Social and emotional Wellbeing

[Care4children]

Pete’s Story
Background information:
Pete (4yrs 4 months) is the youngest child in his family. He has two older siblings who attend primary school. Both of Pete’s parents work full-time. Recently Pete’s older brother Matt has been quite sick in hospital. He has come home from hospital now and Pete’s grandma has come to stay so that she can look after Matt when no one else is at home.
Pete is currently attending Child Care five days per week. He has been coming to child care for 12 months and has settled in well. However, recently some friction has been observed between Pete and his peers. This is unusual as Pete has always been an easy going child.
What Jing the educator noticed – day 1: During indoor play time Pete had worked hard to set up a car track. He was playing happily with Martin (4yrs 6 months) to see whose car went the fastest. They judged this by seeing how far each car went before it stopped. The two boys were taking turns. Pete’s car always went the furthest until Martin changed the car he was using. This time Martin’s car went the furthest. “You cheated” said Pete and he pushed Martin out of the way. “I’m not playing anymore” said Pete and he stomped away knocking over one of the smaller children as he went. The educator Jing noticed what had happened and took the opportunity to talk with Jing about why he was upset. Another educator comforted the younger child. Jing then attempted to use the conflict resolution method to assist Martin and Pete to solve their problem. Pete was not willing to cooperate. It seemed that he just needed some time to himself.
What Jing the educator noticed - The next day
It was early in the morning. Pete had said goodbye to his Dad and now was helping the educator Jing sweep up the gum leaves in the yard. Taj (4 years) arrived with his Mum and came straight over to say hello to his friend Pete. Taj wanted to help too so he got the wheel barrow and started to scoop up the leaves. Pete yelled at Taj “This is my job! Go away! Taj did not reply but kept scooping the leaves. Pete then hit Taj on the head with his broom handle. “I told you this is my job, go away now!”. Taj's Mum saw what happened and came over and immediately comforted Taj.
Jing, the educator’s response and her reflections
Seeing that Taj was being cared for, Jing took Pete aside held his hand gently and said, “Come with me for a while. Let’s go for a bit of a walk together”. After a couple of minutes she knelt down with Pete next to her and asked if he was feeling ok. He said “No, I had a sore tummy last night and I’m a bit tired today.” She asked him if he was also feeling upset or angry. This was after reflecting on what she knew about what was happening for Pete’s family. (See background information). Pete admitted he was feeling angry and started to cry. Jing gave Pete a hug, waited for a while and then asked him if he thought about how Taj was feeling.
Jing thought about how Pete might respond the next time he felt frustrated. She discussed with Pete the strategies he could use if he gets angry again. Pete’s whole body language changed from being rigid and uncomfortable to being more relaxed and open.

Jing then asked Pete where he would like to play now. Pete decided he would like to play neighbours with Jing using the doll’s house and dolls characters. Jing knew that Pete needed some shared time where he could rebuild his self-confidence and rebuild his relationships with others after the upset outside with the broom. He needed help to redirect his play. Jing and Pete pretended that the dolls lived together and they went to visit the neighbours to invite them over for lunch. They served sandwiches and chicken noodle soup and then helped each other with the dishes. They laughed a lot.
What happened next:
After about 10 minutes Jing and Pete moved over to the home corner where Pete found an apron and put it on. Jing helped Pete tie up his apron, stood back and watched as Pete went role playing a Master Chef in his own restaurant. Pete extended his own interest in cooking and was deeply involved in this role for more than half an hour. He had lots of ideas. He greeted other children as his guests, showed them to their seats, took their orders, cooked and served their food, and then washed the dishes. All the while, Pete was being his real self: a polite, gentle and organized leader who was respected and fun to be around.
From there, Pete’s self-confidence and wellbeing were restored. For the rest of the day he enjoyed himself. He made good choices about his play and learning. He made positive choices in his interactions with peers and educators.




In the above scenario i have some questions. What could be the possible reason for Pete's behaviour from an esy going boy to ne who is experienceing conflict with friends. Please suggest.
I think the answer is that he is not getting enough attetnion at home. His brother is sick and grandmother is here and the whoel focus is on his brother.
Do you think this is the right track?
thanks in advance