Attunement

I always thought this was a cool word, but didn’t really have a sense of what it meant. At a training back in the fall, I got to hear more about it and found out just what I was missing.

Some key concepts that I wrote in the margins…because they were just so powerful!

Communicate your thoughts to children
“I can’t do it.” When children feel pressure, they actually cannot do whatever it is even if they’ve done it before.
Don’t be too certain you know why a child is doing something
Behaviors are repeated because they are successful in some way. It’s up to us to spot the signals and meet the need in another way.
Anytime you get too rigid in your WHY, you are missing the real picture.
When our body language and our verbal language are not in sync, the child will feel unsafe: dis-synchrony teaches them not to trust our words. The body communicates first.
Is it okay for children to be mad in your classroom?
A lot of times, children don’t know what to do with their mad.
We need to forgive children really quickly.
When there is a lack of connection with a child, admit it, explore it. This shifts how you feel about child.
Building a relationship with the family is like a dance, with the teacher in the lead.

According to Merriam-Webster

Definition of attune

transitive verb

1. to bring into harmony : tune

2. to make aware or responsive attune businesses to changing trends

What I am trying to say is that to better build relationships with young children and their families, we as caregivers need to be in tune with young children. It is important that we avoid making assumptions about why a child acts a certain way, and instead, bring an awareness and connection to the relationship.

Thank you to Howdy Russell and Doumina Noonan.