Core Values: We have made a commitment to recognize that children and adults achieve their highest potential in the context of relationships that are based on trust and respect.

Section I:

· P-1.2

We should care for and educate children in positive emotional and social environments that are cognitively stimulating and support each child’s culture, language, ethnicity, and family structure.

Section II:

· I-2.3

To welcome all family members and encourage them to participate in the program, including involvement in shared decision making.

14-1The Development of the Psychosocial Domain

The heart and soul of any good program for young children is a commitment to help children as they struggle with

· (1)

the reality of emotions,

· (2)

the awareness of the need for social skills,

· (3)

the creative urge, and

· (4)

acknowledgment of the spirit.

Together, these four areas comprise the psychosocial, or affective, side of development. The psychosocial domain is the third area of human development. It includes the development of emotions, temperament, and social skills. Areas of self-concept and self-esteem are also in this realm. “Family, friends, the community, the culture, and the larger society are particularly central to the psychosocial domain. For example, cultural differences in appropriate sex roles or in family structures are part of this domain” (Berger, 2014). The domain is sometimes labeled affective because it deals with feelings, or socioemotional, because the social and emotional areas are key components.

Affective growth takes place in the context of personal identity. Identity begins with family—every aspect of child-rearing, such as how a child is held, bathed, fed, dressed, and sleeps, lays a foundation for children of who they are. Families hand down beliefs, religious and cultural expectations, attitudes, and behaviors and then hand over their children to us for a time, so identity development becomes a shared responsibility.

It is primarily through psychosocial experiences that children learn who they are; only then can they see themselves successfully in relation to others. Social and emotional competence predict, in part, school readiness and later success. Therefore, early environments and curriculum help build this competence.

14-1aDefining Psychosocial Experiences

The first thing one notices on entering an early childhood program is the children at play. A quick survey of the area shows who is playing together, whether there is crying or fighting, and how happy or sad the children look. This overview gives an immediate sense of the affective climate in that early childhood setting.

· Emotional. Toddler Abier giggles as she runs her hands across the water table, then cries after she splashes soap suds in her eyes and needs to be comforted.

· Social. Preschooler Danny wants to play with his favorite red wagon, so Pat, the student teacher, helps him negotiate a turn with Christa.

· Creative. Kindergartners Fabio, Erika, and Benjy work steadily to build a tall, intricate block structure. When it is finished, the three children stand back and marvel at their creation.

· Spiritual. The children see a nest being built in the backyard of Teresa’s family child care home. “Who told the birds how to make the nest?” wonder the children. They make daily checks and then hear the peeping sound of newly hatched baby birds. “It’s magic!” whispers Neefara, and the children sit quietly and reverently every time they see the mother return to the nest.

Together, these factors—emotional mood, social dynamics, creative, and spiritual tone—define the overall atmosphere in which children play and work.

The components of psychosocial development are woven together in the developing child. Children who are sensitive to their feelings and moods are able to begin understanding other people and, thus, become more socially effective and successful. Children with experience in many creative endeavors have the self-confidence that comes from having an outlet for self-expression. Children who are spiritually curious are likely to ask questions such as, “Who makes the little seeds grow?” when gardening, or they want to write a letter to their dead pet to make sure all is at peace.

The division into the three domains (physical–motor, cognitive–language, and psychosocial) makes development easier to study, but growth is holistic, not piecemeal. Note the connections here:

· Creative/physical. Physical skills can define and limit children’s creative abilities. Two-year-old Andrea, whose physical skills do not yet include balancing objects, plays with blocks by piling them on top of one another, filling her wagon with blocks, and dumping them or lugging them from place to place.

· Social/cognitive. It is hard for 5-year-old Karena to share her best friend, Luther, with other children. Her intellectual abilities do not yet allow her to consider more than one idea at a time, so she cannot understand that Luther can be her friend and Dana’s at the same time.

· Emotional/language. Tyler is upset with his teacher’s refusal to let him go outdoors during story time. “I hate you!” he screams, “You aren’t the boss of me!” Children learn to label and express their emotions through words.

· Spiritual/creative. The children make their daily trek to the henhouse as soon as outside time begins. First, they gasp, as they discover a raccoon has pried open the wire and killed their pet. After all the queries about what happened, Ellie speaks up, “I want to make a picture for Henny-Penny to take with her.” The group paints a multicolored mural, for which each one dictates ideas. “I am sad you died,” says Ellie. “But don’t worry, you will rise again!” A child’s spiritual notions are allowed to express themselves in creative ways.

It is difficult to measure the child’s growth in these areas, but it is easier to see physical growth, cognitive skills, and language development. After all, a child has grown to 40 inches tall or not, can rote count to 20 or misses some numbers, and speaks in full sentences or in short phrases. Affective expressions are more subtle and subjective. Talbot may feel rejected and sad if no one greets him as he enters the playhouse. He may mistake the children’s busy-ness as an act of exclusion and withdraw or lash out. In reality, the children did not even notice he was there; his social skill expression and self-identity were based on a misunderstanding—one that can change dynamically with a teacher’s input or change of scene.

14-1bA Sense of Self

Traditionally, early childhood educators have concerned themselves with children’s well-being, knowing that in the early years, the foundations must be laid for children to understand themselves and others. Social growth, creative expression, and experience with a wide range of emotions also help children develop a strong self-concept with positive self-esteem.

Building self-image is complex, multidimensional, and ever changing.

Courtesy of Chris and Stephanie Kelly

What Research Tells Us

Building self-image is complex, multidimensional, and ever changing. It affects everything we do and is affected by everything we do. Crucial to children’s self-image is how children interpret the response of the environment to their actions. And much of a self-image is based on the way society views the child. Teachers play an important role as they provide an essential ingredient of self-image: the quality of human interactions.

Children need to have several key experiences in the early years to develop and consolidate a sense of self (see Figure 14-1 ). Both theory and research help define those experiences.

Figure 14-1

Children’s emotional and social growth is an ongoing challenge as they enter new settings in their expanding world.

Growing a Sense of Self

Age	Growth Focus	Help Children with …
Infants	Relationship	Attachment
Toddlers	Awareness	Self-regulation
Twos	Curiosity	Interactions with others
Preschool	Self-concept	Testing and evaluating self
	Authority	Testing their limits in play, making friends
Kindergarten	Self-in-the-world	Feeling effective
Primary	Competence	Managing failure/mistakes, finding their strengths

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Psychosocial theory (see the discussion of Erik Erikson’s theories in Chapter 4 ) posits that the early years are critical in the development of conscience; formative experiences must shape a child in terms of moral worth, wrestling with good/nice and bad/mean. The autonomy of the toddler gives way to the initiative of the preschooler and competence of the school-aged child. These developments coincide with a longer attention span and a sense of pride in accomplishments of the tasks that require concentration. “Self esteem is the foundation for practice and then mastery” (Berger, 2014).

Sociocultural theory (see the discussion of Lev Vygotsky’s theories in Chapter 4 ) asserts that children must learn the ways of their culture to be grounded enough to find their place in the world. Attachment theory asserts that secure attachment is an asset; research confirms that children with high self-esteem are more likely to be securely attached and have parents who are attentive to their needs (Booth-LaForce et al., 2006).

Emotional intelligence, “a 21st-century skill for children and adults” (Kostelnik, 2008), requires neurological work to regulate the self (see the section entitled “ Ability to Self-Regulate ,” and the “ Special Topic: Nurturing Emotional Intelligence ”). We are all born with the potential to develop the capacities that enable us to control impulses, make plans, and stay focused. Known as executive function, research now identifies three components that need to work together to produce competent functioning (CDCHU, 2011):

· Working memory: helps with social interactions such as planning a skit, taking turns in group activities, rejoining a game

· Inhibitory control: helps control emotions and delay immediate gratification, to assist with waiting for a turn, sharing, and ignoring distractions

· Cognitive flexibility: helps deal with differential rules, such as “inside and outside voices” or trying different strategies when in conflicts

Research shows that low self-image is correlated with poor mental health, poor academic achievement, and delinquency. Many experiences can contribute to low self-image, such as impoverished conditions or inept parenting. Low childhood self-control predict adult health problems, foreshadows adult financial problems, and even criminal offense incidences (Moffit et al., 2014).

Transformative education recognizes that all of us are socialized to take our place in society. Our sense of self is influenced by prevailing social values, and our social skills are shaped by social practices. The social realities of sexism, racism, classism, ethnocentrism, and heterosexism shape children’s self-identity and the formation of prejudice and discriminatory behavior (York, 2006). The chronic stress of neglect or abuse, poverty, or family disruption all contribute to a child’s negative experiences, which may lead to poor self-image.

Teaching social justice has roots in John Dewey’s educational philosophy (Dewey, 1976):

I appeal to teachers … to remember that they above all others are consecrated servants of the democratic ideas in which alone this country is truly a distinctive nation—ideas of friendly and helpful intercourse between all and the equipment of every individual to serve the community by his own best power in his own best way

The anti-bias curriculum approach (see Chapter 9 ) and social justice framework (Au, Bigelow, & Karp, 2007, Goss, 2012) offer key principles to developing appropriate curricula and contributing to a strong sense of self. A positive self-concept is correlated with good mental health, academic achievement, and prosocial behavior (Salmivalli, Ojanen, Haanpaa, & Peets, 2005). As children’s spontaneous play becomes more goal-oriented, children encounter success in making projects and making friends.

A psychosocial curriculum prepares children to be active and involved. It promotes social action and problem solving so that children develop into involved citizens with a positive self-identity. It breaks down by age as follows:

· With infants and toddlers, the emphasis is on relationships.

· In preschool, programs emphasize emotional expression and social self-regulation.

· For school-age programs, it is often known as character education and usually involves conflict resolution and teamwork.

Affirming Identity

As children experience messages from others and through their perceptions, they construct an understanding of race, ethnicity, gender, and ability. This shapes their self-image and, by extension, their relationships to others.

Self-Esteem Self-esteem refers to an individual’s sense of personal worth and an acceptance of whom one is that helps one make judgments as they confront the world. To the extent that children feel worthy and capable, they are ready to succeed. If children disapprove of themselves, they may feel like failures and expect to do poorly.

Self-esteem develops as a reflection of experiences. The way that people respond to you gives you some indication of your importance or value. Newborn infants have no concept of self and no past experience to judge their worth. A young child who has positive experiences with others is more likely to have a higher sense of self-esteem than one who has felt unloved or unnoticed.

The Four I’s The “Four I’s” refer to four components of self-esteem:

1. I hold a sense of my identity.

2. I have a sense of my uniqueness.

3. I feel a sense of self (power).

4. I carry a sense of belonging (connectedness).

Early in life, self-esteem is tied to family, friends, and other important people, such as teachers. Curriculum can be developed to foster each of these characteristics (see Figure 14-2 ).

Figure 14-2

A psychosocial curriculum offers sensorimotor opportunities to deal with materials in a nonstructured way. Because children relax with open-ended activities, they often share their feelings as they use sensory materials in a comfortable atmosphere.

Curriculum for Psychosocial Development

Emotional Skill Development

Self-Esteem

· Identity: “Look at what I can do, the noise I can make, the weight I can pick up and move!”

· Connectedness: “I can make the same snakes as you; we can all make cakes.”

· Uniqueness: “I’m pouring mine; you’re dripping yours; and she is squeezing her stuff out her fingers!”

· Power: “I can make this water go anywhere I want; look out for the tidal waves!”

Deal with Feelings

· Identification (to notice and label): “Does it feel very smooth, slippery, slidy? Is it soft and soothing?”

· Mastery (to accept): “She took your baker’s dough and that made you angry. You can tell her you don’t like it when she grabs what you are using.”

· Expressing (to express appropriately):

· Child: “Tami has all the big pitchers.”

· Teacher: “How can you let her know you want one?”

· Child: “And she splashed me two times!”

· Teacher: “If you feel too crowded, you need to tell her so.”

· Feelings (to deal with others): “Whee! Yuk! Mmm! Ha!”

Curriculum: Activity (Use of Sense)

· Use rocks of various sizes with balances, so that children can touch and hear when they move things around.

· A malleable material such as play dough can be used first alone, then with tools.

· Make “oobleck,” a mixture of cornstarch and water, in separate tubs for each child. Children can manipulate it in their own ways.

· Water play offers the child choices: pour into any of several containers, fill or empty the jug, use a funnel or a baster to squirt the water, make waves or splash hands.

· When fingerpainting, the teacher can describe what it appears the child is feeling. Children can identify their feelings as the teacher describes them while they use the materials.

· Whether the sensory material is clay, soapy water, or fine sand, the issues of ownership and use of materials arise. Then, teachers reflect children’s feelings and help them take responsibility for their own feelings.

· As children begin to use the sensory materials, they need to communicate to others. Usually the issues are about wanting more material and personal space.

· When children share a sensory activity, such as the feeling of walking through tubs of small pebbles, sand, and soapsuds, they have the delightful experience of enjoying their own feelings with others.

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· I. When children enter the classroom, the message they receive is “I am important, and this is my place.” The physical environment, the daily schedule, and the curriculum are designed to give all children permission to express themselves. This gives them a sense of identity and uniqueness.

· Initiative. Children are encouraged to initiate their learning, to make contact with others, to take action, and to make choices. Power is important to young children; they want to know how to take (and when to let go) of control, and how to use power to get what they want and need.

· Independence. Self-management tasks of dressing, eating, and toileting are given an important place in the curriculum. Children are assisted in taking care of their belongings and in developing independent judgment about events and activities. Every culture and group has its own intricate rules about when and how to be independent, and an early childhood group can give them experience.

· Interaction. Social interaction has a high priority in the program. The room and yard are busy places, with children moving about and talking among themselves and with adults. Conflicts are accepted as a natural consequence of social life. In the spirit of John Dewey ( Chapter 1 ), democratic group living encourages children to interact. By showing respect for cultures that value collaboration and group harmony, such interaction fosters a consciousness of interdependence. The need for relationships with other people is crucial, and interaction gives children a sense of connectedness.

Children with a positive identity are ready to meet life’s challenges. They have the self-confidence to deal with the reality of emotions, the changing nature of social interaction, the joys of creativity, and serenity of spirituality.

14-2Curriculum for Emotional Growth

As discussed in the previous three chapters, the curriculum for the emotional domain needs to be built around key developmental concepts.

14-2aThe Development of Emotions

Emotions are the feelings a person has—joy and sorrow, love and hate, confidence and fear, loneliness and belonging, anger and contentment, frustration and satisfaction. They are responses to events, people, and circumstances. Feelings are an outgrowth of what a person perceives is happening. Emotionally healthy people learn to give expression to their feelings in appropriate ways. They do not allow their feelings to overshadow the rest of their behavior. The optimal time to learn these skills is in the early years.

Research in brain development (Rushton, Juola-Rushton, & Larkin, 2010; Thompson, 2001) has identified key areas of the brain involved in emotional expression and development. An area in the limbic section of our brains is the control center of our emotions. Two almond-shaped organs behind our eyes, called the amygdalae, are in constant communication with the rest of the brain (for thinking and perceiving).

The emotional brain scans everything happening to us from moment to moment to see if something that happened in the past that made us sad or angry is similar to what is happening now. If so, the amygdala calls an alarm to declare an emergency and to mobilize in a split second to act. And it can do so more rapidly than the thinking brain takes to figure out what is going on, which is why people can get into a rage and do something very inappropriate that they regret.

Children experience this constantly, and educators must help children develop dimensions of emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995): self-awareness, handling emotions generally, motivation, empathy, and social skills (see the “ Special Topic: Nurturing Emotional Intelligence ”). These grow over time, with maturation and experience both at work:

· In infancy, there are only two identifiable emotions: contentment and distress. Infants respond in agitated emotion whether wet, hungry, hurt, or bored. Gradually, the expression of the emotion becomes more refined and varies with the situation. Curiosity and anger begin to appear.

· A toddler’s cry of frustration is different from the cry of discomfort or hunger. Emotions such as frustration and doubt are apparent.

· As children become preschoolers, their emotional expressions change as they gain control over some of their feelings and learn new ways to express them. New emotions appear toward the end of the third year: pride, shame, embarrassment, and even guilt.

· By primary school, children can show all these emotions but are learning to keep their expression in check. Self-regulation and an awareness of how others perceive and react to them are taking place.

These strong external forces include people (parents, family members, teachers, and friends) and the environment (neighborhood, schools, and the media). They help the young child learn socially acceptable behavior and can mediate aggressive or withdrawing behavior. Much of what children learn is by example and modeling (see Chapter 4 ). Therefore, children learn more from adult models than from simply being told how to behave and feel. The emotional foundation of the first 5 years is carried forth into school age, as friends, the peer group, and validation from adults help build resilience and skills for coping with stress.

14-2bEmotional Skills

The emotional skills that children learn in their early years are substantial. Research shows that some emotions—interest, disgust, and distress, to name a few—are observable in the newborn, and it is posited that all the basic emotions are present within the first few weeks of life. These include happiness, interest, surprise, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust. The more complex emotions of shame, guilt, envy, and pride emerge later, once children have had the social experiences of observing these emotions in others or have been in situations that might evoke such feelings. These expressions have been observed in a wide range of cultural and ethnic groups.

In early childhood, children learn to respond to new situations and to react and connect with a teacher, both very emotional experiences. Good teachers stimulate an emotional response to themselves and the curriculum that is a balance between interest and overwhelming fear. Creating the right emotional conditions is a primary way to gain access to a child’s capacity for learning. Young children are not yet limited by standards of conduct that prevent them from sincere and truthful self-expression. Teachers observe children and learn how they feel about facing their feelings, the feelings of others, and the range of skills categorized as emotional growth. The five skills are the ability to deal with feelings, to handle change, to self-regulate, to enjoy oneself and power, and to be resilient.

Ability to Deal with Feelings

Dealing with feelings involves four steps. Each step builds on the other, so that they follow a developmental sequence; the learning that takes place at one level affects the development of what follows (see Figure 14-2 ).

To Notice and Label Feelings This ability is the first step. The sobbing 1- or 2-year-old may have many reasons for feeling distress. As families recognize the cries of hunger, hurt, and fear, they may name these feelings. The child learns to notice what each feeling is and recognize it. Teachers know how to read children’s faces and body language to give them the words for and ways to express those feelings (see Figure 14-3 ). Toddlers and 2-year-olds can be taught simple words for sad, mad, and glad. Preschoolers are quite verbal and curious about language and ready to learn words that describe a wider range of feelings. They can learn “lonely,” “scared,” “silly,” “sad,” and “happy.” Labeling what one feels inside is a critical skill to learn. It is a healthy first grader who can say, “I have tried to cut this string three times and the scissors aren’t working. I am frustrated. I need some help!”

Figure 14-3

As we observe children’s behavior, we understand how their feelings are expressed. Expressions of fear, anger, sadness, disgust, and happiness are universal, and learning to read faces and body stance is essential to guiding emotional development.

Learning to “Read” Feelings

Feeling	Behavioral Definition
Fear	Pale face, alert eyes, tense mouth, rigid body
Surprise	Wide eyes, eyebrows uplifted, involuntary cry or scream, quick intake of breath
Anger	Red face, eyes staring, face taut, fists and jaw clenched, voice harsh or yelling, large gestures
Joy	Smiling face, shining eyes, free and easy body movements, laughing
Pride	Head held high, smiling face, jaunty walk or strut, tendency to announce or point out
Embarrassment	Red face, glazed and downcast eyes, tight mouth, tense body, small and jerky movements, soft voice
Sadness	Unsmiling face, downturned mouth, glazed and teary eyes, crying or rubbing eyes, limp body, slow or small movements, soft and trembly voice
Anxiety	Puckered brow, pale face, tight mouth, whiny voice, jerky movements, lack of or difficulty in concentration
Curiosity	Raised brow, shining eyes, perhaps tense body in absorption of the object of curiosity; often hand movements to touch and pick up object; sometimes mouth agape

Enlarge Table

To Accept Feelings Accepting feelings is step two. Teachers recognize that children are capable of strong feelings. Children can feel overwhelmed by the very strength and intensity of a feeling, be it one of anger or of love. Acceptance involves learning how to handle the depth of the feeling and not let it overpower them. The changing nature of feelings is also part of acceptance; it can be a source of comfort and relief for young children to discover that the strong emotion they are experiencing will pass. Adults who work with young children help them work through those feelings safely.

For instance, 3-year-old Carlos feels sad as his mother prepares to leave. His teacher walks them to the door, then bends down and puts an arm around him as his mother waves good-bye. Acknowledging that he is sad, the teacher stays with Carlos, reminding him that his mother will return and that the teacher will take care of him while he is at school. Because the child is allowed to feel the sadness that is natural with leave-taking, the tense feelings are over in a few minutes. The teacher smiles and encourages Carlos to find something fun to do. Once he has recovered his composure, the teacher can point out that he’s “okay now,” and Carlos can feel proud for having lived through and grown from saying good-bye. Acknowledgment of the feeling and his ability to accept it help give Carlos the confidence to move on.

To Express Feelings in an Appropriate Way The third step is to express feelings appropriately, which is a two-part process. First, children must feel free to express their feelings; second, they must learn ways of expression that are suitable to their age and to the situation. Many beginning teachers are uncomfortable because children express themselves so strongly (and often aggressively). Yet the child who is passive and unable to express feelings freely should be of equal concern and should be encouraged in self-expression.

When teachers create a safe emotional climate, they can effectively help children learn to understand and express themselves. “I can see you are upset about Joaquin taking the zoo animal,” you might say, “But I cannot let you hit him—and I will not let him hit you, either.”

As children grow, they acquire the modes of expression that are developmentally appropriate for their age. The ability to express feelings is innate, but the methods of expression change as children grow.

· Babies and toddlers without language cry and call for an immediate response.

· Two-year-olds express their displeasure by pushes and shoves, which need quick intervention.

· Preschoolers begin to use their verbal power and argue; a teacher can get close to observe first and then intervene if necessary.

· By age 6 or 7, children learn to tell others—clearly and with reasons—what they are feeling. Now the teacher must monitor and mediate as needed.

Expression of feelings also has a cultural dimension. Families have their own ideas about the display of emotions. Encouragement to act out every emotion is not considered appropriate, for instance, for many African American children. “Living under oppressive conditions mandates learning to handle oppression in ways … [such as] to learn where to express feelings and who it is safe to let know your feelings,” says Cooper (1992). “Their reluctance to engage should be respected, not viewed as a challenge.” Strong expression of feelings may be seen as a sign of disrespect to adults. Praising a child for self-expression and avoiding negative remarks may seem fine to a teacher, but Chinese parents may see it as their duty to tell children what they have done wrong in direct language (Chua, 2011).

Think of yourself as a learner rather than an expert and inquire about family practices around expression of emotions. Share what you have seen as children achieve competence in self-expression. The most important element in bridging children’s worlds is for the adults who care for them to be comfortable and accepting of differences.

