St. Christopher’s Preschool would like to stress the importance of a discipline policy.  Children, ages 2-5, are learning so many new things.  They are testing their boundaries, checking their surroundings and testing their limits.  For some children, this is their first experience without their family as security; for other children, this is a new experience with new people, and some are already comfortable in our environment.  We work with children at all different stages.

We are trained and able to handle developmentally appropriate behaviors of the young child. At preschool, children begin to break out of parallel play, which means that they are beginning to play with each other, instead of beside each other.  In these cases, sharing is the culprit of many of our disputes.  Each child will be taught to handle their feelings and emotions in an appropriate way in the classroom; with respect for others and without negative words and/or actions.  Of course, this will be hard!  Preschool is mostly a place where children learn how to be social, expand their attention span and listen to adults, other than their guardians.  We do expect them to learn and follow the rules of our classroom, listen and be respectful to others. As they are learning their way, we will give verbal warnings and redirect when need be.

We will also put into effect some aspects of Conflict Resolution. This teaches children about their own character, as well as working with other children and their feelings.  Hopefully this will be enough for any situations that will arise and the outcome will be growing and learning experiences for everyone.   In the cases of negative physical behavior - hitting, biting, bullying and any other negative physical behaviors - our actions will depend on the situation.   We will verbally warn and redirect the aggressor.  We will assess the situation and discuss what happened with all parties involved.  Parents of each child will be notified.  If necessary, the aggressor will be redirected to the table for a quiet activity or a break from class.  We have no tolerance, if the behaviors become overly disruptive and/or destructive - we will contact the parents or guardians to pick up his/her child.  Due to our small space and limited staff - we are unprepared to deal with this type of behavior.  The staff will take the opportunity to speak with the child and their parents about his/her actions in class and hopefully the negative behavior will cease.   If the behaviors continue - we will have a parent/teacher conference to discuss further actions.

If there are any behavioral concerns from the teachers and or other parents, please feel free to speak to the director as soon as the situation arises.  We want what is best for every child in our program. Please Note: We will never ‘diagnose’ a child - this is not our area of expertise; however, we will let you know if we are concerned about certain behaviors.  A lot of actions are considered developmentally appropriate for children ages 2-5, but sometimes in the classroom, we can observe a child that is having some difficulty in an area.  This does not mean that there is something wrong with your child - it may just mean that they need some extra attention in this area - In these cases, we need your help as a parent to be open minded in helping us figure out what is best for your child and our preschool environment.  We do not want this to be stressful for anyone.   There are many resources available to deal with any type of behavioral issue that may arise.  We reserve the right to express our concerns.