Ep. 66: Behavior Management for Early Learners - 5 Preschool Classroom Strategies

Teaching little ones with big feelings can be equal parts joyful and challenging. In this episode, we share five simple, effective strategies for supporting early learners in preschool and special education settings. From using visuals to keeping it playful, you’ll walk away with practical tools you can try tomorrow.

🔑 Key Takeaways
•  Keep it visual: Use simple schedules, choice boards, and social stories to support communication and independence.
•  Narrate everything: Model positive language with calm, playful tones (think Mr. Rogers or Miss Rachel style).
•  Prevention matters: Catch behaviors early with pre-corrections, sensory breaks, and proactive supports.
•  Repetition is key: Expect to teach skills 50+ times—consistency builds mastery.
•  Play is better than lecture: Embed learning into games, role play, and parallel play for lasting impact.

📦 Resources & Links
•  Related Episodes: Episode #64 Preschool Circle Time
    Episode #18 Behavior Management Basics
•  If you need some preschool circle time ideas, check these out!

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Transcript

Ep. 66: Behavior Management for Early Learners - 5 Preschool Classroom Strategies 

[00:00:00] Intro: Welcome to the Misfit Behaviorist Podcast. Join your hosts, Audra Jensen and Caitlin Beltran, here to bring you evidence-based strategies with a student-centered focus. Let's get started.

[00:00:12] Audra: Hi everybody. Welcome back to the Misfit Behaviors Podcast. We are here, Caitlin and I, today to talk about behavior management for the early learners, so those little ones, and I have just five simple strategies that I've found that worked over the years. Thinking about those little ones with their big feelings and interesting behaviors sometimes. So they're my favorite population to work with.

[00:00:35] Caitlin: I think it's funny because when I first started, I worked with the littles and I was like, oh my God, they're so cute, I don't wanna work with any other age group. And then I worked with seven to nine year olds and I was like, okay, that's it. And then I ended up working with young adults and I really had a passion by the end of my time at my private school for working with like young adults with disabilities. But now that I'm in district and I'm back to pre-K through eighth, I love to do like the bubbles and get on the floor and play with them.

[00:00:59] Audra: It's hilarious that over the years my favorite population was like, whatever my kids were. When they were little, I loved working littles and then they got a little older and all the way up to adulthood and adults are really fun. Just because you can have more like real conversations and real life situations going on. Even the most impacted, it's really fun to work with adults in that situation. But now that my kids are all gone and I don't have grandkids yet, but they're old enough to have them and so I look at my friends who have grandkids, and I'm like, oh, I'm back to enjoying the little kids.

[00:01:29] I find working with early learners is a little bit different just in that, we always talk about behavior is communication, no matter who, but with the littles in particular, that's really their mode of communication when before they've really gained any communication. Now, there are some, even as young as we're talking about, that do have defiant behaviors, but that's really the exception of the rule over the years that I've worked with so many littles, for the most part, all the behaviors I've ever seen, not the exceptions, are really just communication because they haven't yet gained those verbal or communication skills at all. And so they're developing that impulse control. They're learning to ask for attention in the ways that they need it. They're learning to get their needs met. A lot of times their internal needs, they can't even recognize yet. And so the behavior come out because they don't know what's going on with their bodies and their surroundings. And so I think it's just really important, before we start talking about behaviors, that we remember that those behaviors are just communication, but we still have to deal with behaviors. You know, we can't just go, oh, well, you know, they're, they're speaking their language. They have to learn the skills, especially if you're talking three, four, or five before they get into the typical school setting. We really wanna teach 'em some of those strategies.

[00:02:41] Caitlin: And that's hard because when you're thinking about preschool, if you're in a school model, they're coming in at three, having none of this communication potentially, but they could be entering a room where it is structure. We have morning meeting, we have transitioned to art, so all of a sudden their whole world is slipped upside down. So we do see a lot of those behaviors.