To Deal with the Feelings of Others This is the culminating step in the development of emotional skills. Feelings are the spark of life in people: the flash of anger, the “ah-ha” of discovery, the thrill of accomplishment, the hug of excitement. Because recognizing and expressing emotions are closely interwoven, children who can distinguish among different emotions and have some experience in taking the perspective of others by observing their feelings develop empathy. With increasing social awareness and decreasing egocentrism in the concrete operational period of school age (see Chapter 4 ), two other emotions emerge: empathy , a true understanding of the feelings of another; and antipathy , intense dislike of other people. Toddlers may cry or gather near the teacher when a playmate is hurt or sad; preschoolers smile at another’s laughter; and kindergartners imagine themselves vividly in another’s predicament during a story. Like the complex emotions discussed earlier, empathy requires cognitive abilities, such as seeing oneself as both separate from other people and also as connected. Older children, who are better able to put themselves in another’s place and who understand a wider range of emotions, can respond to others in distress, and can also condemn those who show mean or deliberately harmful behavior. Empathy is affected by early experience and needs nurturing to grow. .

Ability to Handle Change

It is remarkable that, as one of the most adaptable species on the planet, we humans resist change so much. Even as our brains are programmed to find pattern and sameness, it is change that is inevitable. The very act of being born is a change, marking the beginning of a life in which stress is part of the act of developmental achievement. Witness the toddler’s numerous falls when learning to walk, the separation of parent and child at the nursery school doorway, the challenges of sharing and taking turns (see the “ Teaching with Intention ” box), and the concentration and frustrations of the second grader on a skateboard. A measure of positive stress encourages a child to strive and achieve, to find out and discover.

Whether upset or proud, in concentration or contentment, young children feel their emotions strongly. Teachers read body language and help children do the same to see emotions in others and interact socially.

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All photos © Cengage Learning ®

Stress can arise from several factors—both internal (severe colic) or external (moving to a new home). Some stresses are acute in a child’s life, such as a hospitalization, whereas others are chronic, such as living in an alcoholic household. Inadequate housing, poverty, and war are ecological stressors. Family changes—the birth of a sibling, death or loss of a close family member, marriage problems, and divorce—are personal stressors. Inept parenting practices that neglect or abuse children are especially troublesome because they hurt children and provide them with poor role models for learning how to cope with stress (see Chapter 15 ).

Children learn to appreciate and understand feelings when teachers who can show them how to deal with feelings and changes accept their feelings.

Teachers can help children accept change in several ways:

· Anticipate changes. Identify the process in a way that children can engage. “Junko, your mother will be leaving soon. We will go looking for that favorite puzzle after you say good-bye to her.”

· Notify children of changes in the daily routine. “We will not be having snacks inside today; let’s use the patio table instead.”

· Model acceptance of unanticipated changes. When children are informed that change is anticipated, accepted, and not necessarily disrupting, they become more relaxed about handling the unpredictable. “Whoops, we didn’t think it would be raining. Now everyone needs to either find a raincoat and boots or choose something inside.”

· Model exploring sensitive issues as they arise. “It is important to view tender topics not as problems, but as subjects that are part of the everyday lives of children and families “(Mankiw & Strasser, 2013). Issues such as divorce, illness, disability, death, military deployment, and race/diversity can be part of the emotional curriculum of a program and helpful for all.

· Be a resource for helping children cope. “It’s okay to cry when you are sad or scared, Akbar. It’s hard to figure out what to do when they say they don’t want to play with you.”

Ability to Self-Regulate

Self-regulation is an important skill because it helps children to develop the executive functioning that allows them to make decisions and figure out what to do in new situations. Managing and orchestrating these cognitive functions engages the whole child. All the major theories (psychoanalytic, behaviorist, social learning, cognitive, and information processing) offer perspectives on the development of self-regulation and research confirms that it is a cornerstone of early development that cuts across all developmental domains (Bronson, 2012).

Upon entering a program, a child faces many decisions: Who shall I play with and where? Who will I turn to for help when I need it? How do I get a turn, and what do I do when I’m mad or sad? Self-regulation allows for children to select what to do, when to do it, with whom to do it, and how to stop or shift gears. Self-regulation is involved in three activities: making choices, internalizing messages, and exercising judgment.

Making Choices Making choices is an essential part of decision making. Children in the United States are bombarded with choices—too many choices, some people say. Children have difficulty discriminating between big choices and little choices; every choice is a big one for most children. Learning to make good choices takes thought, guidance, and lots of practice.

Emotional and cognitive self-regulation is involved in making choices. “If the neural system is repeatedly exercised, it will continue to develop, as with a muscle. Conversely, if children do not systematically engage in self-regulatory behaviors, at a young age, the corresponding brain areas may not develop to their full potential” (Bodrova & Leong, 2012).

Both the accreditation criteria of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC, 2007) and Head Start performance standards (USDHH Head Start Bureau, 2002) recommend that children have opportunities to plan and make choices, and the HighScope “plan-do-review” curriculum model ( Chapters 2 and 10 ) implements this process daily. One way to encourage decision making is to provide opportunities for choice (see “ Focus on Skills ”). Another is to create opportunities for children to practice choosing within boundaries already set. Using classroom rules is an excellent example (Bodrova & Leong, 2012):

First, children can follow the rules that are established and monitored by somebody else. (“When you hear your name, you can stand up and get your coat to go outside.”)

Second, children can set rules for each other and monitor how those rules are followed. (“All youse has to get in line for the jump rope. No, Suji! You can’t have a turn ’cuz you took cuts. Go to the back.”)

Finally, they need to apply the rules to themselves. (At circletime, Max blurts out for the second time and takes himself to the “remembering chair” for the rest of the story.)

Note how the children make choices in their own way; teachers then realize that tattling is actually evidence of developing self-regulation.

Internalizing Messages Internalizing messages is the second part of exercising judgment. These are the internal messages that children are calling on when deciding on a course of action. Thinking out loud is universal, and the use of private speech helps in school success and self-control. The 2-year-old who makes car noises is pairing thought with action; the 4-year-old who tells a doll “no hitting” is using private speech as a source of self-guidance. Moreover, private speech aids in the development of the “event/reaction pause,” since it engages the cognitive processes to focus and sustain attention, think through an action and plan, and increase impulse control. “The event/reaction pause develops over time in young children from birth to about age 10 and is closely linked to their development of private speech.” (Bailey & Brookes, 2012).

Enjoying one’s self includes being aware of one’s power and learning to use it well, making important things happen without harming self or others.

Diversity

Do I Belong? Finding the Fit for Diverse Children with a Disability

The principles of Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) and the public law have opened the door to full inclusion for children with special needs into general-education classrooms. The tenet “individually appropriate” from the ECE world is meeting the concept of “differentiated instruction” of the elementary world. “Inclusion preserves all children’s right to participate and have a sense of belonging alongside their peers” (Murphy, 2014). The overall approach focuses on a child’s particular strengths and interests and parallels traditional nursery school and the Montessori method and the more contemporary models of HighScope and Reggio Emilia.

How do we find the right fit? How do we work with a child with a disability and still offer group instruction to the class? The majority of teachers believe that they lack knowledge and understanding in this area and would like to learn more (Sherman, Rasmussen, & Baydala, 2008). Both the ECE and elementary teachers of today will need a broader range of skills and greater expertise in inclusive education (Jordan, Schwartz, & McGhie-Richmond, 2009).

Attention deficit with hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is likely to be among the disabilities that teachers will encounter (Morrow, 2012). Children with ADHD exhibit positive behaviors such as curiosity, creative, and energy. They also pose challenges such as problems with inattention, impulsivity, and disruption (APA, 2013).

Gaining knowledge about the neurological aspects related to ADHD is helpful and can increase tolerance and patience. For example, children with ADHD have weak executive functioning (see the section entitled “ Ability to Self-Regulate ” in this chapter), so teachers are likely to see talkativeness, inappropriate or awkward social behavior, and underdeveloped working memory.

So what’s a teacher to do? Consulting with an ADHD specialist or asking in a coach to offer suggestions is definitely a good idea. Here are some ideas that educational consultant and lecturer Shelley Murphy offered teachers of children in grades 1–3 (Murphy, 2014):

1. If a child needs to be in motion,

1. Offer a small fidget toy to keep hands busy while sitting

2. Allow the child to stand at the desk or even walk to a designated area

2. If a child needs to focus,

1. Establish eye contact before giving instructions

2. Give directions in small chunks and pause before going onto the next instruction and mask longer assignments

3. Repeat instructions and provide visual cues/icons

4. Ask the child to repeat the instructions aloud to self or a partner

5. Use low-key cues such as a touch on the shoulder as a reminder to focus

3. If a child needs to self-regulate,

1. Supervise for a minute after giving a directive for immediate connected follow-up

2. Offer a choice among several tasks when possible to increase motivation

3. Make stretch and movement breaks part of the daily routine

4. Don’t take away outdoor play/recess or physical education/music-movement time as a consequence

5. Give specific and positive acknowledgement and feedback often

6. Use a self-monitoring system so the child can have a specific target behavior and a chart to rate at specific intervals

These strategies change the teacher’s level of support for specific children, thus individualizing the approach and curriculum. As a result, children become more successful in the classroom. Gains in academic achievement can then occur. “Perhaps most important, (the child) sees himself as a worthy participant in his classroom community.” (Murphy, 2014).

Note that the stream-of-consciousness talking of 3- to 7-year-olds is the problem-solving tool and aids in thinking. Teachers must realize that prohibiting any talk during story time or insisting that hands be raised and using only the one-question-one-answer technique may inhibit internalizing and self-regulation. Further, fostering inclusive strategies for children with special needs includes diversifying teaching techniques beyond one-size-fits-all.

Exercising Judgment. The third aspect of self-regulation is exercising judgment. Research suggests that children can develop the capacity to plan and guide themselves (Rothbart & Rueda, 2005). In contrast to strict self-control, in which we teach children to respond to an external rule, this aspect of self-regulation is a combination of the cognitive and emotional realms. During the early childhood years, there is a great increase in self-regulation. Children are increasingly able to control their behavior in familiar situations, focus their attention, and comply with external requests. Such self-directed thinking and problem solving is an essential life skill. “Focus and self control … may be as important as IQ” (Galinsky, 2010). Reports economist James Heckman, “the need to delay gratification, control impulses, and modulate emotional expression is the earliest and most ubiquitous demand that societies place on their children, and success at many life tasks depends critically on children’s mastery of such self-control” (Heckman, 2011).

Planning and reflection help children learn to exercise judgment and make thoughtful decisions about their behavior, as well as put language to their observations. Planning involves predicting ahead of time what might happen, what you may encounter, and how you could “fix it” if a problem arises. Reflecting “consolidates knowledge so it can be generalized to other situations” (Epstein, 2012). To practice exercising judgment, children need a rich vocabulary and opportunities to form mental images in increasing detail, both of which are the cognitive strategies needed for mathematical and scientific thinking.

The teacher can encourage self-regulation processes by:

· Giving children cues to be alert and orient themselves. Start circletime with a song that everyone can move toward and clap with.

· Creating activities that require cognitive flexibility so that children practice shifting their attention. Help children pretend roles and then switch back to being themselves.

· Establishing some routines that require children to hold information in their minds develops working memory. Story time is good for this, as it asks them to think about a detail or character and recall it as the story concludes.

· Consider the physical, emotional, social, and cognitive aspects of the control required for each given situation. Provide a responsive environment by asking open-ended questions and listening attentively to their viewpoints and plans.

· Working regularly to help develop inhibitory control. This is what enables children to resist the inclination to do one thing and instead do the “right” thing. Controlling attention and emotions while also controlling behavior is especially difficult in conflicts, so teachers need to be involved in children’s disagreements. This skill can help with failure (stopping the urge to give up) and with hurting (stopping the impulse to hit back).

Enjoying One’s Self and One’s Power

Teachers want children to feel powerful—to know that they can master their lives and feel confident in their own abilities. This feeling of power is particularly important in the early years, when so much of what a child can see is out of reach, both literally and figuratively.

Responsibility and limits, however, go hand in hand with power. The child who is strong enough to hit someone has to learn not to use that strength unless absolutely necessary. The child who shouts with glee also finds out that noise is unacceptable indoors. By holding children responsible for their actions, teachers can help children gain the self-regulation skills that allow them to enjoy their power and accept its limitations.

Superheroes Superhero is a kind of fantasy power play that most teachers encounter. Common to children as young as 2 years old, superhero play is exciting and rowdy, and usually active and loud, playacting of heroic roles that give children powers they lack in everyday life. Superhero play attracts children who are (Hoffman, 2004):

· Investigating power and autonomy

· Balancing the desire for power with the need for friendship

· Testing physical limits

· Exploring feelings

· Answering big questions about the world, such as:

· What is right and what is wrong, good, and bad?

· What is fair and what is unfair?

· What is life and what is death?

· What is a boy and what is a girl?

· What is real and what is fantasy?

Imaginary Companions Imaginary companions often join superheroes, although they just as often accompany children on their own. This second type of fantasy play sometimes concerns adults. Jean Piaget believed that they reflected immature thinking of the preoperational stage and should disappear around the time a child began elementary school (see Chapter 4 ). Imaginary friends offer companionship and entertainment and can help children through difficult times (see Figure 14-4 ). According to Carlson and Taylor (2005):

[T]he creation of an imaginary companion is healthy and relatively common…. [C]hildren with imaginary companions appear to be less shy, more able to focus their attention, and to have advanced social understanding when compared with other children…. The bottom line is that although imaginary companions and other fantasies have sometimes been interpreted as signs of emotional disturbance, a break with reality, or even the emergence of multiple personalities, they are really just a variation on the theme of all pretend play.

Figure 14-4

When children come to grips with their strong feelings, their emotional growth is encouraged.

The Teacher’s Role in Children’s Anger Management

· Create a safe emotional climate … by having clear, firm, and flexible boundaries.

· Model responsible anger management … by acknowledging when you are upset.

· Help children develop self-regulatory skills … by giving children age- and skill-appropriate responsibilities and encouraging problem solving with support.

· Encourage children to label feelings of anger … start with “mad” and expand to include “upset, annoyed, irritated, furious, steamed,” etc.

· Encourage children to talk about anger-arousing interactions … by talking about situations when they aren’t happening. “I felt mad when … ” can start a lively conversation; cards with realistic scenarios can do the same, as can puppets.

· Use appropriate books and stories about anger to help children understand and manage anger … see Figure 14-6 .

· Communicate with parents…. Introduce the books or puppets, let them borrow them overnight. Tell them what you do in your program, and ask what they do.

The Teacher’s Role in Children’s Anger Management

Children need guidance to learn how to express themselves appropriately and exercise their growing powers responsibly. Fantasy play is an important component of children’s cognitive and emotional development. Teachers can help children learn to appreciate and enjoy themselves. Each time a child is acknowledged, a teacher fosters that sense of uniqueness: “Carrie, you have a great sense of humor!” “Eric, your power bracelets are helping to collect all the trash here.” “Freddie, I love the way you and your ‘dog-friend Dan’ sing so clearly.” Saying it aloud reinforces in children the feeling that they are enjoyable to themselves and to others.

Resilience

Resilience is the ability to bounce back or recover from adversity. Resiliency is a kind of protective mechanism, something that allows a child to “get back on the horse” after failing at something the first time. Research indicates that resilient children are more successful in dealing with stressors than those who are not (Mayr & Ulich, 2009). Terrible circumstances can overwhelm everyone; at the same time, some children who experience serious difficulties become happy, healthy adults.

Even in nonstressful times, some cultures and families are open in their display of emotions and discussion of difficulties, whereas others are reserved. At the same time, it is important not to put a child’s emotional well-being at risk if the messages are different. In these early years, if the differences between home and school expectations are too great, children are confused, and this leads to difficulties and misunderstandings. Nurturing children’s capacity to develop resiliency is not simple, but teachers can help by knowing the protective mechanisms that promote resiliency. These include:

· The child’s personality and behavior: Help a child find his or her strengths and sense of humor so that he or she seeks positive social engagement (Smith, 2012).

· The family attributes: Find someone or something that reflects a child’s capacity to succeed and meet high expectations (Dweck, 2006).

· The social environment: Notice and comment on effort rather than ability, in order to develop a “growth mindset” (Pawlina & Stanford, 2011).

Resilient children have hope and good self-esteem. Both of these are under the influence of the teacher and curriculum.

14-2cCurriculum Approaches for Emotional Growth

Considerations

There are several key components in helping children develop healthy emotional growth:

1. Acquiring good patterns is an adult’s first step. Reflect on these questions:

· Are you a person who labels others?

· What happens to you when a child is difficult?

· How do you feel like reacting when a child does not meet your expectations? Identifying strengths and positive labels for every child helps teachers deal better with the emotions and behavior of the children in their care.

2. Developing and using a “feeling” vocabulary makes words of an emotional nature part of the program vocabulary. Identify some of the feelings that children express; then describe how they look and act when experiencing those emotions (see Figure 14-3 and the “ Special Topic: Nurturing Emotional Intelligence ”).

3. Making the classroom a comfortable place for children is the third step to a healthy emotional climate. Teachers can also become more attuned to the emotional climate in the classroom by knowing when and how feelings are expressed:

· What causes children in the class to become excited? Frightened? Calm? Loud? How does this knowledge guide curriculum planning? How can it help a teacher handle an unplanned event or change in the schedule?

· How do I anticipate children’s emotional behavior? How do I follow through?

· What can teachers do to handle children’s emotional outbursts and crises?

· What happens to the rest of the class when one teacher is occupied in an emotional incident with one or more children?

· What do I do when a child shows emotion? How do I feel when a child displays emotion?

· What types of emotions are most common with the young child?

Observing children’s feelings, such as the joy and pride in this child’s face, helps teachers understand the children they teach.

When teachers perceive that children are ready to talk about their feelings, small-group discussions or individual conversations can be helpful:

· “It really hurts to bend your knees now that you have scraped them.”

· “I saw some children look so sad when their friend was playing with someone else.”

Good books that touch on sensitive issues (being excluded, being blamed, caring for others) offer possibilities for teachers and children to talk about feelings. Games and joking can help children to feel relaxed and to explore feelings in an accepting way. Classroom problems (not sharing materials, pushing on the climbers) offer topics for discussion (see Figure 14-4 ).

· 4.

Give children the power to deal with emotions without resorting to inappropriate behavior (see Figure 14-5 ). Teach them now to express their emotions verbally and connect them to others. This social referencing involves “relying on another person’s emotional reaction to form one’s own appraisal of an uncertain situation” (Berk, 2011):

“Look! Paul is crying. Let’s go over and see if we can comfort him.”

“Yes, they are shouting about the red ball, but I can see that they are talking it out.”

Making use of others’ emotional cues can help infants to deal with stranger anxiety, toddlers to calm themselves after saying good-bye, preschoolers to avoid overreacting to a fall, and school-aged children to begin to recognize that people can feel more than one emotion at a time. The teacher who runs to the rescue after a minor spill can engender “learned helplessness” and cause children to be overly dependent on others. Conversely, the teacher who completely fails to respond to children when they express emotions may give children the message that others’ distress is to be ignored.

Figure 14-5

Superhero play is a special type of dramatic play that calls for special handling.

Superhero Play: Exercising Power Responsibly

· Help children recognize humane characteristics of superheroes.

· Discuss real heroes and heroines.

· Talk about the pretend world of acting.

· Limit the place and time for superhero play.

· Explore related concepts.

· Help children de-escalate rough-and-tumble play.

· Make it clear that aggression is unacceptable.

· Give children control over their lives.

· Praise children’s attempts at mastery.

Curriculum Planning for Emotional Development

Setting Teachers set up their classrooms and yards to promote emotional growth. Indoors, children’s inner thoughts and feelings are best expressed through:

· The arts. Clay or dough lets children vent feelings because it can be pounded, pinched, poked, slapped, and manipulated. Finger painting and painting on broad surfaces with large brushes encourage a freedom of movement that permits children to express themselves fully.

· Blocks. Vary materials regularly to help children adjust to change and to allow them to exercise judgment about playing with different materials. A variety of props—motor vehicles, animals, people, furniture—gives children the opportunity to reenact what they see of the world.

· Dramatic play. Home-life materials give children the props they need to express how they see their world of family, parents, and siblings. Through play, the child who is afraid of being left with a sitter may become the parent leaving the child-doll at home and then returning; the child who is afraid of the doctor can sometimes be seen gleefully giving shots to all the stuffed animals. Mirrors, telephones, and dress-up clothes encourage children to try out their emotional interests on themselves as well as each other.

· Language/library. Stories and books in which characters and situations reflect a wide range of emotions are readily available (see Figure 14-6 ). Children enjoy looking at photographs of people and guessing what the person in the photo is feeling; record and post responses nearby.

Figure 14-6

Whether 2 years old or in second grade, children learn about feelings and relationships when teachers use books that show a variety of situations and ways to deal with them.

Books for Psychosocial Skill Development

· Anger: When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry (Molly Bang); The Grouchy Ladybug (Eric Carle); My Name Is Not Dummy (Elizabeth Crary)

· Body-Positive: Flora and the Flamingo, Flora and the Penguin (Molly Idle); Brontorina (James Howe); Freckleface Strawberry (Julianne Moore); Firebird (Misty Copeland); Ivy + Bean (Annie Barrows)

· Change: Changes, Changes (Pat Hutchins); Sam Is My Half-Brother (Lizi Boyd); Choice: Best Enemies (Kathleen Leverich); Did You Carry the Flag Today, Charly? (Rebecca Claudill); On Monday When It Rained (Cherryl Kachenmeister)

· Death: Death and Dying (Sara Bonnett Stein); The Dead Bird (Margaret Wise Brown); Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs (Tomie dePaoli)

· Disabilities: Ian’s Walk (Laurie Lears)

· Divorce: Two Places to Sleep (Joan Schuchman); The Family Book (Todd Parr); Mama & Daddy Bear’s Divorce (Cornelia Maude Spelman)

· Doctor/Dentist: Curious George Goes to the Hospital (H. A. Rey); Your Turn, Doctor (Deborah Robison & Carla Perez); My Doctor (Harlow Rockwell) Fear: There’s a Nightmare in My Closet (Mercer Mayer); Storm in the Night (Mary Stolz)

· Friendship: Two Is a Team (Lorraine and Jerrold Beim); That’s What Friends Are For (Ronald Kidd); Big Al (Andrew Clements)

· Illness: Kathy’s Hats (Trudy Krisher)

· Loss: The Maggie B (Irene Keats); Amos and Boris (William Steig)

· Military Deployment: A Paper Hug (Stephanie Skolmoski); Night Catch (Brenda Ehrentraut); My Dad’s a Hero (Rebecca Christiansen).

· Moving: Mitchell Is Moving (Marjorie Weinman Sharmat); The Leaving Morning (Angela Johnson); Little Elliot, Big City (Mike Curato)

· New Baby/Adoption: Baby Sister for Frances (Russell Hoban); I Want to Tell You About My Baby (Roslyn Banish); Peter’s Chair (Ezra Jack Keats); The Chosen Baby (Valentina P. Wasson)

· Nightmares: Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak); In the Night Kitchen (Maurice Sendak); There’s a Nightmare in My Closet (Mercer Mayer)

· Race/Ethnicity: The Skin You’re In (Michael Tyler); Skin Again (bell hooks).

