(a) Behavior guidance shall be:

1. (1) Individualized and consistent for each child;
2. (2) Appropriate to the child’s level of understanding; and

3. (3)

   1. (A) Directed toward teaching the child acceptable behavior and self-control.
   2. (B) See the Office of Early Childhood website for recommended behavior guidance training.

(d) Acceptable behavior guidance techniques include:

1. (1) Look for appropriate behavior and reinforce the child with praise and encouragement when they are behaving well;
2. (2) Remind the child daily of the rules by using clear, positive statements regarding how they are expected to behave rather than what they are not supposed to do;
3. (3) Attempt to ignore minor inappropriate behavior and concentrate on what the child is doing properly;
4. (4) Use brief supervised separation from the group only when the child does not respond to a verbal command that instructs the child as to how he or she is supposed to behave;
5. (5) When a misbehaving child begins to behave appropriately, encourage and praise small steps rather than waiting until the child has behaved appropriately for a long period of time; and
6. (6) Attend to the children who are behaving appropriately, and other children will follow their example in order to obtain your attention.

(e)

1. (1) The following activities or threats of such activities are unacceptable as behavior guidance measures and shall not be used for children.

2. (2) These include, but are not limited to the following:

   1. (A)

(i) Restraints.

1. (ii) Restraining a child briefly by holding the child is allowed when the child’s actions place the child or others at risk of injury;

   1. (B) Washing mouth with soap;
   2. (C) Taping or obstructing a child’s mouth;
   3. (D) Placing unpleasant or painful-tasting substances in mouth, on lips, etc.;
   4. (E) Profane or abusive language;
   5. (F) Isolation without supervision;
   6. (G) Placing child in a dark area;
   7. (H) Inflicting physical pain, hitting, pinching, pulling hair, slapping, kicking, twisting arms, biting or biting back, spatting, swatting, etc.;

   8. (I)

      1. (i) Yelling.
      2. (ii) This does not include a raised voice level to gain a child’s attention to protect the child from risk of harm;

   9. (J)

      1. (i) Forcing physical activity, such as running laps, doing pushups, etc.
      2. (ii) This does not include planned group physical education activities that are not punitive in nature;

   10. (K) Associating punishment with:

       1. (i) Rest;
       2. (ii) Toilet training; or
       3. (iii) Illness;
   11. (L) Denying food (lunch or snacks) as punishment or punishing children for not eating;
   12. (M) Children shall not be forced or bribed to eat;
   13. (N) Shaming, humiliating, frightening, labeling, physically, or mentally harming children; and
   14. (O) Covering the faces of children with blankets or similar items.

(f)

1. (1) Posted group behavior charts shall not be used.
2. (2) Individual behavior charts that are not viewable by children and individual charts used by therapists are allowable.

(g) Behavior guidance practices used by the center shall be:

1. (1) Discussed with each child's parents; and
2. (2) Provided to them in writing at the time of enrollment with a copy signed by the parent maintained in the child's record.