A positive school climate is a prerequisite for developmentally appropriate discipline strategies. Children are motivated to behave through healthy relationships or through rewards (stars, stickers, point system). Healthy relationships teach children to value each other, while rewards teach children to value material things. In this very interactive workshop participants will learn how to:
• Build a school family using rituals, literature, activities, music and the physical classroom environment.
• Help challenging children join the school family and develop the motivation and desire to be cooperative.
• Use the power of the school family to support academic success.
• Use the school family as the basis of the classroom management system.
• Transform hurtful interactions into helpful communication skills.
• Design the physical environment to meet the social and emotional needs of all children.