· Security: One Step, Two (Charlotte Zolotow); The Bundle Book (Charlotte Zolotow); Rise and Shine, Mariko-chan (Chiyoko Tomioka)

· Self-Esteem: The Growing Story (Ruth Krauss); Ruby (Maggie Glen); Things I Like (Anthony Browne); Amazing Grace (Mary Hoffman); This Is a Moose (Richard T. Morris)

· Spending the night: Ira Sleeps Over (Bernard Waber)

· Math/manipulatives. Include math games that can be played by several children, and some that need partners. Games such as Go Fish, Math Bingo, and Dominoes give children experiences taking turns, sharing information, and helping others with the rules. Teacher-created math games such as “Cars and Garages” or “Horses to the Barn,” with dots to drive or ride on, can be made for partners to work together on matching one to the other.

· Music/movement. Music of all kinds encourages self-expression and permits an endless variety of movement and feelings to be shown openly and freely. Children can be introduced to classical, ethnic, jazz, or rock music while dancing with scarves or streamers or marching with rhythm sticks, as well as singing and dancing to children’s recordings. Because musical knowledge is the earliest of human intellectual competencies (see Chapter 12 ), music can be part of the curriculum for children as young as toddlers. Pounding on drums and dancing both relieve tension in a socially acceptable manner. More structured activities, such as showing children how to use musical instruments, must be balanced by plenty of freedom for individual musical expression.

· Science/discovery. Science does need not be geared toward only cognitive and language development. Caring for pets brings out feelings of nurturing and protectiveness. Make “feeling clocks”; the blank clock faces are a base on which children draw or paste pictures of people showing various emotional states.

Outdoors, the environment itself encourages self-expression. Whether in the sand or on a swing, children seem to open up emotionally as they relax in the physical freedom that the out-of-doors fosters. Outdoor games are usually highly emotionally charged. “A Bear Hunt” (a game also known by many other names) uses the teacher as lead, narrating movements such as going through a gate, swishing in the grass, climbing trees, swimming across creeks, and so on. Running, chasing, and the dramatic play of superheroes provide emotional release for children.

The outdoor area is an ideal place for large, noisy, and messy activities. Tracing body outlines create life-size portraits of each child that reinforce self-concept and encourage personal pride. Woodworking is an outdoor activity that allows children to vent anger and tension. Nails will not be hurt no matter how hard they are pounded; there is satisfaction in sawing a piece of wood into two pieces. Even a simple project such as water painting becomes an avenue for self-expression, as children use paintbrushes and buckets of water on trees, cement, and buildings, giving them all a fresh coat of “paint.”

Daily Schedule Much of the schedule involves routines, transitions, and group times that involve shifts from one kind of activity to another. There is a sense of uncertainty and they are emotionally charged, so children’s behavior is most likely to be unfocused. Here, you find the wandering and chasing, even oppositional or withdrawn behavior.

Teachers help children best by giving children ideas of what to do (“Each of you can sponge a table now,” or “You can sit on my lap while your dad leaves today”). Specific suggestions for group behavior, including those generated by the class itself, inspire success (see Figure 14-7 ). In addition, flexibility is the cornerstone of success.

Figure 14-7

Anticipating changes that are likely to occur helps children learn to accept them.

Dealing with Change in the Daily Schedule

Routines:

Respect children’s feelings of anticipation.

· Have a chart of daily activities.

· Discuss upcoming field trips or visitors ahead of time when possible.

· When possible, let the children take responsibility for known sequences.

· Set their own snack table.

· Get flowers for the table.

· Help clean a place for the next children.

Transitions:

When unexpected changes occur, discuss them with individuals and the group.

· “Andy isn’t here today. He has a sore throat, so he is staying home. Esther will be the teacher in his group today.”

· Provide time for self-help without unnecessary hurry.

· Put on their own name tag.

· Wash and dry their own hands.

· Dress themselves—jacket for outdoors, shoes after nap, and so on.

· Take care of their rest items—blanket and stuffed toy in a labeled pillowcase, books back in a basket or bookshelf, and soon.

Group Times:

Use children’s faces as a focus.

· Practice facial expressions with mirrors.

· Call out feelings, having them show you on their faces.

· Sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It…” with a variety of feelings. Ask children what situations have them feel each.

· Show photographs of children’s faces; ask the group to tell you how that person is feeling, why, and so on. Try idea completions.

· “I feel glad when…” (also mad, bad, sad, safe, excited, scared, silly)

· “I like school when…” (also don’t like, also my friend, mom, it)

· “I wish…”

· “The best thing I can do…”

· Use situations to elicit feelings.

· “Here’s a picture of a family. What are they doing? How does each person feel?”

· “I’m going to cover part of the picture of the face to see if you can guess what expression it’s going to be.”

· “These cards show situations the teachers have seen happen. As I read them think: ‘How do I feel? What can I say? What can I do?’”

By remaining flexible, especially to the children’s needs, I have built a deep, personal relationship with each of the children I care for. I find ways to adapt to their schedules as much as possible instead of [always] forcing them into a [rigid] routine of the center.

(McCormick, 1993).

Focus on Skills Emotional development is a lifelong process that requires experience with one’s feelings. To help children learn to express and control their emotions, teachers consider each child’s emotional skills. The goals that teachers set for children determine which emotional skills will be the focus: Maggie has difficulty with changes in the routine; Caroline never cries, no matter how much she hurts; and Clyde screams when he is frustrated.

Problem solving is a skill with an emotional focus. This skill can be done directly or indirectly. Both use a step-by-step process similar to interpersonal conflict resolution (see Chapter 7 ).

Direct Problem Solving: How to Improve a Boring Playground

1. Help children define the situation by turning it into a question. (“What can we do to fix up our playground?”)

2. Make a list of options or alternatives. (“Plant flowers, get more bikes, and add more sand toys.”)

3. Ask the children to think of what might happen for each option. (“Flowers would look pretty, but we would have to water them.”)

4. Make a choice. (“Which one should we choose?”)

5. Implement the plan. (“OK, today we will plant the flowers from the field trip to the nursery.”)

6. Check later to see how the choice turned out. (“Look how nice the yard is!” or “Darn, we forgot to water the plants, and they died.”)

Indirect Problem Solving: When Ning Hated School

1. Introduce the main character. “Once upon a time there was a girl named Ning …”

2. Tell about the problem. “One day, Ning ran away from school because …”

3. Talk to a wise person. “Ning’s auntie knew just about everything, so …”

4. Try out a new approach. “So Ning decided she would try …”

5. Evaluate the results: “She liked school better now …”

6. Summarize the lesson. “Now Ning felt better. She told her friend …”

“Persona dolls” (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010) encourage language involvement. Each doll has his or her story that can reflect the composition of the class and can offer experiences that extend the children’s learning. All dolls are introduced with their own lives, and a teacher introduces each one and tells his or her story. Children ask questions, which expands the story. The teacher can tell a story that arises from the everyday interactions in class, “hot topics” that parents are talking about or occur in the news, things the teacher decides are important to think and talk about, or stories based on history.

Themes Themes can be useful when developing curricula for emotional growth. One school-age program developed the themes of “Hurt and Healing,” while another did “Pitfalls with Pets.” For the first, the group brainstormed and came up with throwing water baggies at targets, kicking stacks of boxes, stomping on egg cartons, pounding anger out into clay, and throwing colored water at a painting. For the second, skits were developed to dramatize scared reactions; stories were dictated, pictures drawn, and games made up (see Figure 14-8 ).

Figure 14-8

Curriculum activities can strengthen a child’s sense of self.

Theme: Who Am I?

The Teacher’s Role in Children’s Anger Management

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14-3Curriculum for Social Growth

Social development is the process through which children learn what behavior is acceptable and expected. A set of standards is imposed on the child at birth that reflects the values of the family and the society in which the child lives. Social growth refers to what happens with the child and others. Theorists from Freud and Piaget to Albert Bandura and Howard Gardner (see Chapter 4 ) acknowledge the relationship between social competence and learning. Indeed, enhancing social intelligence builds a set of skills that may be among the most essential for life success of many kinds.

14-3aThe Development of Social Competence

Social competence is acquired through countless experiences with others. Some children become competent in the early years; even more need the years of childhood and adolescence to achieve it. Still, the early years are a foundation for social growth for all.

Social Development

Social development begins at birth. Within the first few months of life, the infant smiles, coos, and plays in response to a human voice, face, or physical contact (see the section entitled “ Attachment ,” in Chapter 4 ). Young children are influenced from birth by a deliberate attempt on the part of adults to guide them in ways that society expects. Parents attempt to transmit behavior patterns that are characteristic of their culture, religion, gender, educational, and ethnic backgrounds. Teachers assist by incorporating some family rituals and traditions into the program.

Children imitate what they see; they adapt social expectations to their personality. “Cooperation, generosity, loyalty, and honesty are not inborn. They must be passed on to the child by older people, [whether] they are parents, other adults, or older youngsters” (Kostelnik et al., 2008). There are many cultural variations in social expectations. How people relate to each other, what feelings are to be expressed, how to deal with personal space, how and who to touch, and how to respond to personal events varies considerably.

The socializing process, called socialization , includes learning appropriate behavior in a number of different settings. Children learn very early to discriminate between the expectations in different environments:

· At school, free exploration of play materials may be encouraged, but in a church pew, it is not.

· Grocery stores may be places to sit up high and watch, to walk and choose, to tear around with a little cart, or to grab things and cry about them.

· Libraries and Grandma’s home may look very different, but both are places for being quiet and looking at books.

Children’s understanding of others is critical for their social growth. Very young children show awareness of what other people feel—even infants pay special attention to the emotional expressions of adults. Toddlers can ascertain if someone is happy, sad, or angry, and can try to comfort someone in distress. Three-year-olds know that if someone gets what he wants, she is happy, and if not, she is sad. Older preschoolers begin to understand that what they (or others) believe may turn out to be false. By kindergarten, many children understand that others sometimes think and feel differently than they do.

In general, the socialization process in an early childhood setting revolves around a child’s relationships with people. During this time of their lives, children work out a separate set of relationships with their teachers, those adults other than their parents. They interact differently with adults than children, and learning to interact successfully with other children is important.

Through socialization, gender roles are learned. The customary roles that boys and girls play are transmitted, along with acceptable variations. Children come to understand how teachers, mommies, daddies, grandparents, males, and females are expected to act. As early as the preschool years, children tend to play with and befriend same-sex companions. This gender segregation becomes more prevalent in elementary school and generally persists throughout life (Manaster & Jobe, 2012). The brain is wired for finding patterns, and gender is an especially salient category for grouping. At the same time, children make overgeneralized assumptions that then define their gender schemas. Direct or perceived messages that they get from adults and the media also contribute to children’s expectations that confine their experiences and limit options (Wanerman, Roffman, & Britton, 2011; Blaise & Taylor, 2012).

Early childhood professionals need to be aware of the difference between a child’s gender identity development and a child’s sex role development. Various cultures may have differing notions about sex role development. At the same time, best practices emphasize the importance of respecting nd promoting diversity in children’s play experiences and friendships (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010).

Children also learn social attitudes at an early age. They learn to enjoy being with people and participating in social activities. At the same time, young children can also develop attitudes of bias, and it is in these early years that prejudicial behavior often begins. How the teachers respond to negative comments, unfair acts, and exclusivity based on race, gender, or ability is crucial in combating these negative attitudes. Favorable attitudes toward people and a strong desire to be part of the social world interacting with others are established in the early years.

Another important facet of socialization involves the development of a sense of community. A program’s emotional climate and teachers’ behaviors contribute not only to children’s sense of personal safety and belonging, but also to the value of relationships that are sustained by communication. Teachers who strive for community awareness and bonding are adhering to an anti-bias philosophy (see Chapter 9 ) that promotes empathic interaction with people from diverse backgrounds and standing up for self and others in the face of bias.

All areas of children’s development play a part in learning social skills:

· Having the confidence to try joining a group calls on emotional skills.

· Remembering children’s names or how a game works is a cognitive task.

· “Using your words” to express an idea or feeling requires language.

· Having the ability to play, chase, or walk in high heels for a dress-up game requires certain physical dexterity.

There are many variations that arise in social situations. For instance, children can sustain complex play without much language, and games can be adapted to include children with a variety of physical skills. Understanding the principle of interrelated development, however, helps teachers appreciate the process of social learning and recognize opportunities to guide their social development.

In the early years, children mature socially in discernible developmental stages (see Figure 14-9 ):

· From birth to age 3, children’s interest in others begins with mutual gazing and social smiling in the early months (birth through 8 months); continues with an exploration of others, as well as some anxious behavior around strangers in the crawler and walker stages (8 to 18 months); and develops into an enjoyment of peers and adults, along with an awareness of others’ rights and feelings as toddlers and 2-year-olds (18 months through 2 years).

· In the preschool years, children learn to control their aggressive impulses, think about others besides themselves, and resist doing what they should not. This learning translates into four basic expectations. They

· Show interest in others

· Learn right from wrong

· Learn to get along with others

· Learn a role for themselves that takes into consideration their unique self-gender, race, ethnicity, and abilities

· Into the primary years (5 to 8 years), children show an increased interest in peers and social competence, and group rules become important. The development of a social conscience and of fairness rounds out the primary grade developmental milestones.

Figure 14-9

A timetable of social development for the ages of infancy through the primary years. (Special thanks to Gay Spitz.)

Social Development Timeline

Infant–Toddler	Preschooler	Primary Child
Response to Other’s Distress
Reacts emotionally by experiencing what the other seems to feel.	Begins to make adjustments that reflect the realization that the other person is different and separate from self.	Takes other’s personality into account and shows concern for other’s general condition.
Peer Interaction
· First encounters mutual inspection · First social contacts · (18 months) Growth in sensitivity to peer play · (2 years) Able to direct social acts to two children at once (beginning of social interaction)	· Adjustment in behavior to fit age and behavior of other · (More than 3 years) Friendship as momentary · (3–5 years) Beginning of friendship as constant	· Friend as someone who will do what you want · Beginning of friend as one who embodies admirable, constant characteristics
Social Roles
· (10–20 days) Imitation of adults · (3 months) Gurgles in response to others · (6 months) Social games based on imitation · (18 months) Differentiation between reality and pretend play · (2 years) Makes doll do something as if it were alive	· (3 years) Makes a doll carry out several roles or activities · (4–5 years) Acts out a social role in dramatic play and integrates that role with others (mom and baby)	· (6 years) Integrates one role with two complementary roles: doctor, nurse, and sick person · (8 years) Growing understanding that roles can influence behavior (doctor whose daughter is a patient)

Regardless of the age of the group, teachers are in a unique position to cultivate children’s interactions and friendships. Tune into social patterns, take action so cooperation and collaboration occur regularly, and address exclusion (Manaster & Jobe, 2012). Be aware of the divisions that teachers may create themselves, such as creating girl/boy lines or choosing only the socially competent as leaders.

Social Competence

Social competence involves the skills and personal knowledge that children develop to deal with the challenges and opportunities they face in life with others. This includes relationships with all other people, including family, teachers, caregivers, peers, and the community at large. Through their social interactions, children learn a sense of personal identity, adopt family and cultural values, acquire interpersonal skills, and learn how to “live in the world” (see Figure 14-10 ).

Figure 14-10

The elements of social competence demonstrate how complex the task of developing socially is for young children.

Social Competence

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(From Kostelnik et al. 2014. Reprinted by permission. www.cengage.com/permissions.)

There are several components to social competence:

· Emotional regulation. The ability to regulate emotions (see earlier in this chapter)

· Social knowledge and understanding. Knowledge of enough language and norms to interact successfully; understanding the reactions of others and their feelings (empathy)

· Social skills. Social approach patterns; attention to others; exchange of information; handling aggression

· Social dispositions. Habits or characteristic ways of responding to experiences

Why is social competence important? Such children are happier than their less competent peers. Children’s social relations have been linked to academic achievement. Lack of social competence is linked to rejection by peers, poor self-esteem, and poor academic performance (Kostelnik et al., 2014). It is now widely accepted that young children who do not frequently interact with peers are at risk for a host of later socioemotional difficulties.

Children become socially competent in several predictable ways:

· The brain is wired to look for patterns. When an infant smiles and is met with a reciprocal smile, a pattern of responsiveness and attachment begins. The preschooler who grabs for toys and usually gets to keep them when she is at home is surprised (and unhappy) when the pattern is broken at the child care center and the toy is returned to the one who was using it. As a result of their experiences, children form ideas about how the social world works. They are active learners who observe and experiment and learn firsthand what happens when they try something. In-the-moment, on-the-spot lessons greatly help children learn socially.

· Children have multiple ways of learning. Because teachers often do not know each child’s ways of learning, it is best to try a variety of approaches when teaching social skills. Talking helps some (linguistic), others learn better by seeing patterns (logical mathematical), and many learn by modeling. Rehearsing how to do or say the words helps the kinesthetic learner.

· Children learn much of their social repertoires through play. Dramatizations, role-playing, and dramatic play provide opportunities to act out many roles and help children deal with some of the demands placed on them. In play, the child experiments with options: finding out what it feels like to be the boss, to be the baby, to behave in ways that might otherwise be unacceptable.

See how all three ways are used in this sequence:

Sarda wants to play in the block corner, but stands hesitantly as four boys shout and vroom the cars around. “Do you want to play here?” inquires the observant teacher. When she nods, the teacher helps her move in, and the two begin building [acquire approach through modeling]. Soon, the boys notice and come to see a garage being built, so they drive their cars over [a pattern of play they recognize]. The teacher slowly steps aside, and the game continues [learn through play].

Common Social Challenges

Children of each age in early childhood experience a range of social difficulties (see Chapter 7 ):

· Toddlers develop many forms of testing behavior, including saying “No” to adult rules and other restraints. Grabbing, biting, and hitting are common forms of aggression and self-expression. Tantrums are often seen at this age, emotional meltdowns that reflect the “all in/all off” swings common to children under three.

· Preschoolers also demonstrate strong reactions to social encounters, as well as other forms of self-determination, such as challenges of sharing (see the “ Teaching with Intention ” box). There are problems responding to emotions, both their own and those of others. Peer exclusion begins in this age group. Exclusions and rejections are not necessarily cruel; rather, they are indications of children learning social competence; children are looking for social control and relational networks (Neimark, 2012).

· Peer status and friendship loom large in primary school, when loneliness and exclusion, teasing, and bullying all occur (Gordon & Browne, 1996; Browne & Gordon, 2013). Culture and economic class is mirrored in children’s behaviors and must be considered (Tobin, Hsueh, & Karasawa, 2011). These can become disruptive and destructive in pre-kindergarten and older groups. Teachers keeping tabs on children’s social challenges is important; suggesting other playmates and broadening choices with “friendly” speech provide more positive choices of prosocial action (Taaffe, 2012).

Teaching with Intention

Do I Have to Share?

Sharing involves using or enjoying something in common with others. Although sharing may seem simple to adults, it is not a skill that is learned overnight, nor is it easy to orchestrate in young children. When the dominant culture is one of individual competition, acquisition, and ownership, children get particular messages that can make teaching “sharing” difficult.

What does sharing mean to you? To a young child, it means:

· Giving up one’s possessions more than taking turns

· Holding onto a powerful position more than getting more power and fun

· Losing the thread of the play more than adding to it

· Losing what you have rather than dividing everything equally and getting more

· Defining who I am rather than being a “me” who can give

Thus, sharing makes more sense over time and with lots of guided experiences. As an adult, you know the advantages of sharing (the second half of the previous sentences), but young children still live on the left side of the phrase.

How can adults help?

· Understand that it is normal not to want to share and to have trouble doing so.

· Explain in simple terms what you want the child to do.

· Make sure that children “get back” what they have shared so that taking turns really works.

· Be an example of sharing because “Do as I do” is more powerful than “Do it because I told you to.”

· Give children experience of there being enough.

· Let the children experience ownership, too, and the good feeling that an act of generosity brings.

Think about This

1. If grabbing what they want makes sense to toddlers and 2-year-olds, how might you show them that sharing a toy or space doesn’t mean giving it up forever?

2. Many preschoolers have had some experience “getting it back,” so what might be the reasons that they still do not want to share?

3. School-age children “know better” and still find ways to keep hold of items or privileges. What’s a teacher to do about closed games, or “no room here”?

At the same time, educators and parents alike need to be clear about what bullying is and how to respond to it early. “Bullying is repeated, systematic efforts to inflict harm on someone who is unable or unlikely to defend himself or herself” (Berger, 2014). Children who are exposed repeatedly and over time to negative actions (words, physical contact, making faces, gesturing, or intentional exclusions from a group) on the part of another person or other people can develop low self-esteem and may become withdrawn or be rejected by their peers. Not every rejected child becomes a bully victim, and not every child who excludes or teases another becomes (or is) a bully. But the antisocial behavior results in difficulties for both sides: “Over time, the social costs to both bullies and victims include impaired social understanding and problems with human relationships in adulthood” (Berger, 2014).

Although bullying is more serious and noticeable late in childhood and adolescence, its roots lie in early childhood. Teachers must take notice and do a better job of dealing with these behaviors. Preschool and school-age programs can also implement conflict resolution programs that teach children how to express themselves and listen to others in socially intense situations. Systematic work with children to teach them social competence skills helps them deal with what might be called “garden-variety” conflicts— issues of property, territory, and power such as teasing, put-downs, hitting, not sharing, and who is the boss (see Figure 14-11 ).

Figure 14-11

A “Talk It Out” poster helps teachers mediate conflicts and teach children resolution skills.

Talk It Out: Conflict Resolution

Talk It Out: Conflict Resolution

Peer Relationships

For the young child, social development means the steady movement away from the egocentric position of self (and parents) as central points toward a more sociocentric viewpoint that involves others—both adults and, especially, children. During the early years, the child learns to socialize outside the family; social contacts outside the home reinforce the enjoyment of social activities and prepare the child for future group activity.

Peer interactions (that is, associations with friends of the same age group) become important to the child once infancy and early toddlerhood are past. Through peer interactions, children can identify with models who are like themselves and can learn from each other’s behavior. Friends provide models for imitation, for comparison, and for confirmation of themselves, and they are a source of support.

Playing with other children begins with solitary and parallel play at around age 2, in which two or more children are in the same area with each other but do not initiate social interaction. By the ages of 3 and 4, more interaction takes place. There are conversations and conflicts, as well as cooperation in playing together. There are stages in children’s friendships. In the early years, friendship starts at an undifferentiated level, in which children are egocentric and a friend is more momentary than permanent. This gives way to a unilateral level; a good friend does what the child wants the friend to do. Toward the end of early childhood, friendship becomes more reciprocal , involving some give-and-take in a kind of two-way cooperation. Listen to these children trying out their friendship:

Chris:

I’ll be the teacher, you be the kid.

Suzanne:

NO! I want to be the teacher, too.

