Challenging Behavior
in Preschool Children

I have spent the last year doing extensive research on challenging behavior in preschool children. I discovered that the "Pyramid Model" is the most popular method for addressing behavior issues in early childhood classrooms.

The "Pyramid Model" fits well with Head Start performance standards and National Association for the Education of Young Children standards of quality for early childhood programs. The interventions at each level of the pyramid are very similar to each other but the interventions become more focused and more intense as the pyramid peaks.


The base of the pyramid deals with promotion of appropriate social and emotional development for the general population in an early childhood setting. It is necessary to start at the base of the pyramid and work your way up.

Before we can address challenging behaviors in our early childhood settings, it is necessary to make sure the classroom and schedule are arranged appropriately to meet the needs of the children.

I remember my  first year teaching in an early childhood setting. A good share of the time my classroom was chaotic and it seemed I had numerous behavior problems. A quality  early childhood classroom has an underlying structure that will support appropriate behaviors in  young children. I was still learning and little by little I began to see clearly what components were necessary to keep order.


A quality early childhood program will provide an appropriate physical environment. It will also provide an appropriate schedule that may need to be adjusted to meet the needs of the group of children.

An appropriate schedule, physical environment, and nurturing interactions will create an excellent foundation for the base of the pyramid. Most research-based early childhood curricula plus a well trained staff will supply all of these factors.

After building a sound foundation for developing social and emotional competence, monitor your classroom. If children are running around the room you may need to see if the furniture arrangement could be adjusted to eliminate runways.

If children are fighting in one center and not another you can limit the number of children in each area or make a particular area bigger. Instead of focusing on those "Naughty" children ask yourself: what you could do differently to address the issues?
I was fortunate to have some pieces of furniture on casters in my classroom. If an area suddenly became popular I just wheeled the furniture back a little to make that center bigger. In any case, be flexible with your schedule and physical environment.


If children are not becoming involved in play but constantly moving from center to center look at two things:

• Is play time long enough? Children need a minimum of forty-five minutes to get involved in play. (An hour is even better) 
• Also take a look at the available materials. Do the available materials match the needs and interests of the children?

The second level of the pyramid addresses the needs of those children who may be at risk of challenging behavior. These children need a little more guidance than the group as a whole.

These children may need extra warnings before transitions, visuals such as lines or footsteps on the floor showing them where to line up. If you don't already have a picture schedule available for children to "read" you will need to create one.

You will need three to four explicit rules that can cover most any situation. "Be Safe" and "Be Respectful" are two rules often used in early childhood classrooms. Rules should be posted in more than one place in the classroom. Use pictures and words for the rules. Talk about the rules often, especially with those children needing extra support.


You may want to use a social/emotional curriculum in addition to the general curriculum you have chosen for your program. At this level you will want to actually teach social/emotional skills. Use books, emotion posters, puppets, etc. to teach about feelings, empathy, and anger management. It is best not to single children out for the more intense teaching but make sure they are included in the presentations as much as possible.

At the third level of the pyramid the interventions are very focused on an individual and very intense in nature. Parents and teachers should form a team to assess the challenging behavior. They will gather information using observations. They could also use a number of more formal devices for gathering information about the behavior.

After you have had a chance to gather as much information as possible, the team will meet to create a behavior plan. They will  discuss setting events which would include things like: a child's health, family problems such as divorce or death in the family, or lack of sleep.

They will also talk about antecedents:

• What happened just before the challenging behavior? 
• What was the behavior? 
• What happened? 
• Then how did others react? 
• How did the teachers or parents react?  
• What did the child gain from the behavior?

You may start to see some patterns surrounding the behavior. Behavior is always meant to communicate something. What is the child trying to tell you? Does she want something or is he trying to avoid something?


At this point you will use positive behavior support to address the behavior. Make your best guess about the purpose for this communication. Then address it. What brings on the behavior? Is there something you can do to prevent the behavior?

Maybe the activities, expectations, or schedule do not match this child at his level of development.

• What replacement behaviors can you introduce to the child? 
• How and when will you (the teaching team) and the parents teach these replacement behaviors?
• How can you best support the new behaviors? 
• Are you giving little if any attention to the challening behavior?

The team approach is necessary because everyone on the team has valuable input. All team members will need to agree on the components of the behavior plan in order for the plan to work. Give the plan plenty of time and be devoted to following the plan. Every time an adult doesn't have time to follow through on the plan you will basically be starting over.


Don't forget that we all backslide occasionally so don't be discouraged. Monitor the challenging behavior over time. You may find that the behavior has decreased even though it may not seem like it.

If you have been addressing the issues diligently according to the plan and you feel that you have given it plenty of time to work you may need to write a new plan.

You can get more in depth information on the topic of challenging behaviors by visiting the Center for Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) or Technical Assistance Center for Social and Emotional Interventions (TACSEI). They have sister web sites and they supply forms, interventions, teaching tools, videos etc.

I am going to paraphrase something I have run into again and again while reading about challenging behavior:

If children don't know how to read we teach!
If children don't know how to write we teach!
If children don't know how to count we teach!
If children don't know how to behave we....punish?

Let's teach children with challenging behavior what they need to know in order to communicate their needs and wants in appropriate ways.