Day: May 3, 2024

How Do We Meet the Needs of Families Whose Children Have Experienced Trauma? 

Early childhood educators not only serve the children in their care, we also serve the families of those children. When a child experiences a traumatic event, it is probable that family members have also lived through that traumatic event. In order to benefit all involved in helping a child overcome their trauma experience, it is imperative that we use a trauma-informed approach when interacting with families.

How do we meet the needs of families that have experienced trauma? In order to help children heal, educators must partner with families. Recovering from trauma involves the support of both educators and family members. Working with families that have experienced trauma can be challenging if not approached in a proper and delicate way.

As educators, we need to reduce any anxiety or stress that meeting with families may bring. Much of our own anxiety can be addressed through ongoing education about best practices and trauma-informed care. Strengthen your understanding of trauma and fill your toolbox with strategies you feel confident implementing.

Here are some things to keep in mind when working with families:

• Engage and include families in the program in caring, nonjudgmental ways.
• Communicate through multiple means and use each family’s primarily preferred method of communication whenever possible.
• Invite families to the classroom to volunteer, spend time with their children, and strengthen relationships between all parties. Recognize that this might be an additional stressor for families, and it should not be forced.

When collaborating with families, it may be beneficial to hold regularly scheduled meetings. Use these opportunities with families to deepen your connection by learning more about their home lives and offering space for them to ask questions about the program. When meeting with families:

• Ensure that they feel physically and emotionally safe. Calmly and warmly greeting and speaking with families can ease anxiety.
• Be transparent and trustworthy. Let families know what you want to discuss. Make sure that families understand that the purpose of all meetings is to work together to help the child heal and thrive.
• Identify opportunities to create consistency between home and school. Share strategies that seem effective at school and learn about how families support children at home. Include families in decisions and build a sense of shared intention. Family engagement only works if there is a true collaboration.
• If a family member becomes upset or agitated, acknowledge their feelings, redirect the conversation back to the best interests of the child, and calmly suggest that a break should be taken.
• If a child is working with an outside specialist (such as a trauma specialist or a child therapist), ask for the family’s permission to invite the specialist to the classroom so that you can collaborate to better support the child. Work with both specialists and families to create action plans that support children’s positive behaviors, development, and learning.

To better serve our families it is best to apply the same trauma-sensitive lenses to families that are used to help children heal. Regardless of the specific strategies used, building a sense of security, trust, and consistency will be required.

For the main article Impact of Trauma on Children, CLICK HERE

For the article The Impact of Traumatic Events, CLICK HERE

For the article Recognizing the Signs of Trauma and Traumatic Stress in Children, CLICK HERE

For the article Helping Children Who Have Experienced Trauma, CLICK HERE

Helping Children Who Have Experienced Trauma

With the high percentage of children in our classrooms who have experienced traumatic events or adverse childhood experiences, how do we help our students be successful? The first step is recognizing signs of trauma and then using trauma-informed practices in our classrooms. As educators, there are several ways we can support the children in our classrooms.

• Create trusting, caring, and responsive relationships with children
• Create safe and predictable environments where students can thrive
• Learn to identify patterns of behavior and possible triggers in the classroom
• Build positive behavior supports
• Implement social-emotional learning strategies
• Help students learn tools to self-regulate
• Practice and model self-care strategies

Not all strategies will work for all children. Different traumas may result in different triggers and stressors, so we need to be aware of what works for each individual child.

How do we help children in a classroom with so many individual needs?  We can use some of the following strategies in our classrooms to help children who have experienced trauma.