Chris:

No! No! You can’t be the teacher, too, ’cause then there’d be no kids.

Suzanne:

OK. Next time, I get to be the teacher.

Chris:

Maybe! [loudly] OK, everybody go wash your hands for snack time. Suzanne, you can pass out your very nutritious snack to everybody.

Suzanne:

Superfasmic, [loudly] I’m the boss of snack.

A peer group is important for a number of reasons. Social development is enhanced because a child learns to conform to established social standards outside of his home setting. The expectations of the larger society are reinforced. To become autonomous, the child must also learn to achieve independence from the family, especially parents. Young children must also come to understand themselves as part of society. Self-concept is enlarged by a group of peers as they see how others respond to them and treat them.

Making and keeping friends are essential to children’s positive social development—in fact, it is so crucial that children who lack friends by the primary years are considered at risk in terms of achieving overall school success. Developing friendships is more than teaching general interpersonal skills and is especially important for children with special needs. Facilitating friendship development in inclusive classrooms requires teacher awareness and interaction, as well as careful environmental and schedule planning.

Rejection is a common form of social behavior in young children. In the early years, children need to deal with the feelings that arise when they are told, “You can’t play with us.”

14-3bSocial Skills

Social skills are strategies that children learn that enable them to behave appropriately in many environments. They help children learn to initiate or manage social interaction in a variety of settings and with a number of people. Social cognition is the application of thinking to personal and social behavior; it is giving meaning to social experience. For example, Nadia wants to play with Paul, a very popular 4-year-old. She remembers Paul’s interest in the rope swing and challenges him to swing higher than she can. He responds enthusiastically, and the friendship begins.

Social cognition requires children to interpret events and make decisions, to consider the impact of their behavior on others, and to consider the cause as well as the consequence of an action. Cognitive skills are necessary when we ask children to seek alternative solutions to social problems: “How else could you ask him for a turn, Pete?” These are all social cognition skills, and they serve as the basis for the acquisition of other skills.

Social Intelligence

Building on Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory (see Chapter 4 ), Goleman (2005) outlines five dimensions of emotional intelligence (see “ Special Topic: Nurturing Emotional Intelligence ”). The fifth element of emotional intelligence is social skills. Teachers who can help children handle their emotions (self-regulation) and learn to “read” other people’s feelings by their body language or tone of voice (empathy) can then lead children to gain social skills. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, children who bully can be taught better social skills, and the early childhood setting is just the place to do so. Paley’s classic work (1992) describes in detail the social climate of classrooms:

“Are you my friend?” the little ones ask in nursery school, not knowing. The responses are also questions. If yes, then what? And if I push you away, how does that feel?

By kindergarten, however, a structure begins to be revealed … certain children will have the right to limit the social experiences of their classmates…. Long after hitting and name-calling have been outlawed by the teachers, a more damaging phenomenon is allowed to take root, spreading like a weed from grade to grade.

Peer relationships are a source of pleasure and support, as well as challenge. Teachers and caring adults can model positive social behavior and provide guidance through conflicts.

With more social intelligence than most, Paley as a kindergarten teacher decided to post a sign outside her door one year. “You can’t say you can’t play” turns the class upside down and requires both adults and children to learn new ways to interact.

Social skills can be viewed in different ways. The Four Hows is one set of categories for such a complex array of skills:

1. How to approach. Getting and being included

2. How to interact. Sharing, cooperating

3. How to deal with difference. Including others, helping, bullying, and teasing

4. How to manage conflict. Handling aggression, problem solving

Another way to approach acquiring social skills is for adults to realize that there is a skill set that children need to learn in order to succeed in each kind of interaction.

Skills Learned with Adults

In their relationship with adults, children learn the following:

· They can stay at school without parents.

· They can enjoy adults other than parents and respond to new adults.

· Adults help in times of trouble or need.

· Adults help them learn social protocol.

· Adults keep children from being hurt and from hurting others.

· Adults help children learn about cultural differences and similarities, disabilities, gender identity, and language diversity.

· Adults resist bias and stereotyping and teach children to actively do the same.

· Adults do not always take a side or solve the problem.

· Adults work with them to solve problems.

· Adults believe that every child has a right to a satisfying social experience in early childhood settings.

Skills Learned with Peers

In their relationship with other children, children learn the following:

· There are different approaches to others; some work, some do not.

· Interactive skills and how to sustain the relationship.

· How to solve conflicts in ways other than retreat or force.

· How to share materials, equipment, other children, friends, teachers, and ideas.

· How to achieve mutually satisfying play.

· Self-defense and how to assert their rights in socially acceptable ways.

· How to take turns and how to communicate desires.

· How to negotiate.

· How to be helpful to peers with tasks, information, and by modeling behavior.

· How to anticipate and avoid problems.

· Realistic expectations of how other children behave and respond toward them.

· Ways to deal with socially awkward situations and with socially difficult situations and children.

· How to make, be, share, and lose a friend.

Skills Learned in a Group

In groups, children learn the following:

· How to take part as a member and not as an individual.

· There are activities that promote group association.

· To identify as a member of various groups.

· To follow a daily schedule and pattern.

· To adapt to school routines.

· School rules and expectations.

· Interaction and participatory skills: how to enter and exit from play.

· To respect the rights, feelings, and property of others.

· To become socially active, especially in the face of unfair or biased behavior and situations.

· How to work together as a group, during cleanup time, in preparation for an event, and so on.

· How to deal with delay of gratification: how to wait.

Skills Learned as an Individual

As individuals, children learn the following:

· To take responsibility for self-help, self-care.

· To initiate their activities and to make choices.

· To work alone, close to other children.

· To notice unfairness and injustice and learn how to handle them.

· To negotiate.

· To cope with rejection, hurt feelings, disappointment.

· To communicate in verbal and nonverbal ways, and when to use communication skills.

· To test limits that other people set.

· Their own personal style of peer interaction: degree, intensity, frequency, and quality.

· To express strong feelings in socially acceptable ways.

· To manage social freedom.

Friendship: “The more we get together, the happier we’ll be!”

Specific skills within these four areas include the social and moral aspects of nurturance, kindness, and sharing. As children get older, these skills include telling the truth, taking turns, keeping promises, respecting others’ rights, having tolerance, and following rules.

Another social skill that has taken hold is that of social justice action . In an anti-bias program (see Chapter 9 ), children can learn how to take social action to make unfair things fair. For instance, preschoolers discover that their adhesive strips are labeled “flesh-colored” but match the skin of only a few children; they take photos and send them to the company (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010). First and second graders learn about the roles of the president, and then create a page for the class book titled “If I Were President.” Posters are made, the movie A Bug’s Life is shown and written about in essays, and parents are involved through a survey. In both examples, key themes will emerge: empathy, identifying with the oppressed, collective action, standing up for oneself, and fairness (Goss, 2012). Promoting activism, both in activities and the modeling they show, is a powerful learning experience as a social curriculum.

14-3cCurriculum Approaches for Social Growth

A major role for the early childhood teacher is to see that children have enjoyable social contacts and to help motivate children toward a desire to be with others. The early childhood setting affords children numerous learning opportunities for social development. In the role of social organizer, the teacher creates a physical and interpersonal environment that promotes the development of children’s social skills.

Considerations

Early childhood teachers consider the physical environment, daily schedule, and relational interactions when planning a social curriculum.

Planning and Arranging a Social Environment Planning the social environment involves placement of furniture in ways that allow children to play alone or with someone, as well as materials and toys available on shelves for choosing. The placement of two phones, three wagons, or several firefighter hats fosters child–child interactions. Children often act together in a spontaneous way, and then get organized toward a planned end when they decide to build a single tower together. The teacher must also allow enough time in the daily schedule for children to get thoroughly involved in playing with one another (see Figure 14-12 ).

Figure 14-12

Planning a social environment is more than furniture arrangement.

Arranging a Social Environment

Don’t

· Respect individual timetables and feelings.

· Establish authority and credibility.

· Express expectations simply and directly.

· Redefine children’s characters in positive terms.

· Encourage impulsive control.

· Appeal to children’s good sense.

· Invoke ground rules.

· Mix it up: Arrange things to get one child next to another.

· Move it: people, toys, you.

· Question everything you do: Could I open this up for more than one child?

· Make implied comparisons.

· Issue empty threats.

· Hover.

· Make teacher–child interaction be all about misbehavior.

· Motivate children by indirect disapproval.

· Lose your sense of humor.

· Allow a rigid curriculum to narrow possibilities for social interaction.

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Help Children Develop Trust Trusting in themselves, their peers, and their teachers is part of learning about social relationships. Teachers enhance children’s social knowledge as they gradually improve their sense of trust ( Figure 14-13 ). General recommendations are:

· Help children recognize their needs. Notice children who need to clarify their wishes; ask uninvolved children with whom they would like to play; help arguing children say how they feel and what they want.

· Increase children’s awareness of their social goals and the goals of others. Teachers can aid children by helping them recognize their choices; they can also mediate so that others can express themselves.

· Help children develop effective social skills. Provide a model for listening, for choosing another place to play, or for going along with another’s ideas; help children find ways to stand their ground and also accommodate and learn to use conflict resolution, cooperation, coping, and helping skills.

· Teach children to recognize others’ emotions and intentions. Children become flooded with their own strong feelings and are not likely to notice someone else’s emotions in the heat of the moment; teachers can help children see another’s face or hear a tone of voice, thus beginning to “read” another person.

· Reflect with children on how their behavior affects others by pointing out what is predictable in their interactions. Young children do not always “connect the dots” between their behavior and others’ reactions. When a teacher makes a neutral statement, without disapproval, the child can then understand the effects of her or his behavior on others: “Wow! When you use that loud voice, I see the kids looking scared, and then they tell you not to play here.”

· Highlight children’s success by helping them learn to monitor their behavior. It can help children to see their successful social encounters, as well as the strategies that did not work. “When you asked them if you could play, they said, ‘No!’ But then you went and got shovels for everyone and that worked!”

· Avoid telling children who their “friends” are. Early childhood teachers encourage children to learn about friendship; however, “legislating friendship” often backfires. Telling children “We’re all friends here” or “Friends share their things with everyone” denies the distinction between positive, friendly experiences and friendship. Classmate and friend are not the same word.

· Develop a set of strategies to help the socially awkward and troubled in your class. Although each child is unique, there are certain situations that arise time and again in an early childhood classroom. Children who are socially inept often do not use nonverbal language effectively and are “out of sync” because they miss the signs.

· Do not stay uninvolved or ignore teasing and bullying. A lack of response can signal all children that it is okay to engage in these behaviors and acceptable to fall victim to it. Talk about it; read books such as Rosie’s Story (Martine Gogoll) or Oliver Button Is a Sissy (Tomie de Paola); make an experience chart (“I feel welcome/unwelcome when …”); and help the class with fair rules. In noncompetitive games, children learn to help each other, rather than trying to win or gain power over others. Finally, foster friendships between girls and boys and actively counter gender bias.

· Work to provide a caring community in your class. Brain research (see the “ Brain Research Says ” box) confirms this point, and an anti-bias approach (see Chapter 9 ) supports the development of social action as an extension of “making right” the classroom and beyond.

· Invite parents and families into the process of children’s socialization. Both teachers and families share in the responsibility of helping children develop social skills; neither one can do it alone (see Chapter 8 ).

Helping others: “I’ll help you, then you’ll help me.”

Figure 14-13

Build social skills through small-group experiences, beginning with an understanding of self and moving toward an appreciation of group membership.

Curriculum for Social Skill Development

Time	Skill	Activities
Week 1	Developing a positive self-image	Do thumbprint art. Make footprints and handprints. Compare children’s baby pictures with current photos. Play with mirrors: Make faces, emotional expressions. Dress felt dolls in clothing. Sing name songs: “Mary Wore Her Red Dress.” Make a list: “What I like to do best is … ” Post in classroom. Do a self-portrait in any art medium. Make a silhouette picture of each child.
Week 2	Becoming a member of a group	Take attendance together: Who is missing? Play picture lotto with photographs of children. Play “Farmer in the Dell.” Share a favorite toy from home with older children. Tape record children’s voices, guess who they are. Have a “friendly feast”: Each child brings a favorite food from home to share.
Week 3	Forming a friendship within the group	Provide one puzzle (toy, game, book) for every two children. Take a “buddy walk”: Return and tell a story together of what you saw. Play “telephone talk”: Pretend to invite your friend over to play. Play “copy cat”: imitate your friend’s laugh, walk, cry, words. Practice throwing and catching balls with one another. Form letter together with two children’s bodies: A, T, C, K, etc. Play tug-of-war with your friend. Build a house out of blocks together. Make “mirror images” movements with your friend.
Week 4	Working together as a group	Play with a parachute; keep the ball bouncing. Make snacks for the rest of the class. Plan and plant a garden. Make a mural together to decorate the hallways. Play “Follow the Leader.” Sing a round: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”
Week 5	Learning a group identity	Make a map of the town and have children place their house on it. Take a field trip together. Print a newspaper with articles by and about each child. Select and perform a favorite story for the rest of the class. Take a group snapshot. Make a “family tree” of photos of children in group. Learn a group folk dance. Make a mural of handprints joined in a circle.

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Facilitate Children’s Interactions and Interpret Their Behavior To help young children understand each other and to pave the way for continued cooperation, the teacher reports and reflects on what is happening, along with specific curriculum planning. In the classroom setting, during an active, free-play period, the teacher might:

Reflect the Action	Say
Call attention to the effect that one child’s behavior is having on another.	“Randy, when you scream like that, other children become frightened and are afraid to play with you.”
Show approval and reinforce positive social behavior.	“I like the way you carefully stepped over their block building, Dannetta.”
Support a child in asserting her rights.	“Chrystal is hanging on to the doll because she isn’t finished playing yet, Wilbur.”
Support a child’s desire to be independent.	“I know you want to help, Keyetta, but Sammy is trying to put his coat on by himself.”
Acknowledge and help children establish contact with others.	“Omar would like to play, too. That’s why he brought you another bucket of water. Is there a place where he can help?”
Reflect back to a child the depth of his feelings and what form those feelings might take.	“I know George made you very angry when he took your sponge, but I can’t let you throw water at him. What can you tell him? What words can you use to say you didn’t like what he did?”

Adult responses to children’s play are particularly critical in supporting positive social development. When children make judgments in error, coming to false conclusions about children on the basis of race, gender, native language, or ability, the teacher must intervene because silence signals tacit approval. This is perhaps the most dynamic and challenging part of teachers’ jobs, the heart of the profession.

Curriculum Planning for Social Development

Social curricula happen everywhere in an early childhood program. Teaching social behavior usually occurs in response to spontaneous situations. And the acquisition of social skills can be enhanced in more formalized ways through planned curriculum activities (see Figure 14-13 ).

Setting The way the environment is arranged has a profound effect on social interaction among children. Most indoor activities are planned and set up to encourage participation by more than one child at a time. Arrange the space into learning centers with clear physical boundaries and ways to get around (see Chapter 9 ). Remember that the environment is one of the teachers:

· The arts. At the art table, children share collage materials and paste that have been placed in the center of the table. When easels are placed side by side, conversation occurs spontaneously among children. A small table placed between the easels, on which a tray of paint cups is placed, also encourages children’s interactions. If there is only one of each color, the children have to negotiate with one another for the color they want to use.

· Blocks. A large space for block cabinets gives children a visual cue that there is plenty of room for more than one child. As children build with blocks next to one another, they soon share comments about their work; many times, this sharing leads to a mutual effort on a single building.

· Dramatic play. This area, more than any other, seems to draw children into contact with one another. Provide an assortment of family life accessories—dress-up clothes, kitchen equipment and utensils, etc.—and children have little trouble finding ways to get involved. A shoe needs to be tied or a dress zipped. Someone must come eat the delicious meal just cooked or put the baby to bed. A medical theme in this classroom area also enhances children’s social skills. They learn to take each other’s temperature, listen to heartbeats, and plan operations, all of which require more than one person. Sociodramatic play can provide curriculum integration in the primary grades as well.

· Language/library. Children enjoy reading books and stories to one another, whether or not they know the words. Favorite books are often shared by two children who enjoy turning the pages and talking over the story together. Lotto games encourage children to become aware of one another and to look at each person’s card in order to identify who has the matching picture. Name songs and games help children learn to call each other by name, especially early in the year when they are getting to know each other (see Figure 14-6 ).

· Math/manipulatives. Puzzle tables set with three or four puzzles also tell children that social interaction is expected. Many times, children talk, play, and plan with one another as they share a large bin full of LEGOs® or plastic building towers. A floor puzzle always requires a group: some to put the picture together, others to watch and make suggestions.

· Music movement. Build in regular times for music and movement activities. The entire group can participate in familiar songs; a sense of community is built by everyone’s participation. Activities during the free choice times usually involve smaller numbers, in which group members can challenge one another to new ways to dance with scarves or use the tumbling mat. Finally, one-to-one experiences encourage new friendships as the intimacy of a shared musical experience brings two children or a teacher and child together. Sharing music and dance from home is an ideal way to incorporate children’s individual cultures into the classroom. Translate a simple song into another language; teach the children the song, working in the language that is “home base” for most of the children, and then reteach it. Words and phrases made familiar by melody are remembered and made valuable.

· Science/discovery. Many science projects can be arranged to involve more than one child. A display of magnets with a tray of assorted objects can become the focus of several children, as they decide which objects will be attracted to the magnets. Cooking together, weighing and measuring one another, and caring for classroom pets can be times when teachers reinforce social skills.

Outdoors, children need a space to run, a place to yell, a place where adults are not hovering and directing each activity. The pretend play of boys, in particular, is usually richer outside than inside, and many of the rough-and-tumble activities prohibited indoors are safe here (see Figure 14-14 ). It may be more difficult to observe children, and directions are often harder to give with distance. The outdoor environment can be structured in ways to support group play:

· Painting or drawing. Painting on murals or drawing chalk designs on the cement are art activities that promote social interaction.

· Planning and planting a garden. Planning and planting a garden is a long-range project that involves many children. Decisions must be made by the group about what to plant, where to locate the garden, how to prepare the soil, and what the shared responsibilities of caring for the garden will be.

· Gross motor activities. Most gross motor activities stimulate group interactions. Seesaws, jump ropes, and hide-and-seek require at least two people to participate. A-frames, boards, and boxes, as well as other movable equipment, need the cooperative effort of several children to be rearranged. Sand play, when accompanied by water, shovels, and other accessories, draws a number of children together to create rivers, dams, and floods. Ball games and relay races also encourage social interactions and relationships.

Figure 14-14

Cooperation is a social skill that can be fostered throughout the curriculum.

A Curriculum of Cooperation

(Photo: © Cengage Learning)

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Daily Schedule Routines and transitions are often social experiences because they provide children with an opportunity for support and peer interaction. For instance, the routine of nap preparation can be structured with a “buddy” system so that older children are paired with the younger ones to set up the cots, choose a cuddly toy or books, and get tucked in. A cleanup time transition can be made fun and successful if children can wear a necklace to depict the job or area. Children with similar cleanup cards get a sense of teamwork when putting an activity area back in order.

As a directed learning experience, small group times afford an opportunity to focus on social skills in a more structured way. Small groups provide a setting for children and teachers to participate in more relaxed, uninterrupted dialogue. The intimacy of the small group sets the stage for many social interactions.

Group time discussions, such as circletime in preschool and class meetings for school-age children, can focus on problems that children can solve. Too many children crowding the water table, a child’s fear of fire drills, or the noise level on a rainy day are subjects that children talk about in small groups. The most relevant situations are ones that occur naturally in the course of a program. Another curriculum idea is to make “Situation Cards” of these and other common incidents. For instance, teachers can create illustrated cards that pose situations such as:

· You tell your friends to “stop it” when they take the toy you are using, but they do it again.

· You open your lunch, and your mom or dad has packed your favorite foods.

· You come down the slide, and your teacher calls, “Hooray for you!”

· You promise your friend that you will play with him at recess, but then someone else you like asks you to play with her.

The teacher then guides a discussion around the questions, “How do you feel? What can you say? What can you do?” This activity can be simplified or elaborated depending on the individuals and group involved.

Focus on Skills Social development for the preschool child includes gaining an awareness of the larger community in which the child lives. Be sure to keep in mind the skills needed. The early childhood curriculum contains elements of what is often in the later grades called social studies. Community members such as police officers, mail carriers, restaurant workers, and dental staff may be available to visit a program. Try to invite men and women in nontraditional jobs to visit and talk about or demonstrate their work. Be sure to include skills that are important to each child’s culture and family. Introducing children to a diverse range of creative adults—men and women from a variety of cultural backgrounds—helps children explore the world outside of their own experience.

Cooperating is one primary social skill in which young children need plenty of practice (see Figure 14-14 ) Toddlers and 2-year-olds can begin to see the benefits of cooperation as they become more aware of others’ feelings and wishes, and as teachers help all children get what they want through taking turns, dividing materials, and looking for another item when it is in demand. Eventually, 3- to 5-year-olds become more cooperative as they learn more self-help skills (motor development) and can express themselves (language development), as well as remember guidelines and understand reasons for prosocial behavior (cognitive development). School-age children develop an emotional sense of psychosocial competence.

Being included is often a challenge. Young children get involved in a variety of interpersonal situations that are beyond their capacities to handle with grace. An overly aggressive child, one who withdraws or stays apart from social opportunities, someone who chronically interrupts or disrupts the play, and children who deliberately leave another out all may end up becoming rejected by their peers. These socially awkward or troubled children need special help to learn the strategies for being included that all children have to learn.

Developing a conflict resolution curriculum helps all children learn the communication and coping skills necessary for being included (see Figure 14-11 ). Children who learn good observation and body language skills can participate successfully in situations that require prosocial behaviors. In addition, children need guidance and practice in deciding how to include others whose appearance, interests, age, or behavior differs from their own. Research has shown long-term positive effects of such conflict resolution training. When elementary children were taught impulse control, how to get what they wanted without aggression, and how to recognize others’ feelings, along with teacher training and family management skills, the children were in better mental health and had higher educational and economic achievement than a control group 15 years later (Hawkins, Kosterman, Catalano, Hill, & Abbott, 2008).

Helping others is an area of social development that is sometimes not emphasized in an individualistic society. Developmentally appropriate programs emphasize cooperation and find that children spontaneously offer help and sympathy to those in need. Snack time is a natural setting for practicing helping others in both words (“Please pass the fruit”; “No, gracias”) and deeds (handing someone a pitcher or a sponge). Remember to sit face to face, rather than hovering behind the children. Teachers who stand behind children often fall into the trap of withholding food while eliciting rote words, rather than genuine or spontaneous positive social interaction. Full-day programs can encourage children to help each other prepare and put away nap items. Curricula can be developed from the classroom (“What can we do when someone’s sad to say good-bye to Mom?”) and the larger world (“Some children have noticed a lot of trash in the park next door”) to enhance children’s helping skills.

