The TRECS story begins with two little girls born approximately forty years apart.
At the time of their stories, Beth and *Brielle were both three years old, small for their age, active, an
d adorable.
Another thing they had in common was that they had both been removed from their biological parents and placed in foster care.
When I was eleven years old, friends of my family had a three year old foster daughter named Beth who had some huge traumas in her life. I was asked to be her one-on-one buddy in the church nursery and developed a bond with her that helped her cope in that environment. I really had no idea what I was doing, but I was so excited to be a big helper with the little children! Looking back, I see that the strong relationship she and I built contributed to her sense of safety and security, which helped her regulate her emotions and be successful in that setting. A seed had been planted in my heart.
*not her real name
Fast forward to 2017, and I was the teacher in an Exceptional Student Preschool Classroom. Three-year-old Brielle had been kicked out of two daycares and took our room by storm, alternating being a combination of sweet and sassy with having huge meltdowns which included screaming, knocking over furniture, dumping toys, climbing, hiding, and physical aggression.
All my love, combined with every tactic I knew about discipline and classroom management, seemed to do nothing to help in the long term.
She was receiving psychiatric care and counseling, and I had some communication with these professionals. Enlisting the help of a school-based Behavioral Specialist left us with charts and reward/ consequence systems in which Brielle had no interest and that had no impact (except to make her angrier).
I thought Brielle was angry, confused, and needed limits. I didn’t yet know the brain science that now tells us that she was terrified, she was being placed in situations beyond her level of stress tolerance, and she was almost constantly in a state of fight or flight.
The story continues with countless other children whom I have encountered.
For example:
*Moriah, who was kicked out of three daycares before the age of four due to aggressive behaviors, and who would attempt to physically fight the teacher rather than transition between activities.
*Daniel, a non-verbal little boy who would hurl himself from the top of the playground equipment, run full speed into windows, and body slam his classmates with no apparent fear, and who would refuse to to do any non-preferred activity.
*Kelsie, a child with high cognitive, verbal, and adaptive functioning, but who would yell “Nooooo!” or just scream shrilly at the top of her lungs when something was asked or required of her.
*Andre, who would smile sweetly and then run in the opposite direction, jumping on tables and scratching or pushing anyone in his way
*not their real names
TRECS is based on the research and work of many educators and psychologists.
Because of my students who needed more than I was equipped to provide, I went on a years-long quest of my own—reading books, taking courses, participating in conferences, and obtaining certifications—in my own personal attempt to glean the most applicable and practical knowledge from each expert as related to early childhood classrooms. This work is in honor of each of these students.
I have taken what I have learned, and what I have successfully implemented, to create a model of bringing trauma-responsive teaching to the early childhood classroom. Below, you can find a link to an annotated bibliography of some of my favorite resources which were all used to varying degrees to create the TRECS training modules.
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
~Wayne Dyer