Tantrums, Tears, and Tough Moments: Rethinking How We Respond to Young Children by Claire Lerner, LICSW

Tantrums, tears, and tough moments are a normal part of early childhood, but when a child is having a meltdown, refusing to clean up, or struggling with a transition, even experienced educators can find themselves reacting rather than responding.

What if we viewed challenging behaviors not as misbehavior, but as clues to what a child is experiencing and needs?

Join Claire Lerner, LICSW, to explore a new perspective on challenging behaviors and learn how to respond with empathy, confidence, and clear boundaries. Claire will introduce a practical process for decoding children's behavior, identifying the developmental, temperamental, and environmental factors that influence their responses, and recognizing how our own emotional triggers can shape our interactions with children.

Through real classroom scenarios, you'll discover strategies for staying calm during difficult moments, setting loving but firm limits, and helping children develop the skills they need to regulate their emotions and behavior.

Leave with practical tools to navigate challenging behaviors without shame or punishment, strengthen your connections with children, and create a more supportive classroom environment where children and educators can thrive.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Identify developmental, temperamental, and environmental factors that may contribute to challenging behaviors in young children.

2. Recognize common emotional triggers that can lead educators to react rather than respond, and identify strategies for managing their own emotional responses during challenging interactions.

3. Apply a behavior-decoding approach to classroom scenarios to identify children's underlying needs and select appropriate responses that combine empathy, clear boundaries, and support for emotional regulation.