Themes A popular theme that lends itself to social growth is that of friendship (see Figure 14-15 ). Other themes can be generated from the children:

“Make It Fair”	Not enough raisins in the cereal, complained a kindergartner, sparking a class letter-writing campaign.
“The Girl No One Wanted to Play With”	Preschoolers were rejecting another child, so they wrote, made costumes for, and performed a play about it.
“Saving the World”	Third-graders put on a sale to buy rainforest acreage.

Helping: “I’ll help clean up,” is a spontaneous action of toddlers and 2-year-olds that should be reinforced to become habit.

Figure 14-15

A friendship unit can encourage children to express positive emotions while they use their cognitive, language, and motor skills to enhance their social development.

Theme: Friendship

Theme: Friendship

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Photo © Cengage Learning

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14-4Curriculum for Creative Growth

· It’s OK to try something you don’t know.

· It’s OK to make mistakes.

· It’s OK to take your time.

· It’s OK to find your own pace.

· It’s OK to bungle—so next time you are free to succeed.

· It’s OK to risk looking foolish.

· It’s OK to be original and different.

· It’s OK to wait until you are ready.

· It’s OK to experiment (safely).

· It’s OK to question “shoulds.”

· It is special to be you. You are unique.

· It is necessary to make a mess (which you need to be willing to clean up!).

“Permissions” by Christina Lopez-Morgan (2002), from which these points come, opens our discussion of creativity, to give the tone for what creativity is and how it develops.

In the next section, we discuss the development of creativity and creative skills, then look at the role of the teacher and creative curricula.

14-4aThe Development of Creativity

Creativity is the ability to have new ideas, to be original and imaginative, and to make new adaptations on old ideas. Inventors, composers, and designers are creative people, as are those who paint and dance, write speeches, or create curricula for children. Thinking in a different way and changing a way of learning or seeing something are all creative acts.

Definition and Steps

Creative thinking is a cognitive process, expressed by children in all developmental areas. Picture the two major ways of thinking as vertical and lateral. Vertical thinking involves learning more about something and tends to lead toward an answer. It is also known as convergent thinking , and it is used to respond to the question, “What shape is this block?” Lateral thinking is a process used to find the creative solution or unusual idea. Such divergent thinking tends to broaden the field of answers, as when responding to, “How many different ways can you surprise your mother?”

Creativity engages certain parts of the brain. The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and controls such operations as concrete thinking, systematic planning, language, and mathematical skills; what we might call the more rational and cognitive parts of thinking. It is the right brain that engages in more spontaneous ideas and thinks in nonverbal, intuitive ways. Of course, we need both sides to engage to develop, but clearly, the right side is the creative information processor.

The process of creating follows a predictable, four-step pattern, although there are as many variations on the theme as there are children and art experiences:

1. Preparation. Gathering materials and ideas to begin

2. Incubation. Letting ideas “cook” and develop

3. Illumination. The “a-ha” moment when everything gels; the “light bulb turning on”

4. Verification. When exhilaration has passed, and only time will confirm the effort

Expression through the Arts

Whether the sweeping motion of a brush on a canvas, pounding a fist into clay, rhythmic dancing or chanting, or performing a skit or puppet show, creative expression is a full expression of the self. While it may be an individual experience, in the early childhood classroom, it is a social one as well. Children learn how to interact with others when sharing materials, taking turns, and exchanging ideas. Emotionally, children express their inner selves and work through feelings, both positive and negative, in their artwork. Indeed, art therapy has a long history of helping therapists understand children. Creative expressions reflect what the child knows; planning and organizing, revising and finishing are all cognitive tasks. Finally, by encouraging children to talk about their processes, teachers help make it a language activity as well.

Both the visual and performing arts are rich areas for creative expression They promote brain development, help children develop focus and persistence, and promote creativity and imagination (President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, 2011; Jacobs & Crowley, 2014). “Everyone has huge creative capacities. The challenge is to develop them. A culture of creativity has to involve everybody, not just a select few” (Robinson, 2011).

Creativity is a process; as such, it is hard to define. As one becomes involved in creative activity, the process and the product merge. The young child is open to experience, exploring materials with curiosity and eagerness. It is delightful to watch confident children elaborate in their creative expression with increasing detail and using more complex forms.

Education in the Arts

Several figures emerge when considering creativity. Psychologist Joan Erikson (the wife of Erik Erikson) stated that the creative experience depends on understanding sensory input. Through the senses, children come to understand the surroundings; with a playful attitude, they can then form new and original processes and products (Erikson, 1988).

When Howard Gardner began his studies of intelligence (see Chapters 4 and 12 ), he became intrigued with artistic capacity. Project Zero ( www.pz.harvard.edu) is a program that has studied intelligence, the arts, and education for nearly 30 years and has identified four key ideas about art education:

· In the early childhood years, production of art ought to be central. Children need to work directly with the materials.

· The visual arts ought to be introduced by someone who can think visually or spatially. An early childhood education (ECE) team ought to be diverse enough to have someone with this intelligence on staff.

· Whenever possible, artistic learning should be organized around meaningful projects. Both the project approach and emergent curriculum address this (see Chapter 10 ).

· Artistic learning must entail emotional reflection and personal discovery along with a set of skills. Integration of development is encouraged.

When children have a chance to create, with permission to use an abundance of materials, the results are creative.

Rhoda Kellogg, in her seminal work on children’s art (Kellogg, 1969), described the developmental stages of art after having analyzed literally millions of pieces of children’s art from around the world over a 20-year period. Briefly, they are:

· Placement stage: Scribble, ages 2–3

· Shape stage: Vague shapes, ages 2–4; actual shapes, ages 3–5

· Design stage: Combined shapes, ages 3–5; mandalas and suns, ages 3–5

· Pictorial stage: People, ages 4–5; beginning recognizable art, ages 4–6; later recognizable art, ages 5–7

Children’s artistic creations may be similar in its stages (see Figure 14-16 ) but are unique expressions of each child’s creativity.

Figure 14-16

Children’s art follows a sequence of stages.

Stages of Children’s Art

1. Scribbling:

Stages of Children’s Art

2. Drawing a single shape:

Stages of Children’s Art

3. Combining single shapes into designs:

Stages of Children’s Art

4. Drawing mandalas, mandaloids, and sun figures:

Stages of Children’s Art

5. Drawing a human figure with limbs and torso:

Stages of Children’s Art

(From Schirrmacher & Fox, 2014. Reprinted by permission. www.cengage.com/permissions.)

The roots of creativity reach into infancy because it is every individual’s unique and creative process to explore and understand the world:

· Infants’ creativity is seen in their efforts to touch and move.

· Toddlers begin to scribble, build, and move for the pure physical sensation of movement.

· Young preschoolers create as they try for more control, such as scribbling with purpose or bobbing and jumping to music.

· Older preschoolers enjoy their budding mastery. Their drawings and structures take on some basic forms, and they repeat movements deliberately while dancing or when pretend-fighting.

· The motor control and hand–eye coordination of 5- to 8-year-olds are advanced, so their drawings are representational and pictorial, their dramatic play more cohesive.

Taken together, these insights help teachers create developmentally appropriate art activities. If you work with infants or toddlers, be sure to help children explore materials and places with all their senses, and expect scribbling by 15 to 20 months. Young preschoolers work in manipulating tools and materials, discovering what can be done and needing lots of repetition. Do not expect them to show much concern about the final product. By 4 to 6 years of age, children’s art becomes more symbolic and planned; more detailed work with forms and shapes may be seen. In the elementary years, children become interested in how it turns out.

Merely labeling an activity as art is no guarantee that the activity has artistic merit. Some activities masquerade as creative and should be avoided. As Schirrmacher & Fox (2014) state:

Crafts are often given as holiday gifts. Most parents would be delighted to receive a paperweight or pencil holder constructed by their child. Although it is important to please parents, it is equally important to meet the creative needs of children. Providing for child input, planning, decision making, and creative processing guarantees that each finished product will be as unique and individual as the child who produced it.

Taking the time to talk with families about children’s art and creativity helps them appreciate the unique nature of children’s creations.

14-4bCreative Skills

There are six characteristics common to creative people; fostering these skills encourages creativity. These characteristics are described in the next sections.

Flexibility and Fluency

Flexibility and fluency are dual skills that allow creative responses. Flexibility is the capacity to shift from one idea to another; fluency is the ability to produce many ideas. “How many ways can you move from one side of the room to another?” is a question likely to produce many different ideas, one example of fluency. Children are learning flexibility when they must think of another way to share the wagons when taking turns does not work.

Sensitivity

Creativity involves a high degree of sensitivity to one’s self and one’s mental images (see Figure 14-17 ). Creative people, from an early age, seem to be aware of the world around them: how things smell, feel, and taste. They are sensitive to mood, texture, and how they feel about someone or something. Creative people notice details; how a pine cone is attached to the branch is a detail that the creative person does not overlook.

Figure 14-17

Sensitivity to one’s own mental images, such as perceiving direction and movement, are part of creativity in the young child. A -year-old sketched how a pet rat looked from below after picking it up often and watching it run on its exercise wheel.

Seeing in New Ways: Creativity in Action

Seeing in New Ways: Creativity in Action

A special aspect of this skill is sensitivity to beauty. Also known as aesthetics , this sensitivity to what is beautiful is emphasized in some programs (such as Reggio Emilia) and some cultures (for example, Japanese homes often display artistic pieces in an alcove known as a tokonoma). Teachers can ask the families of children in their care about special places, objects, and rituals that celebrate beauty and help children acquire an aesthetic interest in their environment.

Children have an awareness of and a value for their natural environment and what is aesthetically pleasing. Creative children take delight and satisfaction in making images come to life with their careful perspective and observations (see Figure 14-18 ). Their creative response is in the way that they paint a picture, dance with streamers, or find a solution to a problem.

Figure 14-18

The value of art activities for children with special needs cannot be overemphasized.

Adapting Art for Children with Special Needs

Visual:

· Verbally describe materials and how they might be used.

· Provide a tray that outlines the visual boundaries.

· Offer bright paint to contrast with paper.

· Go slowly and encourage children to manipulate the items as you talk.

Auditory:

· Model the process, facing the child and using gestures for emphasis.

· Use sign language as needed.

Physical:

· Make sure there is a clear path to the art center.

· Provide adaptive art tools such as chunky crayons or large markers.

· Provide double ambidextrous scissors so you can help, or a cutting wheel.

· Velcro can be attached to marking instruments or paintbrushes.

· Use contact paper for collage or glue sticks instead of bottles.

Attention-deficit and/or behavioral:

· Provide children with their own materials and workspace, minimizing waiting and crowding.

· Offer materials like play dough to express feelings and energy.

· Limit children to few choices rather than overwhelming them with everything in the art center.

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Imagination/Originality

Imagination is a natural part of the creative process. Children use their imagination to develop their creativity in several ways:

· Role-playing. In taking on another role, children combine their knowledge of the real world with their internal images. The child becomes a new character and that role comes to life.

· Image making. When children create a rainbow with a hose or with paints, they are adding something of their own to their understanding of that visual image. In dance, children use their imagination as they pretend to be objects or feelings, images brought to life.

· Constructing. In building and constructing activities, children seem to be re-creating an image they have about tall buildings, garages, or farms. In the process of construction, however, children do not intend that the end product resemble the building itself. Their imagination allows them to experiment with size, shape, and relationships.

A Willingness to Take Risks/Elaboration

People who are willing to break away from the ordinary mindset and push the boundaries in defining and using ordinary objects, materials, and ideas are creative. They take risks. Openness to thinking differently or seeing things differently is essential to creativity.

When children create, they are revealing themselves. Art, for instance, is a form of cultural communication, one of the basic language skills that children need to participate in a multicultural world. Increasing opportunities for creative expression allows for nonverbal response and success without directions. It encourages children (and families) to share themselves in enjoyable ways. It is, therefore, a good way to teach about cultures and learn about each other in a relaxed, accepting atmosphere.

Self-esteem is a factor in risk taking because people who are tied to what others think of them are more likely to conform rather than follow their intuitive and creative impulses. People usually do not like to make mistakes or be ridiculed; therefore, they often avoid taking risks. When a child is relaxed and not anxious about being judged by others, creativity is expressed.

Using Self as a Resource

Creative people who are aware of themselves and confident in their abilities draw on their perceptions, questions, and feelings. They know that they are their richest source of inspiration. Those who excel in creative productivity have a great deal of respect for themselves, and they use the self as a resource.

Gathering Experience

Children need experience to gain skills in using materials creatively. They must learn how to hold a paintbrush before they can paint a picture; once they know how to paint, they can be creative in what they paint. Teachers of young children sometimes overlook the fact that children need competence with their tools to be creative with them. A sensitive, individual demonstration on the proper use of a watercolor brush, sandpaper, or ink roller can expand a child’s ability to create and eliminate needless frustration and disappointment that results in dashed-off work and giving up. The teachers of Reggio Emilia and Montessori first demonstrate how to use the tools. Children then practice the skills so that they can make outstanding creations. Anecdotes from highly accomplished people in creative endeavors (pianists, mathematicians, or Olympic swimmers) highlight the value of long-term systematic instruction in a sort of apprenticeship with inspiring teachers, as well as parents who are committed to assist. Vygotsky’s scaffolding applies in the arts and can provide the initial palette of creative activities so that children can dabble and become experienced. When the skill of the medium is mastered, the child is ready to create.

14-4cEffective Approaches to Curricula for Creative Growth

Considerations

To encourage creative development, follow these eight tips:

· Provide continuous availability, abundance, and variety of materials, as is done in Reggio Emilia (see Chapter 10 ). Although you may not have a special art teacher (atelierista), you can create a studiolike area stocked with art materials and provide a more experienced adult that can help children excel in creating.

· Give children regular creative opportunities to experience and the skill necessary to be creative. Children need frequent occasions to be creative to function in a highly creative manner.

· Encourage divergent thinking. Do not interfere. Once you have presented the materials, try to forget how you intended them to be used. When there are no “right” or “wrong” answers, children are free to create. Avoid models, making things for children to copy. It insults children and can make them feel inadequate in the face of something you can do so much better.

· Help foster conversation on issues and seeking solutions to problems:

Teacher:

How do you think we could share the swings?

David:

The kids who give me a turn can come to my birthday party.

Sabrina:

No. We will have to make a waiting list.

Xenia:

Only girls can use the swings. The boys can have all the cars.

Frederico:

Buy a new swing set.

· Talk with young children about what they create. Whether it is their artwork, table toy creations, or dramatic play sequences, talk helps creativity considerably. Rather than approach children’s work with compliments, judgments, or even questions, Schirrmacher and Fox (2014) recommend that you:

· Allow children to go about their artistic discoveries without your comparing, correcting, or projecting yourself into their art

· Shift from searching for representation in children’s art to a focus on the abstract, design qualities

· Use reflective dialogue

· Smile, pause, and say nothing at first

· Allow children to take the lead in their creative works from start to finish. Adults do not need to take over at any point, particularly at the end with questions (“What is it?”) or praise (“I like it!”). If a child seems to want more response, comment on the color (“What a lot of blue you used”), texture (“I see wiggly lines all down one side”), or the child’s efforts (“You really worked on this painting, huh?”).

· Integrate creativity and learning in the classroom. Early childhood theorists, from Dewey and Piaget to Maria Montessori and Loris Malaguzzi (see Chapter 1 ), have advocated multisensory learning through experimentation and discovery.

· Teacher timing and attitudes stimulate creativity. Do not delay; children want to see immediate results and act on their ideas now. Teacher timing and attitudes are important in stimulating creative development. Give plenty of time for a dramatic theme to develop, to pursue the props needed, or to find the players and audience.

Offer many materials to create an open-ended art center.

Curriculum Planning for Creative Growth

An appropriate approach to creativity in the curriculum will emphasize children’s self-expression in a number of ways.

Setting The setting provides an environment for creative endeavors—the center for activities, walls for displays, and areas for supplies. Children are motivated to try new ways to use materials when a project is flexible and challenging.

Giving art its place in early childhood curricula requires space, time, and attention. A visual arts center (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2014) is:

· An artist’s studio, such as the atelier in the Reggio Emilia curriculum model

· Conveniently located and easily accessible

· Well stocked with developmentally appropriate materials

· Orderly and organized

· A place with rules and limits

Basic categories of art materials should include tools for mark making; papers in a variety of shapes, sizes, and textures; modeling and molding materials, such as play dough and clay; items for cutting, fastening, and attaching, such as scissors and string; items for painting; and collage items. Art and illustrations will be enhanced with electronic drawing tools and digital photography (see Chapter 9 and Figure 14-18 ). If performing arts are included, there should be an area for music, dance, and theater. The creative arts are an ideal vehicle for expressing and learning to appreciate culture and diversity (Jacobs & Crowley, 2014).

Indoors, every area has the potential for creativity:

· The arts. A wide variety of materials and opportunities to choose how they are used is the basis of the creative process. An open table with a shelf of simple, familiar materials that can be combined in many ways leads to inventiveness. Two-year-olds like crayons, paste, and colored paper pieces; 3- to 5-year-olds enjoy the addition of markers, string, hole punches and scissors, and tape. Older children can manage staplers, rulers, and protractors. Plenty of paper, such as recycled computer paper andcardboard, rounds out an open-ended, self-help art shelf. More organized art activities can also be offered, particularly for the preschool child, so long as the focus is on the child’s process, rather than an end product or model. Avoid duplicated, photocopied, or mimeographed sheets, cut-and-paste activities, tracing patterns, coloring book pages, dot-to-dot books, and any art “project” that is based on a model for children to copy or imitate. As they approach the primary years, children become interested in what their creations look like, and then are ready for practical help and advice on getting started.

· Blocks. Children use their imagination to make blocks become castles, tunnels, corrals, and swamps. These areas encourage creativity when children have enough materials of one kind to “really” make something; one long block is just not enough for a road. Also, creations have a sense of permanence when they are noted and kept. Sketching or photographing a block structure, attaching signs (including taking dictation) for the day, even rethinking cleanup periodically shows how valuable these creations are.

· Dramatic play. The dramatic arts offer opportunities for children to express themselves. Every “unit” in the dramatic play corner brings out children’s interpretations of their world, whether it is a house, shoe store, market, or a campsite, dinosaur cave, or space shuttle. Favorite books and stories can be acted out in the dramatic play area. Start with a simple nursery rhyme, and move to short stories with a few characters, simple plots, and manageable speaking lines.

· Language/library. The book nook can be a place for teachers to ask open-ended questions for fun and pondering. “What if you were a twin? What would you wear or eat? Where would you live?” is a social creation; “If I were a hat, I would …” is a physical one.

· Math/manipulatives. Include play dough, clay, or wire for children to use to form numerals. Have geometry and spatial awareness materials such as Tinkertoys®, geoboards, toothpicks, and pattern blocks. Mirrors help children explore the concept of symmetry.

· Music/movement. Set up an area with a CD player, a variety of music CDs, and plenty of space for dancing. Have a shelf with high-quality instruments, straps of bells, and scarves. Consider a keyboard coded with colors and the notes, and written music that children can follow. Provide a teacher as a guide regularly for singing and dancing. Have a puppetry center with a raised area as a stage (see the next “ Daily Schedule ” section).

· Science/discovery. Building geoboards or making tangrams and cube art blends math and art. Art activities, such as color mixing, dissolving powder paint in water, and having water available with clay, can lead children to discover scientific principles. Natural materials can be used for rubbings, mobiles, and prints. Collecting materials during a “litter walk” makes interesting and informative collages.

The spirit of the children is allowed to bloom with time to contemplate and then create.

Outdoors, creativity happens. Large, hollow blocks can become a stairway, and wagons and carts become fire engines, buses, doll carriages, moving vans, or trucks. Dancing with ribbons, making a banner for a parade, and rearranging equipment to make a tumbling or obstacle course all combine children’s motor skills with music for creative growth. Sand, water, and mud provide a place for children to dig, haul, manipulate, and control in any number of ways.

Daily Schedule Teachers can apply their creativity to many routine situations. Children looking for a lost mitten can organize a “hunt.” Pretending to be vacuum cleaners, dump trucks, or robots gets the blocks picked up faster. Saying good-bye can be an exercise in creativity; the child can say, “See you later, alligator,” and the adults can make up a silly response. Another day, the child and family member can reverse roles.

Creative “thinking games” can be part of any transition time. Because teachers are looking for unusual responses, children stay engaged and the game stays fresh over time:

· “What would happen if …” is the prompt; provide endings such as “… refrigerators ate food?” “ … bathtubs could talk?” “… you could be invisible?”

· “Just Suppose” asks children to come up with endings to such short stories as, “You found a magic flying carpet. Where would you go? What would happen?” or “You could be any animal. What would you do?”

· “Make It Better” uses a prop. The teacher brings a stuffed animal, racecar, or other familiar toy. Pass it around carefully, and then ask, “How could we make it a better toy? What could we do to make it more fun to play with?”

Creativity does not respond well to the clock. Three issues—routines, transitions, and groups—must be handled so as not to interrupt children too often.

Music is a universal language that develops every aspect of psychosocial development. It allows the expression of emotions and provides the opportunity to take roles as well as a delightful time to create with movement. Children’s creative expression in groups is enhanced through music (see Figure 14-19 ).

Figure 14-19

Creative experiences in music and movement engage the whole child and offer children integrated experiences throughout the curriculum.

Music and Movement: Stages and Activities

Stage of Musical Development	Appropriate Music/Movement Activity
2-year-olds
Use their bodies in response to music	Bounce to music with different tempos
Can learn short, simple songs	Repetitive songs like “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” or “If You’re Happy and You Know It”
Enjoy experimenting with sounds	Pound on milk cartons, oatmeal boxes
	Make shakers with gravel in shampoo bottles
3-year-olds
Can recognize and sing parts of tunes	Select songs that include their names, such as “Do You Know the Muffin Man?”
Walk, run, jump to music	Use Ella Jenkins’s recordings, or try “Going on a Bear Hunt”
Make up their own songs	Start “Old MacDonald” and let them make their own additions; dance with scarves or use shakers to sing along with a child
4-year-olds
Can grasp basic musical concepts like tempo, volume, pitch	Be a flying car, trees swaying in the wind, sing “Big, Bigger, Biggest” with variations
Love silly songs	Change “Where Is Thumbkin” to “Where Is Fi-Fo” and improvise with their ideas
Prefer “active” listening	Accompany music with instruments, “Green Grass Grew All Around” with action
5- to 6-year olds
Enjoy singing and moving with a group	Use a parachute to music
Enjoy call-and-response songs	Try “Did You Feed My Cow?”
Have fairly established musical preferences	Be sure to ask the group and use them in selecting music activities
7- and 8-year olds
Are learning to read lyrics	Use large word charts
Enjoy musical duets with friends	Do partner games
	Children pick instruments in pairs

Enlarge Table

(adapted from Schirrmacher & Fox, 2014)

There is a kind of developmental sequence in the creative expression of music:

· The very young child is receptive to music, responding by listening, singing, and making noise with instruments.

· Preschoolers move to rhythmic music, often singing spontaneously in play and responding to repeated songs or repetitious phrasing. Their interest in musical instruments precedes their skill, and they often need instruments to be introduced and their proper use demonstrated.