[00:02:59] Audra: That's a really good point. I've noticed a stark difference between kids who come in with IFSPs we had the birth to three programs, so they've had some introduction to structure. Right? Even if it was in the home, your birth to three systems usually are in the homes, but they're still starting to teach some learning skills and those that are coming in at three with no preschool background or any sort of group learning situation, those are a little bit harder wrangle around to get them to understand those expectations. But again, that's just giving yourself a little grace as well as them a little grace as they learn. So I've told staff that I've worked with, you have these kids that come in with that background. Think of these guys as starting way back at 18 months old. Your mentality has to be 18 months old. What do we do with an 18 month old? We do very little. So start there with these guys.

[00:03:43] So I have five quick tips that I thought about. So the first one is to keep things visual. Keep them simple and keep it visual. So these early learners, they're not necessarily ignoring you. They often need a picture, something visual to go with the words. And this is not just for kids on the spectrum, this is for all of our littles who again, don't have that verbal language, that foundation yet. So things like first, then cards, the simple schedules, clear choice boards, all of us know anybody listening knows about all of these. Just remember, it's not cheating to do these things. It's really teaching them what they need. When my son was diagnosed when he was two, and I probably told you the story, he was diagnosed with autism, but also hyperlexia. So when he was two, he had started to read, like he could read words that you put in front of him, but he didn't have any verbal language functionally, like he could read the word that he didn't know what it meant. We knew right away that that visual thing is gonna be an in for him. So we decorated the house with like index cards 'cause he loved to read. It wasn't that we were forcing it on him, he loved the written word. And so we, we put, you know, couch on the couch, we put the word wall on the wall and milk, and so anytime you go up to the fridge, we'd have, we had all the little cards, the things he wanted and we would prompt him, we'd hand him the card. He didn't know what milk was saying it, but he knew how to read it. So he'd say, milk. Oh, that's right. You want the milk. And so we'd give him visual contact and it was the in. And that is actually how he learned his first communication words. It was the key to his success in moving forward and gaining just communication, but this is why social stories are so powerful is 'cause you're putting a picture and words into a social situation and giving them expectations, and then being able to read a story over and over and have that repetitive practice. And I think those things are so powerful. So tip number one is just to make things as visual as possible.

[00:05:35] Caitlin: So if you're working with somebody who's not, doesn't have reading abilities, which a lot of our little guys don't, sticking to the pictures, but even those, like not throwing the whole daily schedule or the weekly schedule to them, but maybe just first this and that. And even with that, like prioritizing what we're teaching them, because like you mentioned, everything's new to them. So even the idea of this picture representing something, they're not gonna understand that right away. It's like a double-edged sword with our visuals. So we wanna use them all the time, but we also wanna prioritize and be meaningful with them that we're not just like throwing pictures at them all day long, like we're really picking a few that are really functional and following through with those.

[00:06:14] Audra: And there's something to be said for using real pictures and not just real pictures of the things, but the pictures of them doing something. You're talking about learning to sit for circle time or something, if you can get them in a picture sitting at the circle time, that's the most powerful that I've ever seen. And again, with the words reading, if you put, sit or something written on there, you don't know at what point they're going to be able to match those written words. And as they get older and we have more capability of using the written language, it opens up new field where you gonna pull out a post it, write quick, quick rules down to them. Keep it really simple. Make it as real, as functional for them as possible. And then just repetitive practice and just present it at all times. And I think this is a great thing I've learned from my speech therapist over the years is that when you're talking, when you want them to use pictures, that when you're talking, you should be using the pictures too. Whether you're having them on the lanyards or using an AAC device or something, when you are talking with them, you should be using the same pictures. It's time for circle and you're using it and you say, okay, let's go play. And you're using it to show them as well as expecting them to eventually use it too.

[00:07:19] My tip number two is to narrate like a Disney movie and you talked about this recently about using that positive language instead of the negative. So instead of saying no hitting, we're gonna say, we use gentle hands or something. We all know we've heard that many, many times. That's a really good thing. But then beef it up, you narrate what you're doing with that calm and sing song energy. Using Mr. Rogers, those happy who's Mrs. Ms. Rachel. Right? She's the big one right now. Oh yeah. Just if you put any sort of little tone and making it like repetitive, put any sort of fun tone, you're gonna get more responses. They're also, with that choral responding, going to be able to start saying that with you.

