All children need support as they learn to handle different situations. Children learn through daily interactions and the positive guidance you offer. Your program’s positive behavioral practices are evidence of the support and guidance you give to children every day. A written policy that describes these practices is one way to communicate to others how you promote positive behavior, take steps to avoid negative behaviors, and help children gain important social-emotional skills for meeting life’s challenges.
This section guides you through reviewing, revising, or creating a written policy that describes your program’s positive behavioral practices. To meet the requirements for Developmentally Appropriate Learning and Practice: Positive Guidance: DAP 3.1, your policy should describe your program’s positive behavioral practices and include two specific strategies: providing choices and redirection.
Requirements
Let’s look at the requirements for Developmentally Appropriate Learning and Practice: Positive Guidance: DAP 3.1.
Final Touches
Give your written policy a final check as you prepare to upload it to the Maryland EXCELS System. You may find it helpful to ask someone to read your policy to make sure it clearly explains your program’s positive behavioral practices and the many ways you support and guide children in your program.
Check to be sure your written policy includes:
All the ways you use positive behavior supports and strategies with children
How, when, and why you provide choices for children
How you use redirection to guide children
Save your document:
- Use a file name that you can find easily when you upload it to the system (example: positive-guidance.docx)
- Use any one of these formats:
- Typed electronic version of your behavior policy (examples: Microsoft Word, PDF)
- Scanned versions of your behavior policy (examples: PDF, PNG, JPG)
- Digital image of your behavior policy (examples: JPG, PNG, PDF)
Next Steps
Use the following guide to upload your policy, look ahead and think about a plan for improvement.
Step 1: Prepare to Upload Your Document
- Locate your username and password for logging into your Maryland EXCELS account
- Locate the document you saved on the computer
Step 2: Look Ahead and Plan for Improvement
Look Ahead
If you use other positive behavioral practices such as clear rules and expectations, reflection and problem solving, developing rules and expectations with input from the children, your policy may meet the requirements for Developmentally Appropriate Learning and Practices: Positive Guidance: DAP 3.2, DAP 3.3, DAP 3.4, or DAP 3.5
Plan for Improvement
Set a goal to learn about other positive guidance strategies that may support the children in your program. Remember to upload any updates to your policy that may meet the requirements of a higher quality rating.
Step 3: Upload Your Documentation (DAP 3.1)
Log in to the Maryland EXCELS System to upload your written policy of positive behavioral practices.
