Does Time-out Really Work?



I’m pleased to be presenting a F*REE webinar for Early Childhood Investigations, which is sponsored by the Robert-Leslie Publishing Company. This company has convened a number of experts to speak to some of the most pressing issues in the early childhood field, and I am honored to be among them. My presentation, “Time-Out for Exclusionary Tactics in Early Childhood Education Settings” will air on April 6, 2010 from 2pm- 3:30 pm EST.  You can register here.

I’ve Had It!

“That’s it! You’re in time-out!” Objectionable behaviors, failure to comply with adult requests/directives, irascible attitudes, outright defiance. All of these things can ruffle the feathers of even the most composed adults. Enter the time-out.

Cool Your Jets!

When time-out was originally developed, it was designed in the spirit of helping children regain their composure, cool-off and think about how to better handle the situation in the future. It is surely a big improvement on corporal punishment to help kids improve their behavior. On the face of it, a GREAT idea. It’s been used in homes across the land, including my own. However, we might be able to do this even better!

Is There a Better Way?

But, do time-outs always accomplish what we think they accomplish? Are there other interventions that might help pull kids towards success in a quicker manner? Could there be some recent findings that support a different approach when it comes to early childhood?

There’s lots to be said on this topic, and lots to debate, to be sure. Yet, there are some interesting thoughts on how we can evolve as caretakers of young children and how we can be co-creators in "behavior by design"!  It's nothing short of exciting!

Consider the Alternatives

Come find out some new and different ways of thinking about this topic, and explore how you might apply them with the young children with whom you interact. This webinar is designed with administrators in the early childhood field, but I promise that teachers, daycare providers and parents will be able to get just as much from it!

The webinar will take place from 2-3:30 pm EST.  You can register here.  Even if you can't make that date and time, you can still access the webinar after it airs.  Hope to see you there!

Learn More About Early Childhood Investigations

This snippet is taken from the ECI site: Early Childhood Investigations is a free ongoing professional development series that is delivered online and produced by Engagement Strategies, LLC. These engaging webinars are presented by many of the thought-leaders and experts in the field of early care and education. The presentations explore critical topics that offer new ideas and insights to ECE professionals, especially administrators.

Comments

naomi said…
I think it can for some children and not for others. I rarely use. I will often suggest to my children that they need some thinking time about their behaviour. I hope the webinar gooes well and I am sure there will be lots of interesting dicussion.
Hi Naomi,

Thanks for dropping by and for you well-wishes for the webinar. I hope you'll join us, if you can! Happy parenting!

Wendy
Unknown said…
We try to re-frame our "time outs" as a "cool down". I let them know that mommy needs to cool down as well sometimes. The kids even named their cool down place: Alaska, & now will say "I need to go to Alaska for a minute" when they're getting worked up. LOL. It definitely has a better feeling thank being forced to sit in a "time out chair" or something of the kind. Good luck with the webinar, I"m posting it on my Facebook page!
-Gina
Gina,

I love that, Alaska! Thanks for sharing...and for posting it to your fb page! I love the work you do!

Wendy
I do home daycare and do not use time outs that much. If a child tells me the truth and apologizes I usually focus on forgiveness and learning from their mistakes. I do not believe in some cases time outs are very effective. If a child is having a melt down putting them in time out only increases their frustration so I generally do not use them or with my own children I call it "alone time" to calm down if they are upset!
I like your site!
Angela
http://www.daycareheadquarters.com
Hi Angela,

Thanks for dropping by and sharing your thoughts! I hope you can join us on April 6th, too! I'll be stopping by to visit your site as soon as I can. Thanks for your kind words about mine!

Wendy

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