Meet Natalia and Alex
Positive caregiving is key to creating harmonious households and classrooms full of positive relationships. During one of EFC’s Buffering Toxic Stress workshops for teachers, one of the teachers, Natalia*, realized that the way she talked and thought about some of her students was negative. In her mind, she applied labels like “problem child” or “challenging” to some of her students, which was not yielding positive results.
Alex*, one such “problem child,” was in Natalia’s own classroom. Alex had garnered “a bad reputation” at school due to his rambunctious and disruptive behavior, including blowout tantrums. He was the student who immediately came to Natalia’s mind during EFC’s workshop.
Natalia had an epiphany. These so-called “problem children” were simply children — children with whom she needed to build a strong, positive relationship. Now, whenever a fellow teacher warns Natalia about a “problem child,” she makes a special effort to reach out to that child.
As soon as Natalia made the effort to establish a close relationship with Alex, he blossomed in the classroom. Natalia proudly reports that Alex has had his first successful school experience in her classroom, in which she implemented the positive caregiving techniques she learned in EFC’s Buffering Toxic Stress workshop. With their stronger connection, Alex is responsive to her instructions and can express himself to her through words instead of tantrums. Though it may sound simple, the impact that positive caregiving had on Alex’s classroom experience was profound.
*Names have been changed to protect clients’ privacy.
This story illustrates YOUR support in action. If it weren’t for compassionate people like you, Alex would not be able to access informative workshops and coaching from the Early Childhood Outreach (EChO) program. Unfortunately, so many families can’t afford the therapy and other resources they need to help their children thrive. With your support, kids like Alex can flourish.
Dear reader, we want to remind you that your support and engagement allow us to make children’s better by providing free education, counseling, and support to break dysfunctional patterns of generational abuse and neglect in adults and other children’s caregivers. You have the power to ensure Durham area children can access the support they need, no matter their family’s income.
Thank you for being hero for children!