We have an adorable, yet very naughty Yorkshire
Terrier. His name is Motu and is almost
11 months old. We enrolled Motu in a
Doggy Training School course.
I visited his school last week to see his halfway
progress. The trainer took me to the
room and asked me to hold Motu’s leash.
She proceeded to stack a dog kennel and a backpack against the
door. Next, she buckled a pack of treats
around her waist. She was ready to show
me what Motu had learned so far.
As soon as he was unleashed, Motu ran around the room sniffing. To my dismay, he even hiked a leg and peed on
the wall. The trainer didn’t say a
word. She took a stack of paper towels
and cleaned the wall. She waited for
Motu to stop running around the room.
When he was calm, she called for him to come to her and she praised
him. She told him to sit and he
did. She told him to lay down, but Motu
was too busy sniffing the rug. She tried
a couple more times, but realized that he was too engrossed in smelling the
rug. She rolled up the rug, and now Motu
was more focused. He laid down on
command. He even went to his bed when she told him to. In the middle of the showcase, dogs barked
from another room. Motu ran to the
door. The trainer explained that she had
to put the kennel and backpack there to prevent Motu from wiggling under the
door crack.
You have read this far and are wondering how this relates to young children, right?
Knowledge of Development
The trainer knew that some of the behaviors Motu was
displaying are normal dog behaviors, instinctual even. It is normal for a dog to sniff and mark
their territory. Motu is not
developmentally ready to break those habits, so she ignored them and focused
instead on the skills he could learn. The
same is true for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners. We need to know what their developmental
level is and what we can appropriately expect of them. In a preschool classroom, we should not
expect a 4 year old to sit criss-cross-applesauce to listen to a story. Is it so wrong if a child lays on his stomach
instead? Are we more concerned about the
skills of sitting or the skill of listening to a story? We need to decide what skills we are wanting
to focus on.
The Environment
One of my favorite early childhood gurus, Lisa Murphy, says that adults
should “control the environment, not the child.” Motu’s trainer did this. She barricaded the door, because she knew
from past experiences that the large crack caused a distraction. She did not
scold Motu when he marked his territory, instead she rolled up the rug so he
wouldn’t be as likely to do it again. In
your home or classroom, how does this apply?
We arrange furniture to prevent “run ways” that entice children from
running. We provide calming corners for
children who might need to take a break during the day. We create a visual schedule for nap time, because
we know that some children do not know what to expect. We control the environment, not the child.
So take it from Motu’s trainer:
- Know what to expect developmentally from children
- Identify the most important skill to teach
- Make changes to the environment in order to set the children up for success
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