24 secrets of daycare teachers—steal their tricks!

With so many little ones to care for at the same time, daycare teachers simply don’t have the capacity to cater to every outburst or demand. At home, your kid may refuse to go to sleep without two more stories, a glass of water, four trips to the bathroom and one last cuddle, but there’s just no way your daycare provider can do that. Instead, ECEs try not to acknowledge negative behaviours like whining. This, says Renée Clusiault, an ECE at Our Children’s Centre in Victoria, BC, gives little kids a valuable real-world lesson: speaking to people this way won’t get the result you’re looking for. Resist the urge to cater to your child’s tantrums. You might be surprised to see how short the tantrums become when your kid realizes they’re not getting anywhere with them. Once your child calms down, you can explain that speaking to people that way isn’t acceptable and talk about why they were so upset.