• Create consistent routines. Stability helps children understand that the world can be a safe place. Creating and maintaining a consistent daily routine in the classroom can help children feel empowered when they know the order of events and how they will be carried out.  Inform children when something out of the ordinary is going to occur or when a change in the routine is going to happen to help them feel more secure throughout the day.
• Anticipate difficult periods and transitions during the school day and offer extra support during these times.
• Offer children developmentally appropriate choices. Children can feel more in control and empowered if they are able to make even the smallest choices throughout the day.
• Use techniques to support children’s self-regulation. Introduce deep breathing and other centering activities that can help children self-regulate. You can learn more about these types of activities in the CCEI course SOC106: The Value of Mindfulness in Early Childhood Settings.
• Understand that children make sense of their experiences by reenacting them in play or through interactions with peers or adults. Teachers can help children manage their feelings by remaining composed and offering empathy and support.  Rather than becoming angry, calmly initiate healthy interactions. Be nurturing and affectionate but also sensitive to children’s individual triggers.
• Assure children that they are safe and that you are a safe person they can come to for help. Explain that they are not responsible for what has occurred. Children often blame themselves for events that are completely out of their control. Reassure them that they do not need to feel guilty or bad about any feelings or thoughts they may be experiencing.
• • Use positive guidance to help all children. Strive to create supportive interventions to guide children to appropriate activities.  CCEI offers 3 courses on positive guidance that you might find helpful:

• • • GUI106: Foundations of Positive Guidance
    • GUI107: Practicing Positive Guidance with Infants and Toddlers
    • GUI108: Practicing Positive Guidance with Preschool and School-Age Children

With support, many children who experience traumatic events are able to recover and thrive. As a caring adult, you play an important role in helping them through this traumatic event.  Be patient, some children will recover quickly while others recover more slowly.  Seek the help of a trained professional when needed. A mental health professional trained in evidence-based trauma treatment can help children and families cope and move toward recovery.

For the main article Impact of Trauma on Children, CLICK HERE

For the article The Impact of Traumatic Events, CLICK HERE

For the article Recognizing the Signs of Trauma and Traumatic Stress in Children, CLICK HERE

For the article How Do We Meet the Needs of Families Whose Children Have Experienced Trauma?, CLICK HERE

Recognizing the Signs of Trauma and Traumatic Stress in Children

A great number of young children experience one or more traumatic events and associated Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). These experiences can have a lasting effect on the well-being of children. Studies have found that the greater the number of ACEs a child is exposed to, the greater the chances they will have physical and mental health conditions throughout their life.

Traumatic events can cause reactions that impact their daily lives. These reactions are known as Child Traumatic Stress. These stress symptoms may develop as the child attempts to manage negative emotions that emerge in response to memories of the event. The symptoms may be seen immediately or show up later. They may also continue for days, weeks, or months after the traumatic experience and may resurface at different periods throughout a young child’s life. Some children may be more susceptible to developing traumatic stress reactions than others.

What are some signs and symptoms that we should be able to recognize as a possible result of Child Traumatic Stress? The signs and symptoms of traumatic stress look different in each child and at different ages, making it difficult to recognize. Young children may exhibit some of the following stress-related symptoms:

• Feelings of helplessness and uncertainty
• Fear of being separated from their caregivers
• Excessive crying
• Loss of appetite and weight loss
• Bedwetting or regression in toileting skills
• Regressions in speech and/or language development
• Delays in meeting expected developmental milestones
• New fears
• Nightmares
• Recreating the trauma through their play
• Concerns or questions about death

These symptoms of childhood trauma, difficulties learning, playing, communicating, interacting, and creating relationships are often misunderstood and viewed as intentional acts, or they are diagnosed as disorders not specifically related to trauma.

To fully understand children’s challenging behaviors, a teacher must communicate with families regularly to understand whether the behaviors seen in the classroom might be connected to traumatic experiences. Children who have experienced trauma need loving and nurturing adults who can support them.

Studies have found that a young child’s brain can change and reorganize in response to new experiences. Having healthy and consistent interactions with early childhood educators can greatly influence their brain development and their ability to engage successfully in an early learning environment. As educators, we need to recognize these traumatic stress symptoms and use trauma-informed practices in our classrooms to the benefit of all children.

