Webinar: Guiding the Most Challenging Children

Encouraging and forming relationships with children who challenge us can be one of the most difficult parts of teaching. Often these children say hurtful things to others, frequently refuse to comply or join in and are sometimes physically hurtful to themselves or others in the classroom.


Conscious Discipline asks adults to view these children as calling for love.


Children who are relationship resistant are the most challenging in our classrooms. We can relate to these children on some level as we have all had hurt and betrayal in our lives. As adults we build defenses to distract us from that inner pain, children show us their inner pain with disruptive and hurtful behaviors in the classroom. Conscious Discipline provides adults with sills to enhance brain development by creating optimal learning environments, support self-regulation in ways that foster relationships instead of damaging them, resolve conflicts, and help children build respectful relationships with others.

Join Conscious Discipline Certified Instructor Jill Molli to learn strategies for reaching and building relationships with these children transforming both their life and the life of the classroom. Listen in and learn how to create a School Family, utilize the skills of active calming, encouragement and powerful connections to reach even the most challenging children.

Webinar Outline

  • 00:40 Conscious Discipline brain model
  • 01:49 Three strategies for guiding challenging children
  • 02:10 Skill 1: Safety
  • 04:38 Visual schedules and picture routines to set clear expectations
  • 07:08 Importance of self-regulation in relation to behaviors
  • 09:07 Video Clip: students learn breathing arms with Dr. Bailey
  • 11:37 Step 2: Make a Connection
  • 18:39 Ways to encouraging connections
  • 19:22 Video Clip: I love you rituals with challenging children
  • 20:57 Creating books to teach I love you rituals
  • 22:18 Step 3: Teach missing skills
  • 25:13 Video Clip: Elijah’s story
  • 30:00 Importance of jobs
  • 31:19 Video Clip: Older child explains his jobs and how they help him
  • 32:20 Teach missing skills – teaching children to ask for a turn
  • 33:08 Video Clip: teaching a child how to get a friends attention
  • 35:00 Summary

Resource Mentions

Helpful Next Steps