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Overview

This module helps early care and education professionals understand behavior as communication. Working with young children can be incredibly rewarding—and sometimes puzzling. In this module, you’ll explore how behavior is a form of communication and what children’s actions can tell us about their needs, development, and experiences. You’ll learn how your own responses and relationships play a powerful role in supporting children, how to observe behavior objectively, and how to look beyond the surface to understand the “why” behind what you see. By the end of this module, you’ll have practical tools and strategies to respond to behavior with curiosity, confidence, and care—turning everyday challenges into opportunities for growth and connection.

Estimated Time to Complete: 1 hour

  • Describe a child’s behavior as a means of communication.
  • Identify behaviors in infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children considered developmentally appropriate and what to do when there are concerns.
  • Explain how behavior can be viewed as a sequence of interconnected events influenced by the environment, relationships, and context.
  • Recall the use of positive, teaching-focused strategies to replace challenging behaviors with new ones that serve the same function.

This module has received the Ohio Approved (OA) designation.

This module is eligible for one (1) unit hours in the areas of EI developmental specialist and EI service coordinator as approved by the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD).

Glossary