[00:07:59] Caitlin: I remember why I enjoyed moving up to the older grade because when I first started going from private school to public, I was like, they're just singing all the time, bursting into song when it's time to for art or time for reading or something. But like I did wanna say, like you mentioned, whatever you say is going to be repeated at some point by someone, if not multiple learners in your classroom. So again, it's just that reminder to keep it positive. And I, you know, sometimes when you say, oh, keep it positive, people think like, oh, not everything's positive. I don't mean great. I mean like saying the positive action and not like the negative. So do you want a classroom full of kids saying walking feet if that's the worst thing they're gonna repeat? Or do you want a classroom full of kid saying, stop hitting? What are you doing? Think about your choice. Just be careful what you say because one, it's probably not gonna produce desired results, but two, it's just going to get repeated.

[00:08:49] Audra: I think there is some research that says, especially for those early language learners, when you use the no hitting or something, we don't do this or something. What they're hearing is the last thing you said, and so you just told them hitting. So without what to do, there's some research, these early language learners are going to only process that last thing you said, so if you're saying don't do that, you're actually telling them to do the thing. So that's another reason to switch that around. Now there are times, especially if you're somebody who doesn't use the don't and does use that positive language, but there are some times where using that negative, firm language does work. You have somebody who's engaged in very unsafe behavior. If you use that stern, we don't do this. And with that really stern voice, you may actually get some good behavior reaction out of that. Just use it really sparingly and that, and for those that actually it does respond to.

[00:09:39] Tip number three is prevention. Because, you know, prevention is all about everything we need to do. Nothing lasts forever. So you wanna catch that chaos before it happens, before it erupts. Most of those big behaviors start with that tiny spark. And as you get to know your learners, you're gonna identify what those little sparks are. The more you can catch things happening beforehand is something we've talked about a lot on this podcast and everywhere, whether it's the restlessness or it's fast breathing, it's grabbing at toys, an increase in vocalizations, I find is a very common precursor, step in use early movement, sensory tools and escape from whatever you're doing, a little break or something. Even just a hug, also giving that sensory, something before the behavior happens, so hopefully curb it, stop it from happening in the first place.

[00:10:29] Caitlin: And a lot of times that is, just like we talked about, think of it as they're coming in and if they're starting to have behaviors or whatever you're seeing we haven't taught them any of the skills. So even the simple things like sit and listen to the story or line up at the door for art. Like think of those as the missing skills that they need, rather than the behaviors that they're doing to get out of those things, if that makes sense. And just looking at it from that lens sometimes is really helpful. Like if we just wait, they're gonna show us all those behaviors. They definitely will. If we start proactively pre correction.

[00:11:03] Audra: That's exactly what I was gonna say. This really comes right into the pre correction we talked about not too long ago. We used to, Isaak, when he'd go into stores, he was so obsessed with letters and numbers that he would demand that we'd go through every aisle in turn, you know, 1, 2, 3. It was very difficult to get him out of that routine. Like if we needed to go back and get something in a different aisle, that would guarantee huge behaviors. And so we started using, again, back to the visuals and stuff. We would write down, one, we're gonna walk through aisles two, four, and six, or, I don't even remember what he said. Mm-hmm. These are the things we're going to do, the expectations, and then at the very end you get to choose something. I don't remember, he was older when he was into Pokemon cards, but whatever it was, maybe it was, we'd go in, we're gonna do aisles two, four, and six, and then we can go through and do 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Whatever it was beforehand, before we even walked into the store.

[00:11:56] Caitlin: Oh, I love that.

[00:11:57] Audra: And then as we went through each one, he had that reference, that visual reference, as well as we had pre corrected the behavior. We knew what was gonna happen. And then as he got through, he got the whatever reward it was at the time.

[00:12:08] Tip number four would be repetition. You might teach us the same skill, the same visual 53 times before it actually sticks. Just remember, that's really normal for this population, those early learners, they're little scientists, they need that repetition. They need to test things 10 times. They need to test to see if you're gonna follow through in the same way that you've said that you would. That's really important to make sure that those rules, to see if they change, and then as you are consistent, there, that repetition will force that brain to understand that that is the rule.

