Chapter 2

This chapter provides the essentials for setting up an environment that encourages appropriate behavior and reduces the potential for challenging behaviors. Strategies that focus on arranging the environment to promote learning and avoid difficulties are described. Some of these strategies include incorporating student preferences and arranging the daily schedule to match the needs of students. In addition, methods are described for how to optimize daily activities to specifically introduce opportunities for children to practice new skills and learn new behaviors.

  • Discuss why it is important to have opportunities for choice and describe ways to incorporate student preferences in the classroom.
  • Discuss the ways a teacher could increase opportunities for students to respond.
  • Discuss incidental teaching and teachable moments. Then describe why they are important.
  1. Classroom environment
    This includes the setting where the children spend most of their time and involves the physical arrangement of the classroom structures, furniture, materials, and decorations.
  2. Direct preference assessment
    This involves observations, interviews, or systematic techniques to determine the preferences of young children.
  3. Graduated guidance
    This refers to the use of prompts or guidance to teach a skill with the intent to fade out prompts.
  4. “Grandma’s rule”/Premack principle
    This states that a high-probability behavior could be used to reinforce a low-probability behavior.
  5. Incidental teaching
    Teaching that incorporates identifying skills that young children need to learn and creating opportunities within the environment for the child to display certain skills.
  6. Indirect preference assessment
    This involves asking other children, teachers, or parents about the preferences of young children.
  7. Prerequisite skills
    Fundamental skills needed to be successful at a given task.
  8. Sabotaging an activity
    This involves finding ways to make the young child encounter a challenge with the typical routine activity that requires the young child to find a way to resolve the problem.
  9. Teachable moment
    The opportunities when students can demonstrate a learned skill.

www.teachpreschool.org/2009/05/teachable-moments/

Fenerty, K. A., & Tiger, J. H. (2010). Determining preschoolers’ preference for choice-making opportunities: Choice of task versus choice of consequence. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 43, 503–507.

Heal, N. A., Hanley, G. P. (2007). Evaluating preschool children’s preferences for motivational systems during instruction. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 40, 249–261.

Hyson, Marion C., Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy, & Rescorla, Leslie. (1990). The classroom practices inventory: An observation instrument based on NAEYC’s guidelines for developmentally appropriate practices for 4- and 5-year-old children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 5, 475–494.

This chapter has focused on strategies for developing a classroom for young children that is enjoyable, supportive, and incorporates some general techniques of applied behavior analysis. A classroom for young children should, first and foremost, be a place that is safe and comfortable for them and offers the appropriate level of instruction to ensure success. Classrooms for young children need to offer an environment that is arranged in a manner that allows for multiple types of activities to take place and allows children to clearly distinguish the purpose of specific areas of the classroom and the related expectations for each. Academic expectations should offer an appropriate match of task difficulty and support provided, while ensuring that more difficult tasks are rotated with easier task throughout the day. The preferences of young children can also be important for teachers and parents to know and utilize when developing daily activities and the type of instruction that they are provided. Instructional approaches should include adequate provision of praise to students for their appropriate behavior and several opportunities to demonstrate their skills, as well as incorporating preferences into the rewards children are offered. Instructional time should be spent teaching young children prerequisite skills that can help them succeed in their current and future situations. Overall, there are several strategies that can be used to make a classroom proactive toward avoiding potential problems and creating an environment where all children can benefit.