· Older preschoolers and school-age children are more accurate in matching their pitch and tempo to the group or played music.

Music can set the tone at naptime, signal that a cleanup task is at hand, summon children to a group, and offer cultural experiences that are meaningful and enjoyable. For instance, New Year is often a noisy time; it can be celebrated by making ankle bells and doing a Sri Lankan dance or making a West Indian Conga line. In Waldorf schools, music is quite important. Children are engaged daily in eurhythmic exercises (see the discussion of Rudolf Steiner in Chapter 1 ). Taught by a specialist, it is a kind of creative form that translates music and speech into movement. It is also useful when teaching math.

Focus on Skills The wide range of skills necessary for creative development can be supported throughout the early childhood program. The creative thinker is one who finds many ways to solve a problem, approach a situation, use materials, and interact with others. The teacher’s role is one of supporting imaginative use of equipment and using a multisensory approach to deepen learning.

Themes As teachers plan curricula around a theme, they keep in mind what creative skills can be developed. Figure 14-20 charts the theme of “Green and Growing Things,” which can bring out the child’s creative nature, as well as social responsibility, by promoting ecological responsibility through the arts and nurturing an environmental and social ethic. Experiences in nature support creative learning in all developmental domains. They build community, offer multisensory experiences, and have been shown to reduce the severity of some symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Wirth & Rosenow, 2012).

Figure 14-20

Creativity around the classroom. Creativity and problem solving may stem from the same source. Real-life experiences, such as planning and building a garden, expand to provide creative thinking and logic in the classroom.

Theme: Green and Growing Things

Outdoor Activities

1. Plant a garden in a corner of the yard, in an old barrel, or in a box flat on a table. Children learn through experimentation why some things grow and others don’t. Make space for a compost heap.

2. Add wheelbarrows to the transportation toys.

3. Take a field trip to a farm, at planting time if possible, or a garden center.

4. Add gardening tools to the sand area. With proper supervision, children can see how trowels, hand claws, rakes, and shovels can be used to create new patterns in the sand and mud.

5. Plan group games that emphasize green and growing things. Older children could run wheelbarrow races, using one child as the wheelbarrow and another as a driver.

6. Play “musical vegetables” with large cards or chalk drawings. Dance with gourds, coconut instruments, sugar cane rhythm sticks.

7. Have children select a potted plant (have older children pick a partner), then have them draw, paint, or collage what they see. Let children look, talk and compare, and then make another creation.

Indoor Activities

1. Leaf rubbings, printing with surplus apples, onions, carrots, potatoes, lemons, oranges, and celery, and painting with pine boughs are ways that children can create art with green and growing things; make cornhusk dolls, avocado seed porcupines.

2. Book accessories might include blue felt forms for lakes, hay for corrals and barns.

3. In the manipulative area, match a photo of familiar plants with a sample of the plant. Add sorting trays with various kinds of seeds to count, feel, mix, and match. Match pictures of eggs, bacon, milk, and cheese with other animals from which they come.

4. In the science area, grow alfalfa sprouts and mung beans. Let children mix them in salads and feed to classroom pets. As the sprouts grow, children can chart the growth. This activity can lead to charting their own development, comparing it with when they were infants.

5. The dramatic play center can be transformed into a grocery store to emphasize the food we buy to eat, how it helps us, and why good nutrition is important. Other dramatic play units are a florist shop or nursery, stocked with garden gloves, seed packets, peat pots, and sun hats.

6. The language area can be stocked with books about how plants, baby animals, and children grow. In small groups, children can respond to “When I plant a seed … ” or “When I was a baby I … Now, I … ” to stimulate creative expression.

7. Songs and fingerplays help focus on green and growing things, children’s growth, and animals. “The Green Grass Grows All Around” can be sketched by a teacher so that children will have visual cues to each successive verse. A favorite fingerplay, “Way Up in the Apple Tree,” can be adapted to a number of fruits and vegetables.

Creative themes can also revolve around other psychosocial issues:

· One teacher brought to her second grade class an activity from an acting workshop known as the “Emotion Map.” After leading a discussion about imaginative maps (The Hobbit, Harry Potter), she listed their suggestions (“Slump Swamp,” “Guilt Garage,” “Boring Boulevard,” “Bridge of Joy”). Rolling out a piece of paper on the floor, they began to sketch and talk. Once the map was made and elaborately decorated, the students used it to plot how they felt daily on a sticky note. New ideas cropped up: Children wanted “emotion maps” made into books for journaling and to plan for performances about different emotions.

· A preschool teaching team noticed the children’s interest in shoes. They helped the children brainstorm what they knew about shoes and what they wanted to learn and do about them. The group built a shoe store; created a song and game called “Whose shoe are you?”; and made elaborate “houses” out of old, donated adult shoes modeled after “I Know an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.” The project lasted nearly a month!

· 14-5Curriculum for Spiritual Development

· Spiritual development is rarely discussed in early childhood or developmental texts. In the United States, where the separation of church and state is mandated, the public classroom has avoided involvement in things spiritual or religious. Private schools are not under such legal restraints, and many (see Chapter 2 ) actively support or are sponsored by faith-based organizations. Still, the spiritual side of formal schooling is usually left to religious institutions and families.

14-5aIssues to Consider

Often adults tend to see children as not particularly spiritual. Without higher reasoning and abstract thinking skills, young children are seen as not able to have a spiritual life. Moreover, many think of spirituality solely in terms of religion; this narrow focus misses the mark with children in the early years. By seeing children as faulty thinkers (because they cannot articulate or conceptualize like adults), or by focusing only on organized religions and their ways of explanation, we may overwhelm or overlook children’s genuine spiritual experiences.

Some of the earliest contributors to the field have mentioned spiritual development. Friedrich Froebel (whose theories are discussed in Chapter 1 ) saw the child as having an innate spiritual capacity. Education was meant to build on the living core of the child’s intrinsic spiritual capacity. Steiner developed the three spiritual dimensions of selfhood and felt that children of all levels of development were capable of spiritual experience. Maria Montessori (see Chapters 1 and 10 ) wrote (Wolf, 2000):

If education recognizes the intrinsic value of the child’s personality and provides an environment suited to spiritual growth, we have the revelation of an entirely new child whose astonishing characteristics can eventually contribute to the betterment of the world.

It would appear that “profound levels of spiritual reality are accessible even to the youngest human being. … These experiences typically involve unity, joy, mystery” (Dillon, 2000). Take, for instance, children’s awe as they see a banana slug inching its way up a redwood tree, or the wonder in their eyes at the many colors of autumn maple leaves, their gasp when they find a dead bird, or the sheer joy and outstretched arms (and tongues!) to catch snowflakes.

Saxton (2004) reminds us of the religious or spiritual influence on a child’s cultural identity. Coles (1990) conducted an inquiry of the spiritual life of children in the United States, Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He concluded that children are “seekers, as young pilgrims well aware that life is a finite journey and as anxious to make sense of it as those of us who are farther along in the time allotted us.” While Gardner did not commit to a spiritual intelligence per se, he did suggest that an existential intelligence would be a useful construct in identifying the ability to perceive and consider issues and phenomena outside direct sensory experience (see Chapters 4 , 10 , and 12 ). Spiritual development in an early childhood program includes a child’s deep experience with self and the world, with the mysterious and invisible, and with the joy and pain that real life offers (see the “ DAP ” box).

DAP

Acknowledging the Spirit

As mentioned earlier, U.S. public education is mandated to keep issues of church and state separate in order not to endorse a particular religion. At the same time, DAP encourages family traditions and priorities to have a place in early childhood education. And spiritual development is part of the psychosocial domain.

Early childhood programs address general spiritual development in these four ways:

· Teaching about right and wrong. Caring adults contribute to children’s moral education by encouraging integrity. Children need to learn issues of “right and wrong” in a caring setting, balancing their wishes with those of others. Erikson and Piaget both note the importance of these experiences for both cognitive and psychosocial domains. It is possible to educate children to respect self and others, to express generosity of spirit, and to develop compassion.

· Matters of death. “For children … death has a powerful and continuing meaning” (Coles, 1990). Whether it be a class pet, an accident or injury to a classmate or family member, even a teacher’s absence due to illness, children’s curiosity about death is inevitable. For instance, a kindergarten pet rabbit died; the janitor had found it dead the night before. The group talked, asked questions, drew and painted pictures, made books and signs, and asked for stories and reassurance. The children were as interested in this experience as they were in anything else offered that week.

· Peace education. Children need guidance (see Chapter 7 ) and a safe and peaceful place to solve problems nonviolently with their peers. At first, they require a great deal of adult support and input in negotiating their problems, and often, it is the adult who guides the discussion. A “peace table” is one tool used as part of the overarching approach to social interactions that encourages children to peacefully interact with each other. This method encourages children to accept diversity and to attempt to understand differing perspectives. This approach helps children to see all problems as solvable and scaffolds children in their attempts to “solve the problem.” Within an environment where adults assist children to feel empowered to actively solve interpersonal problems, children quickly become peacemakers. .

· Love of nature. One way to connect with children spiritually is through a love of nature and appreciation of the environment. Give children the firsthand experiences of a seed sprouting a plant, a live animal to care for, a running stream to play in, and a sunset to watch, and they get closer to their spiritual side.

· 14-5bThe Teacher’s Role

· Teachers are often unsure of their role in spiritual development. Juggling what is appropriate and lawful with what is respectful of diverse family values and affiliations is difficult. A teacher’s identity and beliefs must be considered. Keep in mind the difference between nurturing spiritual growth and passing on a religion. As Elkind (1992) explains:

· Spirituality can be used in either a narrow sense or a broad one. In the narrow sense, spirituality is often used to indicate a particular set of religious beliefs…. Spirituality, however, can also be used in a much broader sense. Individuals who, in their everyday lives, exemplify the highest of human qualities such as love, forgiveness, and generosity might also be said to be spiritual. It is spirituality in the broad, nondenominational sense that I believe can be fostered by educational practice.

· Families provide a vital ingredient in the development of children’s spirituality. Working with families around spiritual issues is a delicate matter. Making clear your distinction between religion and spirituality helps parents see your priorities. Emphasize that you are thinking about the adults they may become and that you are trying to give them a framework to face the state of the world.

· A child’s spiritual growth can be measured in terms of his or her ability to trust, to give love willingly, and accept the self and others. Families may disagree with the teaching of some of those concepts, but the dialogue is useful. In the end, teachers usually find that there is more agreement about these kinds of ideas than they expected. Once made clear, parents often have questions themselves about how to promote family spirituality.

· Whether at home or in the classroom, spiritual nurturing does not happen according to schedule and does not entail a sense of teaching in the formal sense. “Spiritual nurturing can never be reduced to a set of techniques or a routine curriculum. It can only flow freely from the teacher’s own inner essence and from his or her belief that each child is truly a spiritual being” (Wolf, 2000). Teachers and families have something to share—a way of setting the environment and the tone that opens up the process of self-knowledge, morality and relationship with others, and a reverence for life and spiritual experience.

· 14-5cChildren as a Spiritual Resource

· Children as a spiritual resource are active participants in their experience and learning. As the teacher plans, he or she must also be prepared to listen and sit back. “Interactions with children present us adults with the opportunity to regain a sense of connectedness, spontaneity, emotional sensitivity, philosophical wonder and mystery, and attentiveness to value that we have long since left behind” (Dillon, 2000). Time to wonder, to be in awe, and to reflect needs to happen and be in place in a program. A hurried or overscheduled program is unlikely to provide such times.

· The basic curriculum of the early childhood program is to provide every child with repeated experiences of being loved, accepted, and understood, of finding people trustworthy and dependable, and of discovering the world to be a place that loves him or her and cares for him or her deeply. Spirituality is concerned with directly experiencing life via intuition and feeling. Early childhood educators can set the stage for these experiences in many ways (see Figure 14-21 ).

· Figure 14-21

· Curriculum ideas for nurturing the spirit (Wolf, 2000).

· Nurturing Spiritual Growth

· Quiet Corner

· Set aside a corner space or alcove, perhaps behind a shelf that holds the fish tank. Place a small table and chair where a child can sit alone, gaze at the water or out the window.

· A Kindness Plant

· Put a live plant next to a basket of artificial flowers. Each time a child receives a kindness, they put a flower in the plant.

· The Peace Rose

· Keep a lively silk rose in a vase within children’s reach. Whenever two children have a quarrel, one of them, or a third child, collects the peace rose. Each child holds the rose while talking: Once they reach solution or simply get over it, together they put their hands on the stem of the rose and say, “We declare peace.”

· Guided Meditation

· Have the children sit or lie down quietly and close their eyes. Lead them through a reflection, asking each child to think about his or her heart—the place where love lives.

· The Garden

· Plant seeds together, ask how things grow and how could a seed do that. Check as they sprout. Plant a button, a seed, and a penny—and see the power of the seed.

· I Spy

· Play the game of “I Spy” with the children you have observed helping others. “I spy someone who helped Danny clean up the paint he spilled.”

· The Universe Star

· Make a star in your classroom. Taking turns, each child carries the star home, waits for a clear night, and goes outside at dark with a parent to look at the night sky. When the child brings back the star, take time as a class to talk about the wonder and size of the universe.

· A Silence Game

· At a time when the children are engaged and behaving well, give them a new challenge. Ask them to stop all talking and sit perfectly still for several minutes. Each time you initiate this activity, lengthen the time. When the time is up, children will report what they heard.

14-6Special Topic: Nurturing Emotional Intelligence

Up until the early 1990s, intelligence, as defined by the IQ test, was considered the standard for success in school and in life. Whether this was determined by genetics or experience was the hot debate in psychological and educational circles. Then Daniel Goleman published Emotional Intelligence in 1995, which defined a new kind of intelligence and a new way of thinking about the ingredients for a successful life.

Emotional intelligence refers to “the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and our relationships” (Goleman, 1995). His now-classic work proposed that the two different kinds of intelligence—intellectual and emotional—could express activities in different parts of the brain. Building on Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (see Chapter 4 ), Goleman fine-tuned these ideas.

Five basic emotional and social competencies define emotional intelligence (Goleman, 2012):

· Self-awareness: Knowing what we are feeling in the moment and using those preferences to guide our decision making; having a realistic assessment of our abilities and a well-grounded sense of self-confidence

· Self-regulation: Handling our emotions so that they facilitate rather than interfere with the task at hand; being conscientious and delaying gratification to pursue goals; recovering well from emotional distress

· Motivation: Using our deepest preferences to move and guide us toward our goals, to help us take initiative and strive to improve, and to persevere in the face of setbacks and frustrations

· Empathy: Sensing what people are feeling, being able to take their perspective, and cultivating rapport and attunement with a broad diversity of people

· Social skills: Handling emotions in relationships well and accurately reading social situations and networks; interacting smoothly; using these skills to persuade and lead, negotiate, and settle disputes for cooperation and teamwork

The ability to notice and label feelings in early childhood corresponds to Goleman’s “self-awareness” dimension. Chapter 6 has suggestions for becoming a skillful observer. For instance, we can help young children produce a label for their feeling of anger or sadness by teaching them that they are having a feeling and that they can use a word to describe it. We can ask them to “Use your words” only after we have helped them learn and find those specific words.

The appropriate expression of feelings is part of Goleman’s “self-regulation” dimension, another skill that children can learn in the first 8 years if they have adults in their lives who can socialize effectively. Teachers who convey a simple, firm, consistent message assist in this learning. For example, telling a child that he can feel mad, even yell, but not bite or hit acknowledges the right to feel anger while, at the same time, prohibits its expression in destructive or hurtful ways. This shows children that you know how to handle upsetting feelings or impulses and can teach them how to do it, too.

Conducting class meetings helps children develop empathy as they learn to deal with others’ feelings (see Figure 14-11 earlier in this chapter). Teachers guide children through a process that builds problem solving, compassion, and community. Helping children tolerate and appreciate how different people express their emotions leads to understanding and cooperation.

Perhaps the single most important intervention is you, the teacher, who is a confidant and a positive role model (see Chapter 5 ). Moreover, neuroscientists have found mirror neurons in several parts of the human brain; these neurons fire in the same action sequence in both the actor and the observer. (See the “ Brain Research Says: ‘Mirror Neurons’ at Work ” box.) Modeling how to deal with change, manage frustration and disappointment, and work to find agreement show children how to find and express emotional intelligence.

Brain Research Says …

“Mirror Neurons” at Work

“Ateacher’s moment-by-moment actions and interactions with children are the most powerful determinant of learning outcomes and development. Curriculum is very important, but what the teacher does is paramount” (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009). DAP is now supported by neuroscience. If you stick out your tongue at a baby, he does the same. The same portions of the human brain activate when a person performs an action as when that person is watching someone perform the action. Monkey see, monkey do. And children do, too.

It appears that certain brain regions contain “mirror neurons.” These are neurological networks set up “so that a child’s neurological synapses ‘mirror’ not only the teacher’s actions and reactions … [but also] these same mirror neurons affect the mood of the individual observing the instructor” (Rushton et al., 2009). This implies that it is not just what the teacher presents that is important, but how and who does the presenting. “The irreducible core of the environment during early development is people” (Thompson, 2001). The greatest dangers to the developing brain in the early years are chronic stressors, including unavailable, depressed, or otherwise coercive or inconsistent adults.

The implications of the discovery of mirror neurons is staggering: Might the mirror neurons affect the mood of the child watching the teacher? Cognitive psychologists see this as evidence for the power of the model and learning through observation; social psychologists think they help with empathy. They may hold explanations of abnormalities as well (Berger, 2014). “At a subliminal level, children observe the teacher’s expressions and dispositions and internalize how the teacher is feeling. Neuroscientists believe that our ability to empathize with another human being is due, in part, to the activation of the mirror neuron networks being activated by what we observe” (Rushton et al., 2010).

Children’s behavior and their mirror neurons reflect their external world. Research suggests that “a positive, enthusiastic teacher sends signals to the child’s mirror neurons, which, in turn, can impact how they receive the learning objectives being delivered. How we present not only ourselves, but also the phenomenal journey of learning, is critical to the child’s emotional development” (Rushton, 2011).

Questions

1. What imitative behaviors might you see in young children that indicate mirror neurons are firing?

2. If the research recommends that curricula are personally meaningful, what kinds of activities would likely be positively meaningful to toddlers? Prekindergartners?

3. Knowing that you influence children’s developing mirror neuron networks, how should you behave with them?

Since Emotional Intelligence was published, educators have embraced it. Early childhood programs have traditionally emphasized social and emotional learning (see the section entitled “ Early Nursery Schools ” in Chapter 1 ); elementary and secondary schools began to develop character education, violence prevention, and anti-bullying programs worldwide. Analysis of 668 evaluations of students from preschool through high school who were enrolled in social emotional programs (Durlak & Weissber, 2005) showed improvement of 38 to 50 percent in achievement scores and grade-point averages. In addition, misbehavior dropped, attendance rates rose, and more positive behavior occurred.

Goleman hopes that more programs expand their social and emotional programs and think of emotional intelligence as not just about an individual, but also about its influence on groups. “If EI were to become as widespread as IQ has become, and ingrained in society as a measure of human qualities, then, I believe, our families, schools, jobs, and communities would be all the more humane and nourishing” (Goleman, 2012). ECE programs have already taken these steps.

CH. 15

Issues and Trends in Early Childhood Education: Four Themes

· Chapter Introduction

· 15-1 Introduction: Four Themes Revisited

· 15-2 Ethic of Social Reform

· 15-2a Child Care

· 15-2b Program Quality

· 15-2c Education Reform

· 15-2d Race to the Top

· 15-2e Stem

· 15-2f School Readiness

· 15-3 The Importance of Childhood

· 15-3a Family Stressors

· 15-3b Child Abuse and Neglect

· 15-3c Families under Stress

· 15-4 Transmitting Values

· 15-4a The Media Culture

· 15-4b Screen Time and Digital Media

· 15-4c Exposure to Violence

· 15-4d Social Diversity

· 15-5 Professionalism

· 15-5a Standards for Children’s Programs

· 15-5b Professional Preparation Standards

· 15-5c Advocacy

· 15-6 Chapter Review

· 15-6a Summary

· 15-6b Key Terms

· 15-6c Review Questions

· 15-6d Observe and Apply

· 15-6e Helpful Websites

· 15-6f References

Chapter Introduction

Issues and Trends in Early Childhood Education: Four Themes

Enlarge Image

Learning Objectives

· LO1Recognize and understand how changes in education are historically linked to social reforms.

· LO2Describe the importance of childhood and what factors diminish children’s lives in today’s society.

· LO3Articulate how the values of family and school are translated in today’s world.

· LO4Examine how professionalism is expressed through standards for children, teacher preparation, and advocacy.

Competency Areas

Standards for Professional Development

The following NAEYC Standards for Initial and Advanced Early Childhood Professional Preparation are addressed in this chapter:

· Standard 1 Promoting child development and learning

· Standard 2 Building Family and Community Relationships

· Standard 4 Using Developmentally Effective Approaches to Connect with Children and Families

· Standard 5 Using Content Knowledge to Build Meaningful Curriculum

· Standard 6 Becoming a Professional

· Field Experience

Code of Ethical Conduct

These are the sections of the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct that apply to the topics in this chapter:

· I-1.1

To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training.

· P-1.8

We shall be familiar with the risk factors for and symptoms of child abuse and neglect, including physical, sexual, verbal, and emotional abuse, and physical, emotional, educational, and medical neglect. We shall know and follow state laws and community procedures that protect children against abuse and neglect.

· P-1.9

When we have reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or neglect, we shall report it to the appropriate community agency and follow up to ensure that appropriate action has been taken. When appropriate, parents or guardians will be informed that the referral will be or has been made.

· I-2.2

To develop relationships of mutual trust and create partnerships with the families we serve.

· I-2.3

To respect the dignity and preferences of each family and to make an effort to learn about its structure, culture, language, customs, and beliefs to ensure a culturally consistent environment for all children and families.

· I-4.3

To work through education, research, and advocacy, toward an environmentally safe world in which all children receive health care, food, and shelter, are nurtured; and live free from violence in their home and their communities.

· I-4.6

To promote knowledge and understanding of young children and their needs. To work toward greater social acknowledgement of children’s rights and greater social acceptance of responsibility for the well-being of all children.

15-1Introduction: Four Themes Revisited

Early childhood education has undergone remarkable changes in the past 50 years, evolving from being an option for middle class preschool children to a necessity for millions of families with children from infancy through the primary years. Such a transformation is a reflection of the economic, social, and political climate of the times, as well as research in child development and early education. Issues of today and trends for tomorrow grow out of the problems and solutions of the past. In the 1960s, social action and the War on Poverty resulted in the creation of Head Start programs and brought national attention to early childhood education. In the 1970s, families were affected by the job market, the end of the Vietnam War, an energy crisis, inflation, rising divorce rates, and the feminist movement. All of these factors led more women into the workplace rather than remaining in the home. The 1980s meant further budget cuts and reduced services for children and families, and many children were now in group care for most of their waking hours. Child abuse became a national cause for alarm. As the century ended, charter schools and homeschooling gained popularity, the result of failed educational reform.

