1st Edition

A Playworker's Guide to Understanding Children's Behaviour Working with the 8-12 Age Group

By Andrea Clifford-Poston Copyright 2008
    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    How do I manage an aggressive child positively when I have twenty other children who need my attention? How can I develop a good relationship with a child I seem to dislike? How do I maintain a positive working relationship with the parents of a disturbed and disturbing child? Written in a jargon-free, readable style, with many real life examples, this book is a must-have resource for playworkers seeking to enhance their skills as a whole. It highlights how the way we think about children's behaviour colours the way we react to it. It offers playworkers a different way of understanding many ordinary childhood behaviours such as lying, stealing and bullying, and gives practical advice not only on management but on how practitioners can identify, trust and develop their own skills.

    Dedication -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Playworkers, Children and Behaviour -- Acting the Part: How Club is Like, and Unlike, the Family -- Growing Up: The Primary School Years -- Toys or Boys: Betweenagers -- Screaming Point: Stress in Childcare -- You Really Got Me! the Child Who Gets Under Your Skin -- Stress and Worry -- Out of Place: The Child Who Doesn't Settle -- A Good Worry? Not All Bad: Understanding Worried Children -- Under Pressure: Stress in Children -- Bursting Into Tears: Understanding the Crying Child -- Healthy Appetites: Eating Disorders -- It Hurts: Self-Harm -- Just Attention Seeking? -- Hello, I'm Here! the Boisterous and Showing-Off Child -- Winning and Losing: Coping with Competition -- "I'm Bored": Understanding the Lazy Child -- Seriously Funny? Understanding the Club Clown -- Worrying Behaviour -- Won't Play, Can't Play: Understanding Antisocial Children -- Hidden Messages—Behind the Façade: Understanding Disruptive Children -- Secrets and Lies: Why Children Lie -- Sticky Fingers: Why Children Steal -- Rough and Tough: Bullying and How to Prevent it -- Hit and Run: Happy Slapping -- Special Needs? -- Best Mates -- You've Got Males: Understanding Boys -- All Inclusive: The Child with Special Needs -- Brainpower: Understanding Gifted Children -- The Family and the Outside World -- Body Talk: Children and Sex -- Separate Ways: Helping Children with Divorce -- United and Divided: Reconstituted Families -- Headline News: Managing National and World Trauma -- Meet the Parents: Working with Families -- Moving on: Helping Children with the Transfer to secondary school -- Conclusion: can Psychoanalytic Insight Reality Help A Club Worker?

    Biography

    Andrea Clifford-Poston, M.Ed. is a UKCP registered Educational Psychotherapist and has over 30 years experience of working with children, parents and professionals in schools, clinics, hospitals and the home. Andrea trained initially as a primary school teacher and taught in various London schools. For 16 years she was Teacher in Charge at the Child Development Centre, Charing Cross Hospital, and for many years a Visiting Lecturer to the Music Therapy training course at the Roehampton Institute. She has contributed articles to a number of leading childcare magazines including 'Nursery World' and 'The Times Parent Forum' as well as having written papers for teachers and professionals. For thirteen years she has been in private practice as a Child and Family Mental Health Specialist. She is consultant to and runs training courses for professionals working with children and is member of the Guildford Centre for Psychotherapy.