We at The Little Mud Puddles Learning Center  believe that discipline puts the adult in the role of the advisor and helper, ready to step in and rescue children from the mistakes which may harm them physically and emotionally yet be willing to let them make the mistakes that enable them to grow. 

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A child will not be allowed to hurt himself, hurt someone else or destroy property. We believe that foreseeing is the most effective way of handling problems.  The program has an ample supply and variety of equipment geared to the child's age and interests, which makes it easier for them not to become impatient while waiting their turn. The staff is experienced in recognizing personality differences, length of attention span and signs of fatigue or over stimulation. 

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A child is made aware of our expectations and is given time to adjust to the new environment.  One of the strategies that staff members use to help the children change their unacceptable behavior is redirection. If the unacceptable behavior continues, a "time-out" will be used which will allow the child time to "calm down."  The length of the time-out will be one minute per age of the child.  If the behavior continues, there will be a meeting with the Director, teachers, and parents, so we can discuss an action plan to help with improving the child's behavior.  When the child is hurting others or disrupting the classroom where he/she is not following directions and is uncontrollable, we will call the family to pick the child up.

At The Little Mud Puddles every child will be treated with dignity, no corporal punishment will be inflicted. To encourage positive behavior, our staff uses PDA's (Positive Descriptive Acknowledgements) while observing children following our expectations in our program.  "Expectations are the why behind the rules."

• We are Healthy when we wash our hands.

• We are Safe when we use our walking feet.

• We are Friendly when we share a toy.

• We are Respectful when we listen to our teacher

Expectations are a framework for the behaviors that are expected for everyone in the program, including children, staff, and families.

Expectations are best when set program-wide and examples are created for specific settings, such as in the classroom, in the outside yard, in the bathroom, in the hallway, and so forth. 

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The meaning of Discipline to The Little Mud Puddles Program:

Discipline is meant to guide and help children and gives children the tools of self regulation. It builds self-esteem, respect and encourages social and emotional support and facilitates trust between the teacher and the child.

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