2018 Spring Kansas Child

Highlighting
Conscious
Discipline
MARIDEE ARMSTRONG
Early Childhood Educator
Maridee Armstrong has been an Early Childhood Educator for 37
years at the former Salina YWCA, Heartland Programs and currently
as a Social Emotional Coach for Heartland Programs. She also
teaches at Cloud County Community College. She has an Associate
Degree in Early Childhood, a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary
Education and an endorsement in Early Childhood Special Education
from Kansas Wesleyan University. She has been incorporating
Conscious Discipline in her work and her personal life since 2003.
Conscious Discipline is
a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and
self-regulating program that integrates
social-emotional learning, school-home
culture and discipline. It is based on
internal resources of safety, connection
and problem solving, instead of external
rewards and punishment.
Conscious Discipline is also based
on current research that indicates that
our internal state dictates our behavior.
Fostering the emotional intelligence of
the adult first and the child second is the
premise that makes this program successful.
The program is skill-based and designed
to help adults to resolve conflicts and
enhance brain development by creating
optimal and safe learning environments.
It supports self-regulation in ways that
strengthen relationships instead of
destroying them. It helps children build
respectful relationships within themselves
and others.
“Stress and trauma are crossing all
ethnic and economic lines with grave
effect on health, learning, social-emotional
development and brain development,”
according to Dr. Becky Bailey in her
2015 book, Conscious Discipline Building
Resilient Classrooms. Conscious Discipline
is designed to teach effective
social-emotional skills and
embed resiliency into
the environment
to counteract
the stress and
trauma that are
so prevalent in
our society.
Child care
workers,
teachers and
parents have a
tough job. Our
EYE CONTACT
society has been instrumental in creating
children that demand instant gratification
and are disconnected because of trauma
and stress in their lives. The need for new
tools in our tool belt is crucial to working
with children and their families. Building
connections creates trust and respect
with children and families. Connections
have four important components:
1. Being present with your child
2. Eye contact with your child
3. Some kind of touch
4. Being playful with your child
Basically, these connections are
telling your child, “I notice you.”
Connections stimulate the
impulse control center in the
brain. This helps a child be
aware of their helpfulness
and contribution to their
family and community. The
connection given to a child
enhances their ability to sustain
attention. Someone is noticing
them and cares about them.
Through connection, children
become more willing partners
with adults and peers. All
learning progresses from
that willingness.
Through
Conscious
Discipline the
adult learns
new strategies
to respond
from their
prefrontal
lobe, which
is the highest
center of the
BE PLAYFUL
BE PRESENT
brain, and where the best decision making
occurs. When a child is having a tantrum,
they are operating from the lower center of
their brain, called the brain stem. The adult
can begin to model a calm state for the
child and thus bring them up to the higher
centers of their brain where they can make
better decisions.
Understanding that we must first change
20 Kansas Child A Publication of Child Care Aware ® of Kansas