Wonder Child: The ECE Lab

Hello to all my wonderful parents and fellow educators! One thing I truly want parents to remember is this:  every behaviour has a reason behind it.  Sometimes that reason is frustration, exhaustion, sensory overload, hunger, jealousy, or simply the overwhelming feeling of wanting connection and attention. In early childhood settings, I often meet parents who feel overwhelmed when their normally sweet child suddenly has a meltdown. In those moments, it can be easy to assume a child is being “bad” or intentionally difficult. However, young children are still learning how to communicate complex emotions and unmet needs. I still remember one child at our centre whose mother had recently welcomed a new baby. The older child eventually gave the baby a small shove to climb back into their mother’s arms. This was not an act of malice; it was a child expressing a deep need for emotional security.  Behaviour is communication long before children have the emotional vocabulary to ex...