[00:12:41] Caitlin: I love the idea of just that repetition and telling ourselves that over and over too. Like it's going to take like a minimum of 50 times and that way we're not constantly let down like, oh, I just showed them how to do it yesterday and they're not doing it. Like we're setting the expectation from the beginning. I started at the public school I'm in now, I worked with a really phenomenal preschool teacher and she said to me when I first started, like, that's why I love teaching preschool is 'cause I know that it's going to take them like hundreds and hundreds of times of me saying, okay, do this. And she's like, it is such a great feeling like, and you never know when it's coming, but one day when you say it and they just do it and they listen or they show you that skill that you've been practicing and it's like exciting. It's such a safe moment to celebrate.

[00:13:22] Audra: You get a new student in and you get another student be able to show them what the expectations are. And that goes right back to the visuals. You know, if you have those visual rules or the visual schedule, all that stuff posted, you are able to point to it regularly. You send home your little visuals. So that they can see what you guys are working on, what the rules are at school, any little thing, any little reminders. Keeping those visuals on your lanyards just makes a huge difference. Plus plenty of attaboys both to your staff who are doing these things, but also to the kids. I think it's really important that we're positively reinforcing our staff who have to remember to do all the stuff that we're talking about. Making sure you're giving that to them as well.

[00:14:00] Then the last tip is to remember that play is greater than lecture. So if you're explaining something to a three or 4-year-old for anything more than, you know, 10, 15 seconds, you've lost them. I mean, you lost them after like five seconds. They just don't have the attention span for that. So use parallel play and group play, modeling, using pretend games. We have, in preschool, we have lots of like centers of, whether you're doing grocery stores, things like that. Put your visuals and stuff up in the play areas, the play center, so they can practice the skills that we're teaching them. Your rules of behaviors. Put that all up within the structure of your classroom. And then we're back to tip four, making sure that repetition is happening. You're constantly pointing to them. Give the opportunity for them to practice in their real life, even though it's play for them, they're practicing those skills that we've been teaching 'em, the visuals that we're presenting to them. One of the favorite games was an observational game. So we'd have one or two kids go out and we're talking 3, 4, 5 year olds can do this, and the rest of the kids do something like have one shoe off or everybody had one thumb up in their lap or do one little thing. I would bring in the one or the two kids to come out and just observe and see what all the other kids were doing. So you're adding that observational skill for them because as you have your visuals up and all your rules and stuff, adding that observational skill, learning from your peers is gonna be huge too. And again, that just goes into making it playful and fun. You don't want preschool to be boring and lecture based.

[00:15:34] Caitlin: I was in a preschool classroom where they were doing some kind of craft, and I guess one or more of the kids had taken the little scissors and snipped through the craft. And that paraprofessional was so, she was like, Hey, like why? Why would you do heck, why? Tell me why. They didn't know, I don't know what answer would've really made sense in that moment because it was just so impulsive. I just cut the project right in front. They didn't care. They didn't get it. So just using your language really intentionally and sometimes sparingly.

[00:16:03] Audra: And make all of your behavior goals into any kind of a game. Nothing teaches cleanup like a timer and a trash can, basketball hoop, who can pick up the 10 pieces of trash up the fastest, whatever it is, you're making things fun, but then keeping it visual and repetitive.

[00:16:20] So those are the five tips. So this week I just, here's my bonus here. Give this a try. Try putting a visual wait card on your lanyard tomorrow. That's a really good one. We're waiting. And then try choosing like one coping skill during playtime, and then modeling it for them. So adding one visual to your lanyard and then practicing something new. So try that this week.

[00:16:43] Caitlin: Drop on the Facebook group, the Misfit Behaviors and let us know how those things work for you.

[00:16:48] Audra: Yes. And enjoy the littles 'cause they are fun. The nice thing about Littles is they're only the with you for a year or two, and then they move on and you get a new batch. So enjoy that too. So we will see you guys next time.

[00:16:59] Intro: Thanks for listening to the Misfit Behaviorists, and be sure to tune in next week for more tips and tricks. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.