Family Routine Guide - How to Use the Family Routine Guide for Young Children with Challenging Behavior

Sep 26, 2026

Uploaded by Ophelia

Family Routine Guide for young children with challenging behavior supports parents and caregivers in building a practical plan across daily routines. The guide explains that challenging behavior often communicates an escape/avoidance need or a desire to obtain something, and stresses identifying the function or “why” as the behavior happens. It organizes strategies into prevention, teaching replacement skills, and responsive approaches, supported by a Family Planning Sheet to document selected routines, reasons, actions, and needed resources.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages62

Reading Time22 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

How to Use the Family Routine Guide for Young Going Places

Children with Challenging Behavior

Meal or Snacks

Getting Dressed or Undressed

Taking a Bath

Transitions: Going from One Place or Activity to Another

Bathroom (Toileting, Wash Hands)

Play When Parents Can’t Play (Chores, working from home, on phone)

Outside Play

Medicine or Treatments

Clean-Up

Going to the Doctor

Bedtime, Sleeping, Nap

Family Planning Sheet

Family Routine Guide Contents How to Use the Family Routine Guide for Young Going Places 33 Children with Challenging Behavior 3 Shopping 38 Family Planning Sheet4 Restaurants42 Getting Dressed or Undressed5 Attending Community Or Family Events Brushing Teeth or Hair 8 (e.g., Laundromat, Sporting Events, Church, Temple, Synagogue)44 Meal or Snacks 12 Going to School or Childcare48 Taking a Bath 14 Transitions: Going from One Place or Activity Bathroom (Toileting, Wash Hands) 17 to Another50 Play 19 When Parents Can’t Play (Chores, working from home, on phone)54 Outside Play23 Medicine or Treatments57 Clean-Up26 Going to the Doctor59 Bedtime, Sleeping, Nap29 National Center for Pyramid Model [Innovations |](Innovations | ChallengingBehavior.org)[ ChallengingBehavior.org](Innovations | ChallengingBehavior.org)[ ](Innovations | ChallengingBehavior.org)The reproduction of this document is encouraged. Permission to copy is not required. If modified or used in another format, please cite original source. This is a product of the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations and was made possible by Cooperative Agreement \#H326B170003 which is funded by the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Pub: 06/29/2021 [2](2 ChallengingBehavior.org | National Center)[ ChallengingBehavior.org |](2 ChallengingBehavior.org | National Center)[ National Center](2 ChallengingBehavior.org | National Center) for Pyramid Model Innovations How to Use the Family Routine Guide for Young Children with Challenging Behavior This Family Routine Guide can assist parents and caregivers in developing a plan to support young children who are using challenging behavior. Children engage in challenging behavior for a variety of reasons, but all children use challenging behavior to communicate messages. Challenging behavior, typically, communicates a need to escape or avoid a person or activity or communicates a desire to obtain someone or something. Once caregivers understand the purpose or meaning of the behavior, they can begin to select strategies to change the behavior. They can do this by selecting prevention strategies, teaching new skills, and changing the way they respond to eliminate or minimize the challenging behavior. The Family Routine Guide includes strategies for the common routines and activities that occur during the family’s week. How the Guide is Organized 1 | Find the “Why”(Your child...) | | --- | | ► Why might my child be doing this?
► This section provides ideas that will assist caregivers in thinking about what the child may be communicating through challenging behavior. The strategies that are recommended require determining the“why” of behavior as it occurs in the routine. | 4 Teach New Skills ► What new skills can I teach to replace the challenging behavior? ► This section suggests new skills to teach to replace the challenging behavior. Many of the strategies mentioned in the guide are quick and easy to implement. It is important to use all ofthe sections in the guide [i.e., 1) function or why, 2) prevention strategies, 3) ways to respond to behavior, and 4) new skills] to develop a support plan that will be effective for your child. The guide provides ideas about commonly occurring situations and children’s behavior. Please note that this list might not address all situations or reasons the child is using challenging behavior. If the child’s purpose of challenging behavior is not represented on the chart, the parent is encouraged to write down the purpose and then think of prevention strategies, new skills to teach, and ways to respond to behavior. Instructions for Use A Family Planning Sheet is provided at the beginning of this Family Routine Guide for writing down th

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the Family Routine Guide for young children with challenging behavior?

To help parents and caregivers develop a support plan that targets challenging behavior during common family routines and activities.

How should caregivers decide on strategies to change challenging behavior?

Caregivers should determine the purpose or meaning (the “why”) of the behavior as it occurs in the routine, then choose prevention strategies, teach new skills, and adjust how they respond.

How does the Family Planning Sheet help families use the guide?

It provides a structured way to write down the child’s name, the routines causing difficulty, the caregiver’s thoughts about the function (“why”), selected prevention steps, response strategies, and the new skills to teach, plus needed resources.

Sep 26, 2026

Uploaded by Ophelia