Quiet, Shy and Withdrawn Children in Preschool

This study examines the risk factors of quiet, shy and withdrawn children if they do not receive the help, or attention they need, to develop and learn. Early science has found that anxiety and in some cases depression later in life, is common for shy children. The aim of the study is then to find out how preschool teachers identify quiet, shy and withdrawn children in preschool. The aim is also to find strategies to be able to help these children to communicate and to be active. A qualitative method has been used to collect material in the form of interviews with five preschool teachers. The material was reduced, sorted and analyzed into different categories to identify patterns and common themes. The result shows that quiet, shy and withdrawn children in preschool tend to have solitary behaviour and are also observant. Practical approaches to how to help quiet, shy and withdrawn children in preschool show, among other things, that security and relationships play a big role in the quiet, shy and withdrawn children’s participation and communication in preschool. They also show that the environment, cooperation with caretaker and the documentation work can be a tool to make each child’s needs visible. The result was then analyzed based on the attachment theory and concepts within the theory. Preschool children need to feel safe to be able to build attachments/relations with other children and teachers. This study shows that there are several ways to support these children at an early age, to prevent them from having internalizing problems later. For future study to get a better picture of quiet, shy and withdrawn children in preschool, it would be great to observe preschool teachers' strategies in practice.