The School Age Children module provides additional skills and strategies specific to a younger population. Some of the details are shown below:
- SAC is a half day of trainer training. If the entire SAC course is taught to staff, the specialist version takes 2–2 ½ hours.
- The module is intended to provide a toolbox to address a wide range of potential issues. Some organizations may teach all of the procedures in SAC, while others will pick and choose the ones that are most appropriate.
Curriculum Content
Supporting Children
Discusses how to create a supportive physical and social environment specifically to meet the needs of younger children. Includes an extensive discussion of how staff can manage their own behavior, provide effective reinforcement, and attend to desirable behavior instead of challenging behavior. Also discusses teaching children how to respond when their peers exhibit challenging behavior.
Managing Expectations
Provides principles and examples of how to establish and communicate simple, clear, and understandable expectations for individuals and groups. Trainees practice setting expectations for children and responding appropriately when expectations are not met.
Incident Management With Smaller Children
This chapter begins with an extensive discussion of minimization and management strategies, specifically addressing the kinds of challenging behavior that younger children often present with: climbing, running away, refusal to move, property damage, provoking peers, peer aggression, biting, etc. An additional hold—the Small Person Stability Hold—is included. Also, two procedures for carrying are taught: the Small Person Vertical Carry and the Small Person Horizontal Carry
Safety Interventions With Mats (Optional)
By special arrangement, an optional mat blocking section can be added to this training. This procedure allows the use of a standard gym mat to manage aggressive behavior and limit movement of an agitated child without the use of a hold or transport.
Equipment for Safety Interventions With Mats
We cannot provide a mat at a training, and if no mat is available, we will not be able to teach the optional Safety Interventions With Mats section. A mat is required for training this procedure and should be brought to the class. We recommend a full size gym mat: between 3 feet (0.9 m) and 4 feet (1.2 m) in length, and 6 feet (1.8 m) and 9 feet (2.7 m) in width. The edge of the mat turned on its side will be about chest or shoulder high for an average sized person. The mat should fold into at least 3–4 sections in one direction so that it can be easily moved between the child and target persons or objects
while staying upright.
If you do not currently have one, here are some links to help you obtain one:
Note that QBS LLC has not tested any mats and does not endorse any specific product or brand.