In our classrooms, caregivers and educators:

• Use a warm, encouraging manner to set clear, consistent limits and offer choices.
• Sit at the child’s eye level, and make an effort to understand what the child is saying.
• Encourage children to try new skills and let them participate at will.
• Show a genuine interest in a child’s work, understanding that the process is more important than the end product.
• Accept each child as an individual, letting the child work by their own methods.
• Offer encouragement instead of flattery.
• Encourage a child to complete tasks on their own to build independence.
• Use a positive rather than a negative approach in talking with children.
• Handle conflict by redirecting the behavior and/or coaching the children to express their emotions and needs in a socially acceptable way.