The rate of child poverty keeps rising and the cost of child care has doubled in the last 25 years (Whitebook, Howes, & Phillips, 2014). Half of the schoolchildren in the United States are children of color, seven in ten speak a language other than English at home, and the impact of immigrants has led to greater numbers of dual-language learners (Krogstad & Frey, 2014).

Many of these issues are unresolved. Due to lack of funding, Head Start and Early Start can enroll only a small percentage of the children who need these programs. Government-mandated standards and testing are pressuring programs to put more emphasis on academics. Professionalism is making its way into early childhood certification. All these issues are making inroads into early childhood programs at every level.

It seems appropriate to discuss current issues in light of the history of the early childhood profession because they influence practices and policies of today. Look back at Chapter 1 : The events and circumstances of the times described in that chapter reflected the issues and trends of the times, as they do today. Figure 15-1 highlights some of those influences.

Who are the children of tomorrow, and how do we meet their needs?

Figure 15-1A Web of Influences

There are a variety of challenges for today’s children and their families.

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Professional Resource Download

For all its diverse and varied past, early childhood education has had a consistent commitment to four major themes:

· Ethic of social reform: The quality of child care and national education reform

· Importance of childhood : Children’s health and welfare and the changes in family life

· Transmission of values: Challenges presented by the media culture, violence, disaster, and diversity

· Professionalism : Standards for children’s programs, teacher preparation, ethics, and advocacy in the early childhood field

· 15-2Ethic of Social Reform

· The first theme suggests that schooling for young children leads to social change and improvement. Maria Montessori, the McMillan sisters, Patty Smith Hill, Abigail Eliot, and Head Start all tried to improve children’s health and physical well-being by attending first to the physical and social welfare aspects of children’s lives. Today, ethic of social reform refers to an expectation that education has the potential for bringing about significant social change and improvements. This is dramatically demonstrated in three current issues: quality and affordable child care, No Child Left Behind and Common Core Standards, and Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP).

15-2aChild Care

· In a typical week in the spring of 2011, 12.5 million children under five (61 percent) were in some type of regular child care arrangement (Laughlin, 2013).

· In 2013, 53 percent of mothers with infants were in the labor force; 61 percent of mothers with children under 3 years old worked outside the home, and 64 percent of those with children under 6 were in the labor force. (U.S. Department of Labor, 2014).

The significant increase in enrollment in child care centers over the past 40 years, underscored by the demographic facts, firmly establishes the need for child care. Child care is a part of a modern way of life; however, program quality, costs, and an unstable workforce continue to be the primary issues that negatively affect child care throughout the country. (See Chapter 2 for more discussion of child care.)

15-2bProgram Quality

The key word is quality—the terms good-quality and high-quality identify specific features in early childhood programs. Quality is a function of group size, low teacher-to-child ratios, trained and experienced staff, adequate compensation, and safe and stimulating environments (see Chapter 2 ). Quality early care and education programs contribute to the healthy cognitive, social, and emotional development of all children, but particularly those from low-income families. Yet today’s statistics paint a bleak picture for those who might benefit the most. Child care costs are disproportionately high for poor parents, sometimes equaling as much as one-third of their income. Finding good, affordable, and accessible child care that will meet the increasing needs of American families is one of today’s most crucial issues.

The quality of a child care program is directly related to the experience and training of the teachers.

Brain Research Says …

Early intervention programs, such as the Perry Preschool Project, the Abecedarian Project, and the Chicago Child-Parent Centers, have been shown to have significant lasting effects for children at risk. These programs provided positive learning experiences and growth-promoting environments at a crucial time when the brain’s circuits were being built. As a result, a strong foundation was created and served to support more complex brain structures rather than leave the children with a weak architectural foundation that would not support healthy brain growth (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2002). Positive outcomes for the children of these three programs varied, but they included higher levels of education, socioeconomic status, better earning prospects, less teen parenthood, lower dropout rates and grade retention, less incarceration, and less reliance on welfare.

The impact on society was noted by a number of economists who understand the dollars-and-cents benefits of investing in early childhood education now instead of funding remedial programs later in the child’s life. Some of the most impressive arguments for early childhood intervention services come from one of the most highly regarded economists of our time, Nobel laureate James Heckman. To support the assertion that the longer society waits to intervene in the lives of at-risk children, the greater the cost in the future, Heckman (2007) noted:

1. There is a “growing underclass” of youth who neither go to school nor work.

2. A total of 75 percent of youth who apply for military service are rejected because of inadequate cognitive abilities, criminal records, or obesity.

3. In the United States, 20 percent of the workforce is illiterate.

From an economic viewpoint alone, early intervention more than pays for itself by influencing children’s academic achievement and fostering a skilled and knowledgeable workforce.

One noteworthy point made by Heckman is that early intervention programs have a much higher rate of economic return than other strategies used later in life, such as lower student–teacher ratios, public job training programs, adult literacy programs, and convict rehabilitation services. The early childhood field can be grateful that what we have known for a long time is being acknowledged on the national stage.

Questions

1. Why do you think Heckman and other economists are looking at the successful results of early childhood intervention programs? What effect will this have on your role as an early childhood professional?

2. What do neuroscientists Shonkoff and Phillips mean when they say, “It’s better to get it right for the first time than to try to fix it later.” Do you agree or disagree with that statement?

The NACCRRA study of parental concerns (from an organization now known as Child Care Aware of America), also cited in Chapter 2 , found that parents just assumed that caregivers were trained to work with young children and that most child care programs were regularly inspected (National Association of Child Care Resources and Referral Agencies, 2008). However, in 2008, less than 10 percent of all child care centers and less than 1 percent of family child care homes were accredited and thus were not being inspected regularly (Children’s Defense Fund, 2010).

Program Costs

The cost of quality is directly related to the needs of the families served by the specific program. Today, the average cost of full-time child care for a 4-year-old equals the average undergraduate tuition and fees at a public state university (NACCRRA, 2014). Families who live at or near the poverty line and middle-income families are hard-pressed to afford these fees.

Cost and quality are significantly related to staff: how many adults there are compared with the number of children in a class, whether the salaries and benefits provide incentive for teachers to be retained for a number of years, and the level of staff education and training and their years of experience. The difficulties of recruiting and retaining qualified staff for good early childhood programs profoundly affects program quality and costs and continues to be a serious issue facing the early childhood field.

The employee turnover rate for child care centers has hovered around 30 percent for a number of years. Centers often find it difficult to recruit qualified staff and hire replacements for those who leave. This is understandable considering the fact that many centers do not provide health insurance or a living wage for their employees.

One recent paper followed up on a previous 25-year-old study and paints a depressing portrait of child care workers. The percent of change in their hourly wages over that period of time was 1 percent. Preschool teachers’ wages increased 15 percent in the same period of time, but they still earn only 60 percent of what kindergarten teachers do (Whitebook, Howes, & Phillips, 2014). Obviously, parents cannot bear the burden of the increases in child care costs that would be needed to provide more equitable compensation for the early childhood workforce. The lack of quality child care that is affordable and accessible, that provides wages and benefits worthy of the early childhood profession, and that attracts and retains an experienced and educated workforce has created a national crisis that still needs to be resolved.

15-2cEducation Reform

One of the primary functions of the public school system in the United States is to prepare students for productive roles in society—to produce skilled workers who will enter the job market and contribute to a healthy, competitive economy worldwide. To achieve that goal, a number of reforms have emerged on the national agenda.

No Child Left Behind

In 2002, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 was reauthorized to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and minority students and their peers. In 2005, this act, known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), went into effect, and it has reshaped the U.S. public school culture over the next decade.

Virtually every state enacted reform measures of some kind, with a focus on higher standards of student performance through the upgrading of curricula, increased requirements for homework, and firmer disciplinary methods. Most notable was the move to standards-based instruction and the requirement that children be tested twice a year to measure their progress.

NCLB has been controversial because of its attempts to create new accountability measures and bring all children to their grade level or better in math and reading by 2014. Critics stated concerns that the narrow focus on reading, literacy, and math creates an imbalanced curriculum that fails to focus on the whole child. Critics also question whether teachers will be forced to “teach to the test” for a school to avoid sanctions, which seem to disproportionately affect the most seriously disadvantaged schools. Overall, there is the threat of facing sanctions without adequate resources or support to meet the requirements that are imposed by this plan. As of this writing, the administration of President Barack Obama is developing ways to be more flexible by allowing the states to design their own accountability and improvement programs (U.S. Department of Education, 2011). It remains to be seen how this ambitious plan will fare over the coming years and how it will relate to the achievement gap between white and minority students, as well as improving conditions for underperforming schools. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, speaking recently about the funding for the reauthorization of NCLB, stressed that the bill must enable parents, educators, and communities to understand students’ progress through an annual statewide assessment. Duncan also urged that the law expand to preschools. (Open Forum, San Francisco Chronicle, February 23, 2015, p. A10).

15-2dRace to the Top

In 2009, the Obama administration created Race to the Top, a competitive grant program to states that create and adopt common academic standards for kindergarten to twelfth grade. It was created to spur systemic reform by recognizing innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Through Race to the Top’s Early Learning Challenge, nine states were awarded funds to increase the number of children at risk in high-quality early childhood programs, design and implement high-quality learning programs and services, and ensure that assessment procedures meet the National Research Council’s early childhood standards. The continuing challenge for the states was to close the school readiness gap, in which children of poverty (disproportionately children of color) enter kindergarten unprepared to succeed. The larger the gap, the more difficult it is to achieve equality of achievement in later schooling.

How does education reform enhance the joy of learning?

Common Core State Standards

Under the aegis of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, common standards for English language arts and mathematics have been developed for kindergarten to twelfth grade. Nearly all fifty states have adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to help students learn the knowledge and skills they need for college and work. These standards challenge all school districts, particularly those with both a school readiness gap and later achievement disparities. CCSS outlines all developmental domains, focuses attention on how children learn, and requires observations and assessments to measure student proficiency. Some states have dropped the CCSS for their own version of English and mathematics standards.

15-2eStem

The letters of STEM stand for science, technology, engineering, and math in the educational reform movement. In some areas, STEAM is the acronym used, to incorporate the arts as well, and still others use STREAM to include reading and writing.

The STEM approach is an integrated one, providing information and resources across the curriculum, as described in Chapter 10 . A strong foundation in mathematics underlies success in science, technology, and engineering and early childhood professionals are working to improve mathematical knowledge in preschool programs. We know that early experiences affect future achievements and these critical areas of math and science have not been sufficiently addressed in most early childhood curriculum.

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) has made policy recommendations for more intentional and meaningful math and science experiences in early childhood programs, such as the following (Brenneman, Stevenson-Boyd, & Frede, 2015):

· Math and science should be essential components of a comprehensive, high-quality preschool program.

· Learning standards and teaching expectations should be research based and attainable and appropriate for preschool children.

· Math and science should be defined with deeper meaning in content and pedagogy and not just counting or listing of facts.

· Teacher preparation should include a greater understanding of math and science content and ways to integrate this content into teaching practices.

· Accountability systems should be built that focus on the classroom, teacher, and child.

· Math and science learning should be integrated with each other and within other content domains.

15-2fSchool Readiness

Children need to start school ready to learn. They need to be physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively ready and motivated to meet the challenges of kindergarten and beyond. Yet millions of children enter school without the background, support, and resources that foster their ability to learn. These children come from low-income families and from minority racial backgrounds and start kindergarten lagging behind their peers.

The disparity among African American and Latino children and their white classmates is referred to as an achievement gap. At least half of this gap exists when children enter kindergarten. The larger the gap, the more difficult it is to achieve equality of learning for the children who enter school ill prepared for the challenges (Hemphill & Vanneman, 2011). Poverty is the primary contributor to the achievement gap.

Universal Preschool

Another example of the link between social and education reforms is the universal preschool movement. Early learning opportunities are unavailable to many children who could benefit from a quality early childhood program. This is especially true for low-income working families who would benefit the most from quality child care and are least able to afford it. There is a gap between the need and demand for quality child care and the government’s willingness to fund it.

Universal preschool, called preschool for all in some areas, is an effort in many states to address this inequality. If successful, it would mean that there would be universal access to publicly funded, high-quality preschool education for one or two years before kindergarten. More children who are at risk would have the early education to help them begin school ready to learn. Multiple studies by the NIEER of state preschool programs found positive gains in children’s math, language, and literacy (Barnett, 2010).

Forty states provided prekindergarten programs, primarily for 4-year-olds, in 2010. In 2002, only 14 percent of 4-year-olds were enrolled in state preschools. That number rose to 27 percent in 2010. The recession has put the growth of these schools in a holding pattern until more funding becomes available and created lower funding levels that affect the quality of the existing programs (Barnett et al., 2010).

Controversy about universal preschools centers on providing preschools for people who can afford it rather than just for low-income families; the high cost of providing quality programs; and the fear of imposing taxes to pay for the programs. Advocates cite the research that shows positive outcomes for children and families at risk; the potential for closing the achievement gap; and society’s role in supporting all children’s optimal learning opportunities.

Charter Schools

Reform efforts in the 1980s led to the creation of charter schools, which are public schools that have a specific mandate and that are governed by a group (often parents) or organization. The group operates under a legislative contract (i.e., a charter) with the state. Some charter schools focus on particular curriculum areas, such as arts or math; others may target low-income families; and others might follow an educational philosophy, such as the Waldorf schools. The reviews of student performance in charter schools versus students in other public schools are mixed; some report higher gains for charter schools, while others report little or no gain.

There are approximately 5,700 public charter schools, serving 2.1 million students. More than 50 percent of them serve children at the elementary school level. More than 500 new public charter schools opened in the 2011–2012 school year (National Center for Education Statistics, 2014). In New Orleans, more than 50 percent of public school students are currently enrolled in charter schools following a state takeover of education in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (National Center for Education Statistics, 2014).

Reform Strategies

To meet the needs of working parents and ensure that children are ready to learn, reform strategies need to:

· Embrace the range of all early childhood programs with no distinction between child care and early childhood education.

· Establish continuity between early childhood programs and the early elementary years.

· Create closer relationships with early elementary grades for greater alignment so that curricula, standards, and tests compliment and balance one another.

· Address children’s nonacademic needs so that they come to school physically, socially, and cognitively ready to learn.

· Base programs on learning that is developmentally appropriate.

· Initiate programs and policies that strengthen the family.

· Develop partnerships with the community and with businesses.

· Collaborate with other community agencies that service young children and their families to make better use of public funds and improve the quality of all programs.

Look back at the various reform initiatives and see how many of them address these issues.

15-3The Importance of Childhood

The second theme of early childhood is the importance and uniqueness of childhood. This notion rests on the concept of the child as a special part of the life span; families and society who value children take responsibility for providing a quality of life for them. Two issues endanger childhood and demand our attention: family stressors and risks to children’s health.

15-3aFamily Stressors

Families encounter many challenges today. The impact of social changes in the past three decades has been hard felt by children and the adults who are raising them. Family structures vary greatly, but the task remains the same: to provide safety and stability, routine, and new experiences.

Experiences that produce stress in young children are often family related. Divorce, remarriage, a move to a new home, prolonged visits from a relative, and a new sibling are classic stress situations for children. Stress may also occur in families in which both parents pursue high-powered careers and children feel the need to live up to exceptional standards in academic achievement or sports proficiency. Apathetic parents, parents who ignore their children or have no time for them, and parents who push children into frantic schedules of activity also can be sources of stress.

Every child has the right to a full and wondrous childhood.

Children respond to stress in many ways. Signs of stress include sleeping problems (such as nightmares or sleepwalking), depression, regression to the behavior of an earlier stage, aches and pains, acting out, eating problems, and overreactions, as well as medical problems (such as headaches, upset stomach, and bleeding ulcers).

Brazelton and Greenspan in their classic work (2000), and in response to the overwhelmed, stressed-out life of children and parents today, defined seven irreducible needs of children:

1. The need for ongoing nurturing relationships

2. The need for physical protection, safety, and regulation

3. The need for experiences tailored to individual differences

4. The need for developmentally appropriate experiences

5. The need for limit setting, structure, and expectations

6. The need for stable, supportive communities, and cultural continuity

7. Protecting the future on behalf of the world’s children

Stress is a natural part of life and a factor in every child’s development. It needs to be identified and addressed by the families, teachers, and other adults who care for them. Childhood stress is also discussed in Chapter 14 . See the “ Teaching With Intention ” box for suggestions on dealing with childhood stress.

Teaching with Intention

Helping Children Cope with Stress

Strategies for coping with the various stages of stress include observing children, making time to talk with them individually, and working with them to find solutions.

Stage	Behavior	The Teacher Helps
Alarm	Feels arousal, fear, confusion Has swift mood changes	Notices when child is stressed Listens Offers words for child’s feelings Is accepting of unpredictable behavior Reassures child of constant availability Alerts parents and other of child’s state Takes preventative actions to lessen other stressful events
Appraisal	Attempts to understand the problem	Listens Offers age-appropriate explanations Helps child see situation more positively Makes a simple list of problems and issues Reassures child that the problem will be solved Alerts other adults to the importance of the child’s work
Search	Looks for coping strategy Selects from what is at hand	Listens Asks for child’s ideas Helps child list possible solutions Tells parents and others of child’s solutions Demonstrates self-control and coping skills Encourages and enhances child’s self-esteem
Implementation	Tries out a coping strategy; applies a solution to the problem	Listens Observes child’s implementing a solution Gives support and feedback about relative success or failure of the plan Help child refine or revise strategy as needed Encourages child’s efforts

Enlarge Table

When the teacher serves as a comforting resource to a child who is experiencing stress, the situation becomes more manageable. The teacher becomes an intentional role model for dealing with stress.

Think about This

1. How do you deal with stress?

2. Do you think these suggestions apply to you? Would you use them?

15-3bChild Abuse and Neglect

In 2012, nearly 3.5 million reports on child abuse were made (CDC, 2014). One in five children die every day, and 80 percent of those are under kindergarten age. One-third of abused and neglected children eventually victimize their own children, perpetuating the cycle (Childhelp, 2014). These horrendous statistics testify that child abuse and neglect are significant problems in this country.

A neglected child may be one whose waking hours are mostly unsupervised by adults, in front of the television or simply unconnected with—and unnoticed by—parents or an important caregiver. But child neglect takes other, more hazardous, forms. When the basic needs of adequate food, clothing, shelter, and health are unmet, parents are being neglectful. Failure to exercise the care that children need shows an inattention to and lack of concern for children. More than 78 percent of the reported child abuse in the United States is for neglect, 18 percent is physical abuse, and more than 9 percent is sexual abuse (CDC, 2014).

Signs of various forms of child abuse often indicate one or more types of abuse. According to Childhelp (2012), the most obvious signs are:

· Signs of neglect: Unsuitable clothing for weather, dirty or unbathed condition, extreme hunger, and an apparent lack of supervision

· Signs of physical abuse: Unexplained burns, cuts, bruises, or welts in the shape of an object; bite marks, antisocial behavior, problems in school, fear of adults

· Signs of emotional abuse: Apathy, depression, hostility or stress, lack of concentration, eating disorders

· Signs of sexual abuse: Inappropriate interest in or knowledge of sexual acts, nightmares and bedwetting, drastic changes in appetite, overcompliance or excessive aggression, fear of a particular person or family member

How do we help children cope with stress?

The residual effects of child abuse, which occurs at every socioeconomic, ethnic, cultural, religious, and educational level, are equally dramatic. Children who have been sexually abused are two-and-one-half times more likely to abuse alcohol and nearly four times more likely to become addicted to drugs than nonvictims. Children who experience abuse and neglect have a 59 percent chance of being arrested as a juvenile and are 25 percent more likely to become pregnant as a teenager (Childhelp, 2012).

Potential Solutions

A national call to action to increase public awareness and understanding of child abuse is under way. Standardized licensing procedures, upgrading of the certification of child care workers, and national accreditation of all preschools are some of the most frequently mentioned solutions to the problem. Helping parents identify what qualities to look for when placing their children in someone else’s care is another way to prevent child abuse in centers. In 1996, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) adopted a Position Statement on the Prevention of Child Abuse in Early Childhood Programs and the Responsibilities of Early Childhood Professionals to Prevent Child Abuse. This statement urges that early childhood programs in homes, centers, and schools adopt a set of policies based on the following guidelines:

· Employing adequate staff and adequate supervision of staff

· Environments that reduce the possibility of hidden places

· Orientation and training on child abuse detection, prevention, and reporting

· Defined and articulated policies for a safe environment

· Avoidance of “no-touch” policies for the caregivers and staff

With regard to staff recruitment, NAEYC recommends that early childhood programs in the home, center, or school initiate policies that require personal interviews, verification of references and education background and qualifications, criminal record checks, and disclosure of previous convictions. New employees should serve a probationary period, and programs should have policies that provide for the removal of anyone whose performance is unacceptable. Procedures must also be in place for responding to an accusation of child abuse and provide due process for the accused (NAEYC, 1997). All those involved in early childhood care and education are well advised to secure a copy of the statement and use it to consider and evaluate the effectiveness of their own program’s policies and procedures.

The Adult’s Responsibilities

Reporting suspected child abuse is mandated by law in all states. Educators must assume the responsibility to inform the proper authorities if they suspect that a child in their care is being abused by anyone.

The mandate to report suspected child abuse applies to teachers, principals, counselors, school nurses, and staff members of child care centers and summer camps. Certain knowledge that abuse took place is not required; reports are legally required if there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been mistreated. For the protection of anyone reporting abuse or neglect, the person filing the report is held immune from civil or criminal liability so long as the report was made in good faith. Figure 15-2 discusses the steps to take if child abuse is suspected.

Figure 15-2

Reporting child abuse is mandated in every state. Become familiar with the policies of your program about reporting suspected child abuse (Helpguide, 2012).

Helping an Abused or Neglected Child

· Be a calm and reassuring presence. Keep your emotions under control.

· Give unconditional support. Reassure the child that he or she did nothing wrong and was right to tell you.

· Let the child explain in his or her own words what happened. Do not interrogate the child or ask leading questions, but say that you are taking this seriously and that you believe him or her.

· Report the alleged abuse to your supervisor/director/principal and follow the school’s policies for reporting abuse and notifying the parents as appropriate.

· Discuss with the supervisor/director/principal what is appropriate for staff members to do to support the child and the family during this time. Maintain the child’s and family’s privacy.

· Work with the appropriate agencies, as necessary, during the investigation, and continue to support and be sensitive to the child.

(Retrieved from www.helpguide.org/mental/child-abuse on February 19, 2012.)

15-3cFamilies under Stress

Families encounter many challenges today. American families have suffered the impact of social upheaval and changes in the past three decades. Family structures vary greatly, but the task remains the same: to provide safe and stable environments in which children are raised. The main sources of stress are divorce, work, and poverty.

