Posts Tagged Kindergarten students

Does Less Play Mean More Discipline?

On May 1, 2014 / Discipline, Effectiveness

More and more kindergarten teachers tell me each year, “This is the worst group of kids I’ve ever had.”

Does this ring true for you too?

The reason teachers have this perception is that young children do not have the social skills that children developed in prior years. In many communities and schools today, kids are deprived of opportunities to engage in play activities that prompt both creativity and successful social relationships. Instead, they are engaged in developing academic skills (many boys of whom have not yet developed cognitively enough to be successful).

This push for academics at an early age (some children are being pushed to read by age 3!) is at the expense of promoting empowering self-images and … >>>

Using Levels of Development with Kindergarten – High School Students

On August 19, 2013 / Levels of Development

The Levels of Development (the first part of the discipline program of the Discipline Without Stress Teaching Model) can be used with Kindergarten to high school students.

The following comments come from a kindergarten and a high school teacher, respectively.

I had a particularly challenging Kindergarten class and taught the hierarchy. I was surprised how quickly my youngsters were able to pick up the language and were able to label situations as ‘Anarchy’ and ‘Bullying.’

We used the ‘Happy Face’ poster and discussed how Level A and Level B usually result in tears. We talked about what Level C and Level D are like in the hallway, in the bathroom, etc.

It was very effective. Kindergarten students were certainly able … >>>

Using the Levels of Development with Very Young People

On July 24, 2013 / Discipline, Effectiveness, Levels of Development

The Levels of Development uses just four (4) concepts, or vocabulary terms, to describe two unacceptable behaviors (Level A and Level B) and two other terms to describe the concepts of external motivation (Level C) and internal motivation (Level D). The use of these terms leads to improved self-discipline.

Some primary teachers feel uncomfortable using the terms associated with unacceptable behaviors—anarchy and bullying. Rather than ignoring these negative concepts, young people are empowered when they can identify, articulate, and resist them.

The way to learn a concept is to have a way to describe it. This is the reason that one of the most fundamental approaches to … >>>