Conscious Discipline®


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Conscious Discipline®

Conscious Discipline® was created by Dr. Becky Bailey and is a comprehensive emotional intelligence and classroom management system currently implemented in Knox County Head Start’s classrooms, and throughout the Agency. Knox County Head Start (KCHS) has utilized the philosophy and practices of Conscious Discipline® as a springboard to transform the Agency into program well on its way to being known as the premier provider of early care and education services in central Ohio. This video will help you understand some Conscious Discipline® basics.    

 

 

Conscious Discipline® provides adults the opportunity to learn new skills and behaviors, enabling them to feel safe, connected, and empowered. Adults may then create a healthy environment for the children, families, and community served. Knox County Head Start implements Conscious Discipline® at every level – as a classroom management tool and social/ emotional curriculum; as the foundation of our Child Mental Health program, incorporating teachers and parents in developing positive and consistent interventions in support of children; as a team building tool; as an effective parenting training; and as a human resources management tool that provides both structure and nurture to employees in creating a healthy and successful workplace.

 

 

It has been a long journey to fully implement the principles and skills of Conscious Discipline,® one that KCHS has been recognized for by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland in a national competition identifying Head Start Centers of Excellence, which was awarded to KCHS in September 2010. Conscious Discipline® has proven to be an innovative approach to enhance comprehensive early education, mental health and parenting services to children and families, producing positive and measurable outcomes for children’s school success, increasing families’ ability to support children’s learning, and increasing staff competency.

 

 

Renee Sutherland, Child Mental Health Consultant at KCHS, began a six-week Conscious Discipline® training course for parents in 2005. Since that time, hundreds of parents have been trained to implement these same principles with their children and in their homes, underscoring and supporting everything they are learning at KCHS.     The foundation of success that Conscious Discipline® represents has enabled Knox County Head Start to transform ourselves, our classrooms, centers, the Agency, and the Agency’s reputation within the community. This success begins with an understanding of the importance of safety:

  • Management embraces the role as “safe keeper” for employees and for the reputation of the Agency within the community.
  • Program coordinators and center managers create safety for employees in providing clear direction and support for each service area, and in the daily operation of center.
  • Teachers create a healthy school family in each individual classroom, meeting children’s need for safety, security and connection so that the classroom becomes an optimum place for learning and growing.
  • Training, consultation and intervention strategies support parents in their role as the first and most important teachers – and safe keepers – for their children.

These comprehensive strategies support excellence at every level within KCHS, as we work to continuously improve program operations in support of quality services to children, families and the Knox County community.