕵️‍♀️

In our school's use of Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support (PWPBS), teaching preschool students effective problem-solving strategies is essential for several key reasons:

1. Promotes Social-Emotional Development
Problem-solving helps young children learn to manage frustration, resolve conflicts, and express their needs appropriately. These skills are foundational for building healthy relationships with peers and adults.

2. Builds Independence and Confidence
When children are taught how to work through challenges—such as sharing a toy or asking for help—they develop confidence in their ability to handle difficult situations on their own, reducing reliance on adults to mediate.

3. Prevents Challenging Behavior
Many behavior issues stem from a lack of skills. Teaching children how to identify a problem, think through options, and choose a positive solution reduces impulsive reactions like hitting, yelling, or withdrawing.

4. Supports School Readiness
Problem-solving is a critical part of executive functioning. Children who can focus attention, control impulses, and solve social problems are better prepared for academic learning and classroom routines.

5. Encourages Consistency Across Settings
By using common problem-solving language (e.g., “Use your words,” “Take a deep breath,” “What could you do instead?”), children experience a consistent approach both at school and, ideally, at home—making skills more likely to stick.

We encourage you to try these resources at home as they mirror what we use in the classroom at St. Paul. Let's work together to set your child up for a positive school experience! ❤

⭐️We Can Be Problem Solvers at Home! (scripted story): https://www.challengingbehavior.org/document/we-can-be-problem-solvers-at-home/
⭐️Introducing the Solution Kit:https://challengingbehavior.org/docs/solution-kit-families.pdf
⭐️Solution Kit Cards for Home:https://challengingbehavior.org/docs/Solution_kit_cards_home.pdf
⭐️Problem-Solving Steps:https://challengingbehavior.org/docs/SocialEmotionalSkills_problem-solving-steps_poster.pdf

🌟 Supporting Your Child's Social-Emotional Growth at Home, School & Beyond 🌟

As we approach the summer months and look ahead to the new school year, it's the perfect time to focus on nurturing your child's social-emotional development. By reinforcing Positive Behavior Support (PBS) strategies at home, you can help your child build the skills they need for success in school and life.

Why It Matters:

🧠 Emotional Intelligence: Teaching children to identify and express their emotions fosters self-awareness and empathy.

🛠️ Coping Skills: Equipping kids with tools to manage their feelings leads to better behavior and resilience.

🤝 Positive Relationships: Open communication about emotions strengthens bonds with peers and adults.

Practical Strategies to Try:

FEELINGS CHECK-INS: Use visual tools like a feelings chart to help your child articulate their emotions. This practice encourages emotional awareness and provides a foundation for discussing feelings openly.

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT: Recognize and praise positive behaviors to reinforce desired actions and build self-esteem.

CONSISTENT ROUTINES: Establishing predictable routines at home can provide a sense of security and help children manage transitions smoothly.

Resources to Support You and Your Child:

📘 Teaching Your Child to Identify and Express Emotions – Practical tips for fostering emotional intelligence.
https://challengingbehavior.org/docs/TeachingYourChild_emotions.pdf

🖼️ Feelings Check-In Chart – A visual tool to help your child communicate their feelings. This tool is used daily in our classrooms at St. Paul.
https://challengingbehavior.org/docs/FeelingFaces_chart_template.pdf
https://challengingbehavior.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FeelingFaces_chart_EN-SP.pdf

By integrating these strategies into your daily routine, you can set your child up for a successful and emotionally healthy school year.

THANK YOU to our preschool families for the love and appreciation you showed to our amazing teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week. From the lovely notes, flowers, and treats to the gifts and delicious Carrabba's lunch, we are truly grateful! Another big THANK YOU goes to our room parents for helping to organize this week as well. We are truly blessed!

Our three- and four-year-olds enjoyed an engaging water safety lesson with Ms. Rachael from BayCare Kids! Using Josh the Otter, hands-on water props, and a playful otter puppet, students were actively involved in learning how to stay safe this summer.

WE PLEDGED TO:
• Learn to swim or use a safety device
• Swim with an adult nearby
• Swim with a buddy
• Enter water feet first
• Wear sunscreen

Thank you, Ms. Rachael, for making safety learning fun and meaningful!

Family Friday wrapped up our NAEYC Week of the Young Child in such a special way!

Each of our classes hosted a family playdate, inviting parents and loved ones to play, explore, and connect with one another. It was a wonderful opportunity for families to spend time together and build community with other class families.

Family Friday is a reminder that parents and families are a child’s first teachers. When we partner together, we create meaningful, supportive learning experiences for our youngest learners.

Thank you to all of our families for joining us this week—we loved sharing this time with you! 💛

Think, problem solve, and create! For NAEYC’s Week of the Young Child, we celebrated Work Together Wednesday and Artsy Thursday with hands-on, collaborative experiences across our campus.

At St. Paul, our students worked together on a variety of creative projects—from a shared “glue table” on the playground, to building with large wooden blocks on the pavilion, to collaborative art and building experiences in the classroom. These activities encouraged teamwork, communication, and lots of imaginative thinking!

As children build and create together, they explore early math and science concepts while strengthening social and early literacy skills. Open-ended art invites creativity, supports fine motor development, and gives children the freedom to make choices and express their ideas.

We love celebrating the joy of learning through creativity and collaboration! Take a look at our preschool friends working together to design, build, and create. 🎨🧱