[allie]

Building connections with children in the classroom is essential for creating a positive and supportive learning environment. Here are some pieces of advice for early learning providers who want to strengthen their connections with children:

1. Be Present and Engaged: Show genuine interest in the children by actively participating in their activities, asking open-ended questions, and listening attentively to their responses. Being present and engaged in the moment helps build trust and rapport with the children.

2. Create a Warm and Welcoming Environment: Set the tone for positive interactions by creating a warm and welcoming classroom environment. Use cheerful colors, comfortable seating areas, and displays of children’s artwork to make the space inviting and inclusive.

3. Use Positive Reinforcement: Acknowledge and praise children’s efforts and achievements to boost their self-esteem and confidence. Positive reinforcement can be as simple as offering verbal praise, high-fives, or stickers for a job well done.

4. Respect Each Child’s Individuality: Recognize and celebrate each child’s unique strengths, interests, and preferences. Avoid making comparisons between children or imposing rigid expectations that may not align with their individual needs and abilities.

5. Encourage Open Communication: Foster open and honest communication with the children by creating opportunities for them to express their thoughts, feelings, and concerns. Encourage them to share their ideas, opinions, and experiences without fear of judgment.

6. Be Responsive to Children’s Needs: Pay attention to children’s cues and signals to anticipate their needs and provide appropriate support and guidance. Whether it’s offering comfort to a child who is upset or providing extra help with a challenging task, being responsive shows that you care about their well-being.

7. Build Trust Over Time: Building strong connections with children takes time and consistent effort. Be patient and persistent in your interactions, and prioritize building trust and rapport with each child individually.

8. Incorporate Child-Led Activities: Allow children to take the lead in their learning by incorporating child-led activities and projects into the curriculum. Giving children autonomy and ownership over their learning fosters a sense of empowerment and engagement.

9. Show Empathy and Compassion: Demonstrate empathy and compassion in your interactions with children, especially during difficult or challenging moments. Validate their feelings, offer comfort and support, and help them navigate through their emotions in a positive and constructive way.

10. Be a Positive Role Model: Lead by example and model positive behaviors, attitudes, and communication skills for the children to emulate. Your actions and demeanor set the tone for the classroom culture and influence how children interact with one another.

By implementing these strategies, early learning providers can foster strong connections with children in their classroom, creating a nurturing and supportive environment where children feel valued, respected, and empowered to learn and grow.

[Samantha Lucey]

My first piece of advice would be, get on their level. Either while talking with them or just they way you play with them! Sit on the floor and help build the Legos, get on your knees when someone comes over to you upset, and give them the listening ear they crave. Give hugs when they are upset, but always ask first. Walk over to the situation instead of raising your voice to reach across the room.

[rosemary Quintero]

i would encourage providers to have children help other children. for example if a child needs help zipping up their coat i would ask another child to help them.

[Danielle]

focus on the ‘serve and return’, for younger children, allow more activities to be child-led, with you engaging in their activity, not the other way around.

[Autumn Canfield]

This is the advice I would give to other early learning providers who want to build relationships with children in their classroom: spend one on one time with the child, consistently talk to the child, figure out how they best function, get to know them and learn what they like and don’t like, and observe them during a project or an activity to see how they like to learn.

[Ayan Ibrahim]

To spend time interacting with children and building a bond. Learn their hobbies, dislike and likes and get to know them will make them feel seen and heard

[Liwen Huang]

Greet each child when they arrive.. Show them strong attention individually. give them care and affection when they do something bad. Let them know they are doing good and are loved by you.

[Kayla]

What advice would you give to other Early learning Providers who want to build connections with children in their classroom?

I would say to them to pay attention to the wills of the children and also make eye contact when they are speaking and also listen attentively and also don’t talk down to them because they can sense when someone does that.

[Tetiana Nix]

My advice is to always interact with children during playtime during circle time during outside time always serve and return with them. Also when the child goes to you just pay attention to them also involve everyone in activities don’t single no one out.

[Jordan]

<b style=”background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; color: var(–bb-body-text-color);”>The advice I would give to other Early learning providers that want to build connections is to re-word your saying like instead of saying “Stop running around the room” say “Let’s not run around the room we might run into someone else and get hurt, we don’t want to hurt are friends” the kid will then realize that they don’t want to hurt our friend or to go to time out.

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by  Jordan.

[Bethany]

Spend time getting to know each child individual. Strive to do things with each child that let’s them know you are seeing them, listening to them, and that they are important.

[Christina Rachelle Fiant]

Talking/listening to the children I believe is the most critical aspect – whether that’s as you go about the day’s schedule, while playing with them, or in asking them about themselves to learn about them or to see what may be going on if they are acting out or feeling disconnected for any number of reasons. Being as active as you can with the children – not only observing from the sidelines – in play, conversation and activities in general, will really build a strong bond and provide security for each or your children, especially if you do your best to incorporate some “special time” for each of them. Even when we can’t do as much as we would like with each one individually, just practicing “serve and return” throughout the day in whatever may come up is what will really create a trusting and nurturing relationship they can then build their learning off of.

[Mackenzie]

I would advise them to find activities that will help the children not only get to know each other but a way for them to get to know the teachers as well as a way to build trust between them, I would also advise them to have activities the kids may have come up with so they are more interested in the activities.

[Christina Fletcher]

First I would get on their level. Either while talking with them or just they way you play with them! Sit on the floor and engage in what they are playing with. Pay attention to their needs and meet their emotional and physical needs to build trust. listen to them see what’s bothering them and offer support, like a hug or a rub on the back.

[Mason]

Interact with the children, actively listen, take an interest in their interests, and encourage social and independent play time.