Challenging Behaviors

The Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF) helps education staff understand the typical progression of development. Find out which ELOF domains connect to children's behaviors.

Learn how preschoolers show increased independence in managing their emotions, using adults as guides for big emotions, and finding coping strategies. Find standards for promoting social and emotional development.

Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers develop within the context of relationships with significant adults in their lives. Explore the importance of relationships to young children's social and emotional development.

Knowing about temperament helps adults understand why children react to events differently and individualize supports to regulate those reactions. Learn about the types and roles of matching temperaments.

Explore the parts culture and language play in understanding young children's behaviors and how they express their feelings.

Children with suspected delays and identified disabilities may behave and interact differently than their typically developing peers. Find out about providing context for children's behaviors and what they mean.

Supporting children's social and emotional development has always been part of Head Start program services. Learn how to identify social, emotional, and behavioral issues and ways to address them.

Explore four types of suspension and expulsion and why programs must prohibit them. Find regulations and resources that address prohibiting suspension and expulsion.

Discover how reflective supervision supports education staff in understanding young children's behaviors and how to address them effectively.

Learn how mental health professionals help programs understand and manage young children's behaviors.