NVR in kindergartens

"My four year-old son hits me - how should I respond?". "One child with problematic behavior can ruin the dynamic of an entire kindergarten. I have no control over it!" These statements, by distressed parents, educators and kindergarten teachers, reveal how helpless they can feel in the face of problematic behavior and violence by children. These behaviors are part of  a phenomenon which is becoming more prevalent and begins at a very young age. The reports of educators convey alarming feelings as a result of such behaviors, including helplessness, concern and frustration. Alongside these reports we are witnessing a a lack of sufficient means to deal with these challenges.

Violence prevention programs in Israel are mostly focused on school-aged children, and there is a shortage of such programs for younger ages. Our program, which is based on reparative steps, was developed in order to meet this shortage and expand the new authority approach to the younger kindergarten and daycare ages. In the program emphasis was placed on improving the feelings of both parents and educators by creating a joint working alliance between the two.

The program is intended to provide remedies for the behavioral problems in kindergartens and provide an effective new tool – Reparation Acts.

The main idea of the reparation actions program is to give kindergarten teachers and parents a simple and effective means of response, based on reparative steps, in order to deal with unacceptable behavior on behalf of children (such as violence and acting out). The reparative process conveys a message to all kindergarten children that inappropriate behavior is not automatically eliminated by saying "sorry" but rather, some action is needed to repair the offense. It is important to note that the reparative process is an addition to the disciplinary tools already available to the kindergarten teacher (such as sanctions and "time out"), and does not contradict them whatsoever.