For the main article Impact of Trauma on Children, CLICK HERE

For the article The Impact of Traumatic Events, CLICK HERE

For the article Helping Children Who Have Experienced Trauma, CLICK HERE

For the article How Do We Meet the Needs of Families Whose Children Have Experienced Trauma?, CLICK HERE

The Impact of Traumatic Events

A traumatic event is a scary, dangerous, or violent event, it may occur directly to an individual. An individual may simply just be a witness to a traumatic event for a lasting impact to occur. Traumatic events can cause emotional and physical reactions that can continue long after the event has occurred. Traumatic events can occur from outside the family or within the family. These events can include but are not limited to, physical, sexual, or psychological abuse and neglect, natural disasters, family or community violence, terrorism and school shootings, discrimination, prejudice and racism, or the sudden loss of a loved one. Substance abuse, incarceration of a parent, serious accidents and illnesses, and military family-related stressors.

Children who have faced one or more traumatic events may develop signs of Child Traumatic Stress. The effects of traumatic experiences that occur to children aged 0-6 may be a little more difficult to evaluate. Young children’s reactions may be different from older children’s, and because they may not be able to verbalize their reactions to threatening or dangerous events, many people assume that young age protects children from the impact of traumatic experiences.

Research has established that young children may be affected by events that threaten their safety or the safety of their parents and caregivers, and their symptoms have been well documented.  Research has found that over a quarter of children have experienced at least one traumatic event before the age of four, and many have experienced multiple traumas in their young lives. Young brains that are still rapidly developing can be greatly affected by trauma.

Early childhood trauma has been associated with reduced size of the brain cortex. This area of the brain is responsible for many complex functions including memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thinking, and language development. These changes may affect IQ and the ability to regulate emotions, and the child may become more fearful and may not feel as safe or as protected.

Young children experience both behavioral and physiological symptoms associated with trauma. Unlike older children, young children may not be able to express in words whether they feel afraid, overwhelmed, or helpless. Young children suffering from traumatic stress symptoms generally have difficulty regulating their behaviors and emotions. They may be clingy and fearful of new situations, easily frightened, difficult to console, and aggressive and impulsive. They may also have difficulty sleeping, lose recently acquired developmental skills, and show regression in functioning and behavior.

Not all children are affected in the same way or degree by traumatic events. Children can be protected from long-term harm of traumatic events by having the reliable presence of a positive,  caring, and protective parent or caregiver who can help shield children against adverse experiences. These individuals can be a consistent resource for their children, encourage them to talk about their experiences, and provide reassurance to their children. As early childhood educators, we can be one of those positive people for a child who has experienced trauma.

For the main article Impact of Trauma on Children, CLICK HERE

For the article Recognizing the Signs of Trauma and Traumatic Stress in Children, CLICK HERE

For the article Helping Children Who Have Experienced Trauma, CLICK HERE

For the article How Do We Meet the Needs of Families Whose Children Have Experienced Trauma?, CLICK HERE

Impact of Trauma on Children

Traumatic events are frightening, dangerous, or violent events that can threaten someone’s life or well-being. Many different events can cause trauma, and the emotions and physical reactions they cause can continue long after the event has occurred. Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can have lasting effects on the individual’s daily functioning including possible changes in mental, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual health.

Statistics show that 26% of children will experience a traumatic event before the age of four. Over a quarter of the children in our classrooms have experienced at least one traumatic or adverse childhood event. How do we help this large percentage of children in our care? How do we teach children facing such trauma?

In this month’s newsletter, we will look at traumatic events, adverse childhood events, and the impact these experiences have on young children. We will explore how to recognize the signs of trauma and traumatic stress in the children we care for. The newsletter will also cover how to help the children who have experienced trauma and how we can help meet the needs of the families we serve whose children have experienced trauma. We will also delve into how trauma-informed practices in our classrooms can benefit all of the children we teach and care for.

For the article The Impact of Traumatic Events, CLICK HERE

For the article Recognizing the Signs of Trauma and Traumatic Stress in Children, CLICK HERE

For the article Helping Children Who Have Experienced Trauma, CLICK HERE

For the article How Do We Meet the Needs of Families Whose Children Have Experienced Trauma?, CLICK HERE