Little kids, big worries : stress-busting tips for early childhood classrooms / by Alice Sterling Honig.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Understanding Stress in Children's Lives -- 2. Sources and Signs of Stress -- 3. Insights About Stress: Reflecting and Reframing -- 4. Choosing Stress-Busting Techniques to Help Children -- 5. Personalizing Stress-Reducing Strategies for Children -- 6. Using Stress-Reducing Strategies with Groups of Children -- 7. Using Storytelling to Relieve Child Stresses -- 8. Adult Stress Busters in Care Settings and Schools: Working with Parents, Personnel, Home Visitors, Supervisors, Mental Health Professionals, and Consultants -- 9. Personal Stress-Busting Ideas for Adults Caring for Children.

Synopsis: Research shows that stress in the crucial early years of a child's life can pose dramatic, lasting challenges to development, learning, and behavior. This is the practical book early childhood professionals need to recognize stress in young children and intervene with proven relief strategies before pressures turn into big problems. Developed by celebrated early childhood expert Alice Sterling Honig, this guidebook helps readers address the most common causes of stress in a young child's life, including separation anxiety, bullying, jealousy, and family circumstances. Educators and childcare providers will; understand key factors that influence a child's stress level, including attachment, temperament, developmental and learning challenges, health issues, and family pressures; become a keen observer of the varied and sometimes subtle ways that children express stress; choose from a wide range of stress-busting techniques (see box) all innovative, time-tested, and clinically validated; personalize stress-busters to meet the needs of individual children; skillfully use stress-reducing strategies with groups of children from diverse backgrounds; harness the power of storytelling to model solutions to problems and help children address negative feelings; avoid burnout by handling the stresses in their own adult lives, from challenging interactions with parents to issues with co-workers; Memorable stories inspired by Dr Honig's 30+ years of experience show readers how these stress busters can make a real difference in children's lives, and the questions at the end of each chapter areideal aids for self-study or professional development courses. Packed with down to earth, easy to-use ideas, this empowering book gives professionals the tools they need to conquer stress in any early childhood setting so children can develop the early social and academic skills they'll need to succeed in school.

Machine converted from AACR2 source record.