By: Trisha Knueven
Many of the behavior dilemmas that a caregiver experiences can be explained by factors that aren’t always so obvious. I’ve used an ABC chart to pinpoint what is going on in a given situation with a child to figure out if there is something less obvious going on behind the scenes. ABC stands for Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence. The antecedent is what is happening right before the behavior took place. This can be crucial to figuring out why the behavior is happening. Then you can easily list the behavior and consequence. Keeping an ABC log over the course of a week can help pinpoint these hidden causes. For instance, perhaps the child in your care is experiencing a blood sugar drop every morning around the same time. Instead of saying they are hungry (which children have to be taught to do) the child has a meltdown over something that is insignificant. Or, perhaps the log shows that a child is just over scheduled with fun activities and doesn’t have enough free choice time to regroup. Sometimes even I have been guilty for reacting to a meltdown instead of taking a proactive approach. However, when I take the time to be proactive and identify the cause of the negative behavior, I have the power to change the situation in the future and perhaps there will not be another meltdown. Instead I just might find that I have a happy, smiling child who feels understood.