Discipline Policy

The goal of the King’s Way Learning Center is to encourage a child's self-respect and develop a personal responsibility for his/her actions. It is important for each child to learn self-control and to respect the rights of others while learning in a safe and caring environment.

The staff of the King’s Way Learning Center will guide the children in a firm but loving manner toward self-control. This will be accomplished with love, respect and consistency.

Discipline is not punishment, but a means to encourage self-control and responsibility. It is nurturing and educational. Good discipline is based on caring, honesty, respect and trust.

Children will be allowed to express all their feelings both positive and negative. The staff will listen to children and help them to deal with their feelings. Positive behavior will always be promoted first through routines, effective commands and reinforcement of good behaviors. Appropriate behaviors will be rewarded, as adult approval is very important to children.

Guidance

The rules for guiding behavior are:

  • Protect the rights of the child and others with clear-cut, consistent guidelines and rules for appropriate behavior.
  • Let the children know that there are consequences for not following the rules.
  • Talk with the children at their eye level in a calm yet firm voice. Tell the children what to do rather than what not to do.
  • Voices may be raised slightly to alert the children of impending danger.

In response to inappropriate behavior the staff will:

  • Gain the child's attention by physically going to the child.
  • Intervene and stop the unwanted behavior or action.
  • Speak to the child/children regarding the action.
  • Remind the children of the rules.
  • Redirect the child to an appropriate activity or give the choice of an activity.
  • If the behavior continues the child will be removed from the situation completely.

Examples of major inappropriate behaviors that are unacceptable for the child care environment include:

  • Inflicting, or attempting to inflict, bodily harm to another child or staff member
  • Foul Language
  • Rude Gestures
  • Chronic Disruptive Behaviors
  • Chronic disrespect for the property of others, including Center items

Obviously, teachers will be required to use their judgement as to whether a behavior is inappropriate, while especially considering the age of the child. The teacher(s) and/or the parent(s)/guardian(s) may seek input from the Center Director and Assistant Director on what may constitute inappropriate behavior for children of a particular age.

Correction

In an attempt to correct the child's behaviors, the following will be used as a guide:

Level 1: the child's teacher will meet with the parent/guardian to provide a description of the inappropriate behavior and how it was handled by the teacher(s). (This should not be a passing conversation at the end of the day.) The teacher(s) will make themselves available in the event that the parent seeks their advice on how to address the inappropriate behavior if repeated in the future.

Level 2: the child's teacher will provide a written record of the inappropriate behavior and the parent/guardian will be asked to initial and date the written record as an acknowledgement. The parent/guardian and the teacher(s) should identify specific mechanisms for collaboratively addressing the inappropriate behavior.

Level 3: the child's parent/guardian will meet with the child's teacher and Center Director or Assistant Director to discuss the misbehaviors and develop a plan of action in an attempt to resolve the misbehaviors. The Director will write a record of the meeting and the Director, teacher and parent/guardian will be asked to sign and date the record.

Level 4: the child's parent/guardian will receive a letter of probation from the Center Director describing the inappropriate behavior and the possibility of their child's termination from the Center if the inappropriate behavior persists.

The above progression will be incremental, i.e., for a Level 3 action to be taken, both Level 1 and Level 2 actions must have already been taken. Incrementing to a Level 2 or Level 3 action shall be the discretion of the teacher or invoked if requested by the parent(s) of the child. A Level 4 action shall only be implemented by the Center Director. The time interval associated with the progression from one level to the next is not fixed; the progression interval will depend on the severity of the problem, the frequency of the inappropriate behavior, and the level of effort put forward by the parent(s)/guardian in addressing the problem.

Although the parent(s)/guardian(s) is encouraged to work mainly with their child's teacher(s) in deciding how to resolve inappropriate behavior, the parent(s)/guardian(s) can schedule an appointment to discuss the issue with the Center Director at any time (i.e., Director involvement can start before Level 3). The Center Director, for example, may have information on outside/alternative sources for obtaining help and insight.