Supporting Mental Health in Young Children

Biological factors and environmental stressors are a major cause of mental disorders in young children. Biological factors such as inherit traits from their parents may cause a child be bipolar; chemical imbalance may cause autism; and damage to the central nervous system may cause a child to have Huntington's disease. There are many environment factors that can affect a child's mental health. Some of these stressors include a child being exposed to violence, extreme stress, and/or death of a loved one. Identifying these factors and stressors early on in a child's life can reduce the cost of care; prevent the factors from producing escalated disorders; and with early detection medical specialist and the community can assist the child and their families in coping with any mental disorders.

Children need a combination of intellectual skills, motivational qualities, and socio-emotional skills to succeed in school (Thompson, R.A., 2002). Children that are exposed to positive practices in early childhood education programs can better understand and control their own feelings and behavior, understand the feelings of others and, know how to get along with others (Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, 2002). A few of the qualities and practices that allows an early childhood education program to have positive impacts on children's social/emotional development and overall mental health are ensuring high adult-child ratio in each classroom to allot for proper individual attention to each child fostering an environment that builds nurturing relationships; partnership with parents to ensure parents feel welcomed and involved in their child's education; hire well-prepared teachers and provide continuing professional development to ensure professional educators are teachers are familiar with their student's social and emotional development as they create environments and positive relationships to support learning; providing their staff with competitive compensation and benefits to attract and reduce turn-over in their staff, fostering an environment of consistent attachment to form between a teacher and child; and providing the teachers with a sound curriculum that addresses the needs of the whole child fostering an environment that invites children into suitable explorations that improve learning outcomes (Boyd et al., 2005). By putting these practices in place and having quality educators in an early childhood education program provide children with opportunities to develop problem-solving abilities and positively affect their development of social and emotional skills, which can have long-term benefits for learning.

In order for an early childhood teacher to intentionally foster a child's mental health and well-being, the classroom must enable the teacher the time to focus their attention on the needs of each of their children. The teacher's ability to focus his/her attention on the needs of each