Discipline in Daycare

Poll: what is the best kind of discipline in daycare? Your opinions matter.

May 15, 2006

These are the results for poll #4 that has been active for the last month.

Over the last month, viewers of this page have had the opportunity to vote on the latest poll in the Day Care Page. This poll has addressed the idea of discipline and the best way for daycare teachers and childcare providers to encourage positive behaviors and discourage the negative. Over 50% of respondents felt that the best strategy is a system of time-outs.

Generally, children may begin having time-outs at age 2, but this is a very general idea and differs greatly from child to child with individual development. Another general rule is that a time-out should last one minute for every year old the child is. (The kids will sometimes play putting teachers in time-out, and at my center many of us laugh and respond that we would be happy to have 25 or 30 minutes to sit quietly on a chair in an out-of-the-way place.)

Not surprisingly, other options on the poll received far less votes. "Yelling and threats" often do not work, especially when children have seen that the threats are not specific and that the consequences are not followed through if the behavior persists. "Calling the parents," surprisingly received 4 votes. This may be effective if the behavior is an ongoing one, rather than simply a one-time incident.

In what may also be an anomaly, "loss of a positive experience, such as playground time," won only two votes. Or it may not be an anomaly because of parental and teacher understanding that often negative behavior is due to the need to release excess energy. In fact, often if a group of children are being extra loud, strategies such as playing one "Dancing Song," that all may dance and giggle to can release the extra energy, or if a child is having hard time sitting still, some respond to the opportunity to run around the playground as many times as possible in thirty seconds or one minute.

I want to say thank you to everyone who contributed to this poll. Your participation strengthens the community here on the Day Care Page and lends me valuable information about what readers are thinking and want to hear about in the future.

The copyright of the article Discipline in Daycare in Day Care is owned by Carrie Henderson Weston. Permission to republish Discipline in Daycare in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.