It is a difficult issue. While I hate to see a child expelled, occassionally it is necessary. I think this is rare and only should be for extreme cases. In 10 years of working in preschools, we only expelled 2 children. These weren't very young biters. One was a little boy who bit CONSTANTLY. When teachers tried to stop him, he bit them. Badly. Before we had to expel him, we had 5 conferences with the parents, as well as dozens of informal conversations. Literally, that many. We referred them to parenting information, early intervention and a program called "Help Me Be Good" for behavior. They just weren't interested. They actually thought he was funny! Ultimately, we had to expel him. Too many children were being injured. It just wasn't fair.
The other case was a four year old. She not only bit, but punched, hit, kicked, pulled hair, pushed kids off playground equipment, etc. This was when I was director at a different center. We worked with the parents for about 6 months on her behavior. After 7 parents threatened to pull their children from the school, we needed to act. I felt bad for the parents, but the overall safety of the other children was also a factor that couldn't be ignored.
The truth is, not all kids are cut out for daycare. Some really can't handle it and need a more one on one situation. This applies to very few children, but it does apply to some. One of my dds couldn't handle daycare at 2. She didn't hurt others, but cried every morning for four months. I recognized that it was too much for her and hired a private sitter. For a few, stress results in agression. I definitely don't agree with kicking all biters out or even doing it for just a few instances. But, when it's habitual something needs to be done. BTW, we gave the 2 parents I mentioned a week's notice to find alternative care. We didn't kick them out with no warning. They definitely knew it was coming as it had been discussed in conferences.
The other case was a four year old. She not only bit, but punched, hit, kicked, pulled hair, pushed kids off playground equipment, etc. This was when I was director at a different center. We worked with the parents for about 6 months on her behavior. After 7 parents threatened to pull their children from the school, we needed to act. I felt bad for the parents, but the overall safety of the other children was also a factor that couldn't be ignored.
The truth is, not all kids are cut out for daycare. Some really can't handle it and need a more one on one situation. This applies to very few children, but it does apply to some. One of my dds couldn't handle daycare at 2. She didn't hurt others, but cried every morning for four months. I recognized that it was too much for her and hired a private sitter. For a few, stress results in agression. I definitely don't agree with kicking all biters out or even doing it for just a few instances. But, when it's habitual something needs to be done. BTW, we gave the 2 parents I mentioned a week's notice to find alternative care. We didn't kick them out with no warning. They definitely knew it was coming as it had been discussed in conferences.
