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Art of Redirection
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A new kindergartener cam to the class. She held onto the door handle and refused to come into the classroom. I talked to her about some of the games we would be playing with shortly and asked her to come pick out one she might like to play. She reluctantly agreed but soon she was explaining why she liked the game she chose
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Great job, Terry! Your use of redirection by engaging her interest in games effectively eased her transition. Encouraging communication through play is a wonderful strategy for developing sharing skills!
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When two children wanted the same toy, I used redirection by guiding one child to a similar activity, which helped prevent frustration and conflict. To teach communication, I model simple phrases like “my turn” and “help please,” and support turn-taking since sharing is still developing. This helps children express themselves calmly and positively.
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Suparat, your example of using redirection effectively demonstrates a proactive approach to conflict resolution. Modeling simple phrases is a great strategy for fostering communication skills in young children. Well done!
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we we’re learning about trains, the children were full of energy and we couldn’t go outside. They all started to run and be loud so I started to sing the choo choo song and created a train. Children started joining in and redirected their attention to another activity. Redirecting was used to avoid a behavioral issues in the class.
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I had a group of young 3 and 4 year olds playing with blocks, they slowly began building together, and one child wanted to knock the tower over. I let the child who wanted to knock it over sit with me for a while we watched how hard the others were working. We talked about how well everyone was working together, and how beautiful the tower was. He settled and decided to join the others in building rather than destroy it.
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When a child is upset at drop off I will often use redirection after affirming their feelings to help them transition into the schedule. For example, I have a student who often will ask mom for more and more before she leaves to prolong mom’s exit. I will say “ Mommy has to go and I know that’s hard but she will be back to pick you up after we have lots of fun learning and playing at school! Would you like to be first to pick your job for the day?” or ending with any other suggestion that fits into the moment in the schedule we are at but always making it seem more desirable than mom staying. This helps the child not fixate on mom leaving but focus more on the good parts of being at school.
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Redirection is a very powerfully tool i use everyday. I had a 3 yr old who was quick to big feelings i used to redirect him by looking at his shoes and saying how cool his spiderman shoes were. If we were outside i would say “Woah! those are cool shoes i wonder if they make you run faster, lets see ready set go!” and that would help.
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During recess, 1 day I observed a fourth grade student having a disagreement with other students on how to play Foursquare ball game. Seeing that it was about to escalate, I redirected the student by asking to walk around with me and talk about how she felt about playing the game with other students who don’t play the same way as her. By having the student walk around with me and talk about how she felt helped her to calm down.2 methods I use for effective communication with students is Kelso’s choice and STEPS to problem solving.
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In my pre-k classroom, I use redirection when a center is full and a student really wants to play at that center. I redirect the child to another activity I know that they will like. Additionally, we teach communication through role-playing.
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Great job, Marissa! Your use of redirection to guide students to alternative activities shows thoughtful consideration of their interests. Role-playing is an excellent method for enhancing communication skills in young children!
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I work in a preschool Pre-K, 3 to 4 year old’s and they really like physical movement. During this time we have a designated running carpet which is kind off to the side so that they’re able to run on it and dance on it. During that time where they were running on the carpet everybody had gotten too excited and they began running around the classroom. Some of them still had a rough time staying on the carpet so what we did to help them get out more energy is we redirected them to play something different. The game was still physical and I played it with them. It involved a basket and small bean bags which they were able to toss into the basket and we did it as a small two line relay so that way everybody was still involved and new friends were able to join
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Jalynn, your approach to redirection is commendable! Incorporating movement while promoting engagement fosters a positive environment. Your relay game creatively supports communication and teamwork—great job encouraging sharing among the children!
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I recently just accepted a 4 year old boy(David) within my childcare. Not his real name, but David is an only child and has an issue of taking any toy out of the other kids hands. Some kids are not use to this kind of behavior because they have been within my childcare for years and know how to share with each. They also know how to take turns. Some kids cry or get mad when the toy is ripped out their hands. When I see the David ripping away the toys out of their hands I act very shock saying “UH OHH! Look David we made them sad. We don’t like making people sad do we? What should we do? Should we keep it or give it back?” I let the David process his action and he usually makes the right decisions. After this I redirect David to an activity or to wait for his turn. This has helped the daycare kids to say “UH OHH” and then I walk over and repeat the questions and during this time David is already giving me solutions saying “I want to wait for my turn or repeating UH OH”
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We have a student who has been with us for months but still hasn’t gotten use to the routine of coming to daycare and cries so much for his mom. I always try giving him a hug and telling him that his mommy always comes back for him. then I ask him has she left you here forever? And he says no and I always tell him remember that when nap time is over mommy will come get you,and he starts calming down. then I ask him if he wants to make her a drawing, that we can use big kids color pencils and crayons and we will save it for mommy for when she arrives.
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We have a 3 year old in our classroom that has been struggling with keeping his body to himself in the classroom. When I see that he is starting to wander around the classroom and touch the other children’s work, I ask him if he would like to help me with some of the tasks that we have. He usually is very receptive to the redirecting, and it helps him feel like he has his own work that he can do.
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One afternoon while we were outside for playtime, I always have these two boys that fight over the same time. I noticed the one boy eyeing the other boy that had the toy and started to see him walk over knowing he was going to take the toy from him and cause an issue. so I immediately called the boys name and asked him if he would like to get a game of soccer going with two of the other boys that were just hanging out this help deter a situation that could’ve got out of hand and ended up in some discipline
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I am a toddler teacher at a Montessori preschool, and utilize positive redirection when it feels appropriate within my classroom. My example is one method that me and the other teachers use often, and I feel it has a positive effect. When one of our kids is focused on a solo work, it is not uncommon for another child to try taking or using the work with them. Developmentally, not all of our children are able to use words yet to express what they need, so how we go about redirection depends on meeting them where they are at and responding appropriately. If a child can not speak, I will remind them that that is another childs work, and offer to help them find their own work. If they seem to want to be close to the other child, I will tell them they can watch, or find their own work and work beside them.
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I used redirection when a child became upset over a toy by guiding them to a different activity. This helped prevent the situation to escalate. I support communication by modeling simple phrases like ” My turn next” and reminding children that sharing takes time to learn.
