Keyword: Stress
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Trauma-Informed Care in the Classroom
Teachers can support students who have experienced trauma using these strategies.
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Supporting Children Through Challenging Family Situations
This list contains resources for educators and families to support young children experiencing changes like divorce, the death of a love one, and parental incarceration.
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Understanding Trauma and Young Children
Trauma is an event or a series of events that have a negative effect on a child. There are a number of ways parents, teachers, and caregivers can support children who have or may still be experiencing trauma.
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After “Something Happened”: Responding to Trauma in Young Children
A previous blog post addressed types of adverse experiences that can cause extreme stress and trauma in a child’s life. This post looks at how the effects of those experiences can show up in early childhood classrooms and what educators can do to help.
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Childhood Stress and Trauma
This resource list contains sources that can help early childhood professionals and parents understand and support young children who have experienced extreme stress and trauma.
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Something Happened: Understanding Extreme Stress and Trauma in Young Children
Early care and education professionals know that even very young children may face overwhelming situations in their lives.
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Supporting Children Who Experience Community Violence
This list provides resources on how to support children and families affected by community violence.
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Refugee Families
n and their families.
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Mindfulness for Educators
This list contains resources about mindfulness practices for early childhood educators.
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Helping Children with Big Feelings in the Classroom
Big feelings can be overwhelming, and when young children get upset, it can be equally overwhelming for their teachers. Teachers can teach children several calm-down techniques such as breathing strategies, asking for a hug, doing wall or chair push-ups, or taking a break.
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Helping Children with Big Feelings
Big feelings such as frustration or being upset can lead to strong reactions in adults and children. For children who have little control over their environment, these feelings can occur for reasons adults see as inconsequential or silly. Regardless of what causes a meltdown, teaching, modeling, and supporting them to calm down in that big…
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“I’m Missing My Friends!” Supporting Young Children’s Emotions During the Pandemic
The global COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted school, work, routines, schedules, and friendships. As difficult as this time is for adults, children are also struggling to process these changes while missing their friends. We will share strategies for supporting children’s emotional well-being during this time.
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Uncertain Times
During uncertain times, such as during a pandemic, parents, teachers, and young children can, at times, feel uncertain and even worried. In this toolkit, we have gathered some helpful resources on topics that may pertain to you during COVID-19.
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Helping Young Children Understand Changing Holiday Traditions
It is very likely that our wintertime or holiday traditions will look different this year. Now that we are several months into the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve all gotten somewhat accustomed to canceled events, changes in expectations, and disappointments.
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Getting Your Child Ready to Return to Childcare
Along with most states in the country, Illinois experienced a shelter-in-place order for several weeks and then started a phased reopening. For many families, this meant their young children did not attend childcare or preschool programs for an extended period of time. If they did keep attending childcare, practices at their childcare centers likely changed.
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COVID-19 Parenting Pep Talk: Be With Your Child’s Big Feelings
For many of us, changes in routine and lack of choices have brought on feelings of sadness, anger, and frustration. Though we may be experiencing these difficult emotions, as adults we can understand that changes to our daily routines are to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
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COVID-19 Parenting Pep Talk: Make Time for Connection
Before the COVID-19 situation, many of us, myself included, were used to taking our young children to childcare or preschool on working days. Now, we may be working from home or different hours, and we may have lost many of our predictable daily routines. In addition, many family, friends, and coworkers are no longer part…
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Helping Young Children With Disabilities During a Trying Time: Adding Structure and Routine
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, you may be a parent or caregiver of a young child with special needs who was previously attending a child care center, preschool program, or receiving other services. You may now be caring for your child at home with few outside supports—and this can feel overwhelming. We know young children thrive…
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Supporting Children with the Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Preschool Classrooms
On this podcast, we are joined by Dr. Emily Dorsey, project director of the Illinois Early Learning Project.
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The Impact of Trauma on the Lives of Young Children (Part 2)
On this podcast we are joined by Dr. Deserai Miller.
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The Impact of Trauma on the Lives of Young Children (Part 1)
In this podcast we interview Dr. Catherine Corr from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Supporting Families with Young Children Experiencing Homelessness
This tool kit is a resource to help early childhood, school, and community professionals understand how they can support families who may be experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. IEL also has a resource list, When Children Are Homeless or Housing Insecure: How Preschool Teachers and Caregivers Can Help, which includes additional resources for educators, caregivers,…
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Try and Try Again
Families, teachers, and caregivers want young children to be successful. It can be hard to watch a child struggle or become frustrated.
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When Children Are Homeless or Housing Insecure: How Preschool Teachers and Caregivers Can Help
This list contains a variety of resources associated with how teachers and caregivers can help children who are homeless or who have insecure housing arrangements.
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Supporting Resilience in Children Exposed to Domestic Violence
This list contains a variety of resources associated with supporting resilience in children exposed to domestic violence.
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Birthdays, Holidays, and Family Gatherings
How can you make these holidays and birthday celebrations meaningful and stress-free for your child, especially when he becomes the center of attention at gatherings?
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Bullying Hurts Everyone
Children have the right to feel safe—and adults have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for them.
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When Children Mourn
Though you cannot shield children from grief, you can help guide and comfort them.
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Helping Children Handle Disappointment
Helping children handle disappointments can provide them with lifelong coping skills.
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Children in Refugee Families Need Extra Care, Attention
Many refugees are settling in the United States as a result of wars in the Middle East, Africa, Central America, and Asia, and many arrive in Illinois as part of our nation’s formal refugee resettlement program.
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Time to Play, Time to Dream: Unscheduling Your Child
Would you be surprised to find your child’s day is as hectic as your own?
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Please Don’t Go! Separation Anxiety and Children
It is often hard for a parent or other loved one to leave a young child who cries and clings. Here are some things to remember about separation anxiety.
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Teachers Can Support Young Children’s Mental Health
Caregivers, teachers, and family members all have roles to play in fostering young children’s mental health. In this Q&A, we address questions about children’s mental health.
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Helping the Often-Angry Child
Teachers can help children learn how to respond to their anger.
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Fuss Management: Comforting the Irritable Child
When you take a calm, problem-solving approach, you help your child learn to calm himself when he is irritable.
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Ease Those First-Day Blues!
These strategies can help teachers and caregivers make it easier for children and parents to get through those first-day blues.
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Young Children’s Mental Health: What Is Essential?
Caregivers, teachers, and family members all have roles to play in fostering young children’s mental health.
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What Puppets Can Mean to Children, Part 2
Child therapy specialists tell us that puppets – particularly various animal puppets– can symbolize particular feelings or relationships, making them key equipment in a therapeutic playroom.
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Small Child, Big Stress?
You can help your child learn to recognize and cope with the feelings of frustration, sadness, worry, and anger that can lead to stress or be signs of stress.
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Old Home, New Home, Our Home
Planning a move can be both exciting and sad, causing stress for you and your children.
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Supporting Young Children in Military Families
This Q&A addresses common questions concerning military families with young children.