I work in a preschool nursery, so with 3-4yo. I haven't worked with this age group before so maybe I'm coming at this the wrong way, but what's the best approach for a child having a meltdown? None of the children have diagnosed SEN yet because they are too young, but 2 girls clearly have issues with emotional regulation, transitions between activities etc. When one of them is asked to sit down for carpet time / wash hands for snack time etc she will often just start crying, saying she doesn't want to do that etc to the extent it disturbs the others. Another properly screams if another child has a toy she wants and cannot be reasoned with etc. SEN or not, my instinct with such young children is to remove them from the room if possible, calm them down with gentle words, gentle shushing or rubbing their back etc because they can't be reasoned with in that state. When calm, they generally understand what needs to be done or might be distracted. If the gentle calming isn't working with that child, I try holding their hand until they calm themselves down so they know I'm there.
My colleague just raises her voice and tells them to stop which often seems to confuse / upset or antagonise them even more.
There is probably a middle ground, but which approach is best? If I am wrong, why and how do I cope with the idea that colleague is unnecessarily upsetting a disregulated 3 or 4 year old?