CARE Plus Classroom Strategies
Classroom CARE Plus means identifying and implementing a set of strategies meant to help individual children strengthen their feelings of safety and connection, and to support them in building the skills they need to manage their emotions and handle conflict. These strategies are extensions of your class-wide CARE strategies.
We give additional CARE in the classroom because:
Children exposed to trauma and toxic stress benefit from greater consistency in their environment to minimize triggers and foster a sense of safety.
Some children need more positive interaction time in order to form the trusting connections that create a sense of belonging.
Children with under-developed executive functioning skills need greater support in building and practicing those skills.
How to do this well
Identify children who are not responding to your class-wide CARE strategies to build safety, connection, and executive functioning skills.
Ground yourself in positive intent towards the child. Make an effort to send positive communications to the child’s family.
Work to maintain your own composure. Increase your self-care so that this is possible for you.
Implement one or more classroom strategies that align to the child’s areas of need. See the tiles to the right for these strategies.
It often takes 2 weeks (or more) of consistent implementation to see an impact on relationships or behavior.