Divorce

Perhaps no one single change has affected children as much as the divorce rate. “Divorce introduces a massive change into the life of a boy or girl no matter what the age” (Pickhardt, 2013). The effects of divorce are felt for years. Getting over divorce and living a productive life is critical for both child and parent; teachers can help.

The effects of divorce are felt by children well before the event itself. Children exhibit “pre-divorce family stress” through increased impulsive or aggressive behavior, and parents show the stress with headaches, fatigue, mood swings, or depression. Children’s initial reaction to their parents’ separation is traumatic—shock and distress (the Stage 1 responses to stress, as described in Chapter 14 ). Even if parents are not in violent conflict with each other, no child is happy about divorce. After divorce, many parents become overworked and overwhelmed. Children are often neglected or left with less than what both parents could provide, including emotional and financial support (Casey Foundation, 2008):

Among employed adults, unmarried women who support families have the greatest risk of living in poverty.… Moreover, unmarried mothers often have time constraints that can affect their ability to supervise their children, offer emotional support, take an active part in their education, and arrange other activities for them. When children live with one parent, it is still most often the mother.

Adjustment to divorce is difficult, and the psychological effects of divorce on children are often felt well into adulthood. “Divorce is a cumulative experience for the child. Its impact increases over time,” according to Wallerstein (2002), reporting on a 25-year research project. For instance, of the people who were to 6 years old when their parents divorced, one-third did not pursue any education beyond high school (although 40 percent of those who attended college did graduate).

Growing up in a divorced home does not mean that children cannot live happy lives. Fortunately, children are amazingly resilient. The age and gender of the children involved seem to have some bearing on their adjustment. Very young children recover more easily than older ones, and boys react more intensely than girls to the loss of their fathers from the home. The parents’ ability to be caring and available makes a difference, as does the parents’ relationship with each other and the quality of the children’s relationship with both parents.

Teachers of children whose parents are going through a divorce can help in several ways, including

· Researching the effects of divorce

· Helping the family get help through support groups

· Finding ways to help children talk about their feelings, especially through books about children going through similar stress

· Keeping communications open with both parents and including both parents in all school events and communications

Working Parents

Nearly 70 percent of all preschool children younger than age 6 have mothers in the workforce (U.S. Department of Labor, 2014), and the percentage rises when considering school-aged children as well. The implications for families are considerable. For women, the double demands of job or career and being the family nurturer can be overwhelming, creating great conflict and the stress of chronic fatigue. Men are looking at their role in a different light; many are learning about greater involvement in child rearing and how to adjust to a new financial provider role. Yet there are vast differences among the various cultural groups and individuals parents about the value of and care for children. For all parents, three issues loom large:

1. The concern for quality child care, which is often unavailable, unaffordable, or both.

2. The struggle to provide quality time with children as a family unit, unlike many European models of family leave, which gives parents several months away from their jobs to be at home and establish a bond within the family setting.

3. The financial burden. Without parental leave, parents are forced to return to work during the critical early months of infancy or lose income, and even their job altogether. In the United States, child tax credits and pretax dependent care credits are government and employer means of support. While many mothers go to work from welfare, there are still few gains in the family’s broader economic well-being. Women report still needing to use local food banks and taking second and third jobs. Self-sufficiency without income supports is rarely achieved.

For educators, working families have special issues. As more parents are fully occupied with work during the school day, they are less available for direct participation in a classroom or on a constant basis. Teachers plan flexible opportunities for them to become involved in their children’s education.

Public policy reflects the attitude and values that a nation holds toward children and families, and the inequities are glaring. We look toward a future trend of clearer and more supportive public policies.

When both parents work outside the home, new roles for fathers emerge.

Poverty

There is a group of Americans who are more likely to experience limited participation in the social, political, and economic mainstream of national life. The children who are at greatest risk for academic failure are likely to be those who live in poverty, members of minority groups, children with various physical and mental disabilities, children with limited English proficiency, children from single-parent families, or children attending schools with a high concentration of students who live in poverty (Casey Foundation, 2008). The United States has the second-highest rate of child poverty among 35 industrialized nations, despite having the largest economy in the world (Children’s Defense Fund, 2015).

The Children’s Defense Fund (2014) tells another story:

· One in five children in the United States has a chance of being poor.

· Children of color (who will reach the majority in 2020) are more than twice as likely to be poor than white children.

· Lifelong consequences of poverty include a decrease in likelihood that a person will graduate from high school, be poor as an adult and suffer poor health, and be more likely to encounter the criminal justice system.

There is a striking correlation between poverty and school failure. Children who start at a disadvantage fall farther behind in academic achievement through their school years. Too many of them reach adulthood unhealthy, illiterate, and unemployable, with limited participation in the social, political, and economic mainstream of national life. The changing school population suggests that these problems will only increase as the proportion of minority groups expands (because they are overrepresented among the poor), as a larger and larger percentage of children fall below the poverty line, and as traditional patterns of child rearing and marriage change so that fewer children have the emotional and educational advantages of a two-parent family.

15-4Transmitting Values

The third recurring theme in the educational heritage of the United States is that of transmitting values. Values—whether social, cultural, moral, or religious—have been the essence of education for centuries. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Friedrich Froebel valued childhood, so they created special places for children to express their innate goodness and uniqueness. Puritan fathers valued biblical theology; therefore, schools of their time taught children to read so that they might learn the Bible. Today, the anti-bias movement reflects a value of personal respect and appreciation of culture. Many sources shape children’s values and behavior, notably the media culture, exposure to violence, and social diversity.

15-4aThe Media Culture

Technology and media are solidly established in the daily life of children as they and their families engage in a variety of devices. In many homes, the television/video player, computer/laptop, and smartphone have replaced adult supervision. An astounding 99 percent of American households contain at least one television, with more than two-thirds containing two or more sets (Nielsen Media Research, 2014). Technology media represent an influential force in the lives of children.

15-4bScreen Time and Digital Media

Data from a Common Sense Media Research Study (2011) informs us that

· Each day, 47 percent of babies and toddlers watch TV or DVDs for an average of nearly 2 hours; nearly one in three has a TV in the bedroom.

· A total of 73 percent of 2- to 4-year-olds watch TV every day, and 72 percent of 5- to 8-year-olds watch TV every day.

· A total of 39 percent of children from birth to age 8 live in a home where the TV set is on most of the time, even when no one is watching.

· Between birth and age 8, children spend an average of 1 hour and 45 minutes watching TV or videos, compared to less than a half-hour reading or listening to music.

Antidote to television.

Children spend more time annually watching a screen (15,000 hours) than they do in school (10,000 hours). Further, they are likely to witness on screen 180,000 murders, rapes, armed robberies and assaults. In addition, research firms are applying brain studies to determine consumers’ unconscious responses to brands and products in order to market and advertise to sell to them (Nielsen Media Research, 2014). Media and technology are at the center of our lives today. We can help families make smart media choices for their young children and offer guidelines to achieving a healthy approach that will enable children to learn to use digital media wisely (Common Sense Media, 2015). Adults can modify the negative effects of digital media saturation (see Figure 15-3 ). These strategies are suggested by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2011):

· Pay attention to what children are watching and join them to view what they see.

· Set limits on the amount of time they can watch TV and use digital media.

· Remove the TV/computer from the child’s bedroom. Turn off any device that is not being watched.

· Help children understand that the violence they see portrayed is not real, but that in reality, similar behavior could cause pain or death, either to themselves or others.

· Refuse to let children see programs that are violent, have offensive dialogue and story lines, and are racially or sexually stereotyping people. Turn the TV or game off if this occurs when children are watching such a program. Explain your reasons why you think it is wrong to watch this programming.

· Make your disapproval known at the time, right away, to let children know why the action is not a healthy way to solve problems.

· Join with other parents to offset peer pressure and agree to enforce similar rules regarding screen time.

Figure 15-3

Now that media saturation is a way of life for much of society, adults must take responsibility for managing the amount of time and types of media for children.

Managing Media

Strategy	Description	Example
Set limits.	Know how many hours of TV children watch and monitor it.	Keep it to 2 hours or less; keep the TV off unless someone is actively viewing; establish rules, such as “Game-playing is part of my daily ‘screen time’ allowance.”
Plan and participate.	Work together with children to decide what to watch.	Watch shows together, pointing out parts that are prosocial and asking about those parts you dislike; use the “pause,” “rewind,” and “mute” buttons regularly.
Resist commercials.	Young children do not distinguish easily between the sales pitch commercial and the ordinary show.	Help children become “critical consumers” by pointing out exaggerated claims; ask: “What are they trying to sell us?”
Express your views.	Call a station or write a letter about a show or commercial you find offensive.	Ask the children to help write the letter and provide documentation.

Enlarge Table

Professional Resource Download

Although TV dominates young children’s media choices, the use of other digital media, including computers, handheld and console video-game players, cell phones, iPods, and iPads, is common:

· Among newborns to 8-year-olds, 27 percent of all screen time is with digital media.

· A total of 29 percent of parents have downloaded apps (applications) to a digital device, which 10 percent of babies use, 39 percent of 2- to 4-year-olds use, and 52 percent of 5- to 8-year-olds use.

· More than half of all children up to age 8 have played console video games, and 17 percent of 5- to 8-year-olds play them at least once a day.

· Half of all children have access to one of the newer mobile devices at home (Common Sense Media, 2014).

There are four basic concerns that parents and teachers express about children’s viewing of media:

1. Media violence can lead to aggression and desensitization to violence.

2. Media viewing promotes passivity, slowing intellectual development and stifling imagination.

3. Media promote racist and sexist attitudes.

4. Television promotes materialistic consumerism.

Common Sense Media and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) analyzed 173 studies about the effect of media consumption on children, finding a strong correlation between greater exposure and adverse health outcomes. “‘Couch potato’ does, unfortunately, sum it up pretty well,” says Ezekiel J. Emanuel, chair of the bioethics department at NIH. “The research is clear that exposure to media has a variety of negative health impacts on children and teens.… We found very few studies that had any positive association for children’s health” (Common Sense Media, 2008). This research highlights the significant effects on children of the models they see, whether they be other children, adults, or fantasy characters (see the discussion of Albert Bandura’s work in Chapter 4 ).

The media-saturated environment that children live in today presents many challenges for the early childhood educator (NAEYC/Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media, 2012). Technology and media can be effective learning tools when used intentionally and appropriately (see Figure 15-3 ). “In a screen-saturated world, educators need to know how to best manage how much children watch, what they watch, and what they do while using screens” (Donahue, 2015). Vast resources available through technology enhance professional development and support teachers’ ongoing education and learning. This is critical, as both programs and parents look to educators to make decisions and set guidelines. Teachers need to develop “digital media literacy [that] includes attitudes, knowledge, experiences, and competencies that lead to fluency with digital devices and media for teaching and learning” (Donohue, 2015). Becoming connected educators who use technology tools wisely themselves begins the process of describing the appropriate and intentional use of technology with young children.

15-4cExposure to Violence

The trend of children’s increasing exposure to violence is alarming. Families feel unable to limit or influence their children’s behavior due to the kinds of media and toys that are available. Teachers notice changes in children’s play, commenting that the weapon and war play in classrooms is so single-purpose and intense that it is difficult to redirect; rule setting and controlling overzealous play take an inordinate amount of teachers’ energy.

Whether personal or societal, children need help making sense of the violence and calamity and then support in recovery. Shock, confusion, fear, anxiety, grief, anger, guilt, and helplessness are all common emotional responses to trauma. Such reactions generate changes in behavior, both in adults and in the children we care for.

The previous sections of this chapter on stress discuss children’s reactions and the role of the teacher in helping children process and cope with trauma. Chapter 14 offers a developmental and curricular perspective and teacher strategies. Organizations such as Adults and Children Together (ACT) Against Violence, the Educators for Social Responsibility, and the National Association for Mediation Educators serve both as clearinghouses for information and material and as training institutes for teachers.

Children act out what they see in the media in their play. Should teachers allow aggressive pretend play to be unchecked, or should there be limits and some kind of adult intervention? Should this type of play be banned, contained, or otherwise redirected and altered? This dilemma illustrates children’s play from two different viewpoints: a developmental one and a sociopolitical one.

The developmental viewpoint states that play, including war play, is the primary vehicle through which children work on developmental issues. Because children need to develop a sense of how the world works, of fantasy and reality, and of good and bad, war play is an extension of superhero play (see Chapter 14 ). Therefore, it is a necessary part of children’s play.

The sociopolitical view assumes that children learn basic social and political behavior at an early age and therefore learn militaristic concepts and values through war play. This viewpoint contends that children learn about conflict and resolution, the use of fighting, and the meaning of friends and enemies in their play, and that allowing war play endorses the use of force (Carlsson-Paige & Levin, 2005).

These two ideas give teachers the basic building blocks for how to deal with the issue of developing shared values and for engaging in a dialogue with fellow teachers and parents. Whatever your viewpoint, remember that exposure to violence is harmful, particularly when children are victims.

What children need most is reassurance, to know that they are safe and that caring adults will still take care of them. Constancy and predictability, in the form of consistent routines and continued habits of behavior and tradition, help children feel anchored in their lives. Listening carefully, answering children’s questions in simple ways, and asking questions to elicit their thoughts all encourage communication and dialogue about their feelings. Figure 15-4 offers suggestions for coping with exposure to violence. Above all, take care of yourselves as professionals; teachers need someone to talk to and may need to adjust the curriculum to give everyone more breathing room.

Figure 15-4

Teachers help children find peaceful resolutions to their everyday conflicts, ensuring that, in their daily school life, fighting does not break out and take over (see Chapters 7 and 14 for suggestions).

Responding to Exposure to Violence

On the children’s level, children can act as in the following examples:

· A family child care provider of infants and toddlers spends extra time giving hugs and helping children share toys.

· A class of preschoolers chooses a cross-town child care center to exchange drawings and visits with, to increase their knowledge of their city neighbor.

· A first grade class writes letters to the president. (“I don’t like it when you make war. My big sister says to use words when I have a problem and you should too.”)

Exposure to Violence

On an adult scale, teachers can:

· Talk about and decide on your viewpoint and values with parents and the school board.

· Develop guidelines that address your values and the needs of the children.

· Talk with parents about toys and the role of the media in the development of children’s interests and the role of parents in helping children decide and choose what and how to play.

· Investigate peace education and building peaceable classrooms that have conflict resolution teaching as part of the curriculum.

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15-4dSocial Diversity

The United States as a “melting pot,” into which all racial and cultural differences are smoothly mixed into one single blend, is a myth. Much of U.S. history can be characterized as racist , classist , sexist , homophobic, and ethnocentric by one group or another. The discrepancy between our ideals of equal opportunity and freedom and daily reality can be altered only if we recognize problems and then set specific goals for changing them.

Today’s demographics point to a trend of an increasingly diverse society (see Chapter 3 ), but attitudes do not yet parallel reality. American schools are becoming increasingly segregated as 73 percent of black students and 78 percent of Hispanic students go to schools that are predominantly attended by minorities. The disparity in achievement is equally disproportionate (see Figure 15-5 and the “ Diversity ” box). Teachers in high-poverty schools have less experience, less training, and fewer advanced degrees than teachers who are in low-poverty schools (Children’s Defense Fund, 2010).

Figure 15-5Reading and Math Achievement of Fourth Graders

The disparate levels of education in America’s diverse cultures confirm that school reforms have not yet met the needs of all children.

(Reprinted with permission from Children’s Defense Fund, 2010. Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Assessment of Education Progress, The Nation’s Report Card; calculations by Children’s Defense Fund.)

Diversity

Dropout Factories

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University (Balfanz & Legters, 2004) identified 2,000 American high schools that they call “dropout factories,” because 60 percent or less of students in the ninth grade graduate in four years. The schools are “overwhelmingly minority and overwhelmingly poor.” Add to this other studies that say that college graduates earn more than twice as much as those with only a high school diploma, and more than two and one-half times more than high school dropouts earn. The result is what Marion Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund calls a “pipeline to prison.”

Research shows a strong relationship between education attainment and economic well-being. Children who are provided a comprehensive, high-quality education are less likely to be poor and more likely to find employment and receive higher wages than their less educated peers. In addition, we find that children from low-income families are constantly outperformed by their wealthier peers across a broad range of academic measures. So poor children often find themselves in a Catch-22, with their dire economic straits denying them access to the escape valve out of their life of poverty—a quality education (Children’s Defense Fund, 2008). Figure 15-4 illustrates this point.

We know that children exhibit an awareness of racial and gender differences by age 3 (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010) and are formulating rudimentary concepts about the meaning of those differences in the preschool years. It is logical to conclude that, by the end of the early childhood years, children have consolidated their attitudes about race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and (dis)ability, and are far along the path of attitude crystallization . Unless the social environment changes, children re-create the prejudices of the current adult society. Teachers and families need to look with sensitivity to the meaning of diversity (see Figure 15-6 ).

Figure 15-6

There are several guidelines that teachers can follow regarding diversity.

Social Diversity and Teacher Attitudes

1. Recognize developmentally equivalent patterns. Before judging a child as difficult, assume that she or he is normal and look again.

2. Do not value some ways of achieving developmental milestones more highly than others. Remember that different does not mean deficient.

3. Start teaching in ways that are familiar to children. You may not be fluent in a child’s language, but you can learn key words and phrases.

4. School learning is most likely to occur when family values reinforce family expectations. Partner up with parents so that the child is the big winner.

5. Deal with discrepancies between home and school directly. Instead of ignoring the differences, ask about them.

Multicultural Education

Multicultural education is a system of teaching and learning that includes the contributions of all ethnic and racial groups. In other words, it is a comprehensive educational approach that reflects more than just the dominant culture’s perspective, providing all children with a fuller, more balanced truth about themselves and their history and culture. This means responsiveness to the child’s origins, habits at home, and ways of self-expression.

There are contrasting views about how to deal with diversity in school settings. One viewpoint is a separatist education, in which education is taught from a particular viewpoint—Afro-centrist, non-English-language immersion, or the like. Many assert that most public schooling is a European-dominant education. A second viewpoint is the more traditional pluralist approach, in which education stresses the commonalities of varying peoples. Most early education programs follow the second approach.

What underlies these issues is how we see ourselves as a common culture. When we change the metaphor of “melting pot” to one of “mosaic” or “mixed salad,” we encourage a way of thinking that might be termed cultural pluralism —the idea that we are all one people, but we do not necessarily divest ourselves of our ethnic origins. Based on DAP and Developmentally and Culturally Appropriate Practices (DCAP; see Chapter 2 ), good early childhood programs can represent the best of multicultural education.

Bilingual Education

Chapter 13 discusses bilingual education in light of language learning and curriculum development. This section highlights the broader issues and implications.

Bilingual education has been part of the American experience since before the Revolutionary War, when school could be taught in any of the more than 18 languages that were spoken by the colonists. Speaking English is only part of bilingual education: At issue are the civil and educational rights of people who speak limited English, the respect or assimilation of their culture, and their participation and acceptance in society.

Changing populations and the influx of immigrants from Asia, as well as from the Hispanic nations, have brought new challenges to bilingual education. Bilingual programs serve primarily Spanish-speaking students. States that do not have bilingual programs still need to meet the needs of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in schools through other means. Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew by 43 percent—four times the nation’s growth rate—primarily in the southern and midwestern United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). Between 2000 and 2010, the number of white children declined by 4.3 million and the number of black children saw only a slight decline, and the number of Hispanic and Asian children increased by 5.5 million (Morello, 2011). The need for qualified teachers and caregivers who are bilingual is apparent. The question is whether the early childhood field is keeping up with these changes and recruiting teachers from these cultures.

Bilingual education is a challenge at all levels of education. There are disagreements about how to define bilingualism, how to determine who needs it, and who is to provide the services. Bilingual programs are so varied that it is difficult to assess them. Some work to mainstream children into regular classrooms as quickly as possible; others try to maintain the child’s native language. The dual/bilingual immersion method gives instruction in both languages. Putting together both English speakers and home languages other than English encourages two-way learning. Figure 15-7 shows how this might be accomplished. Laws requiring special instruction for children who lack competence in English vary from state to state.

Preserving his language is preserving his culture.

Figure 15-7

English Language Learning

Bilingual programs vary and have mixed results.

Age of Children	How Taught	Noteworthy
0–5 years	Standard is “English-immersion”: taught in English with little extra instruction, with some teacher use of home language vocabulary.	Can acquire nativelike mastery of second language; risk for substantial erosion of home language and ability to communicate with family.
5+ years	Standard is “English immersion,” but some subjects may be taught in home language to aid skill building; school-aged children better at formal teaching of second language.	Children have complex social issues that may interfere; low competence in both languages may occur until mastery is achieved.

Enlarge Table

Two government actions have influenced the bilingual issue: the 1968 Bilingual Education Act and the 1974 Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court decision, which determined that a lack of instruction in one’s first language is a violation of children’s civil rights.

Since 1968, Title VII programs (the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as the Bilingual Education Act) addressed the needs of students with limited proficiency in English. State bilingual education laws followed, requiring special instruction for children who lack competence in English. As a result, many children are taught in public kindergarten and elementary schools by using both the primary language and English. Children may be taught to read in their primary language first; once they have learned to read in their own language, they are then taught to decode into English. Recently, the dual or bilingual immersion method attempts to blend language instruction by putting both speakers of other languages and English-only speakers into class together and teaching two-way bilingual education. Bringing both groups together for language instruction enhances the value of knowing both languages and demonstrates a true multicultural tool for desegregation and equity, as well as using brain research effectively in terms of language and literacy acquisition. However, since we lack consensus on the effectiveness and goals of bilingual education, we must press for continuing research and clarity.

Immigrant Issues

Another serious challenge for schools is posed by the educational and socioeconomic needs of immigrant children. Attempting to immerse new children into an American style of learning and to teach the basic skills needed to succeed in the new country have been central functions of schools throughout history (as discussed in Chapter 1 ). School enrollment of Hispanic and Asian students increased more than 5 million since the 1990s (USDE, 2012).

The language barrier is the most immediate problem, followed by that of acceptance of the immigrants’ native cultures. Furthermore, many newcomers arrive from countries wracked with war, violence, and poverty. These children and families are under tremendous pressure and need help coping with the overwhelming stress and dislocation. Many young children in immigrant families do not have access to health and education services. Key issues are (Takanishi, 2006):

· Children’s skills in kindergarten and their achievement at the end of third grade are important predictors of their future life prospects.

· Although well-designed early education and after-school programs hold promise to reduce ethnic group–related inequalities in children’s cognitive skills and social competence, children in immigrant families are less likely to participate in these programs than are children in native-born families.

· Availability and access are important factors. When prekindergarten programs are offered in public schools, Hispanic and Asian American children are more likely to participate.

· Family literacy programs are a promising strategy for improving language skills of children in immigrant families, as well as their parents. The way that schools place and monitor immigrant children—both their educational progress and their general well-being—challenges educators and all American citizens to clarify the responsibilities our society has toward its newcomers. Chapter 8 describes the needs of immigrant families.

Inclusive Education

Inclusive education has been recognized in the United States since the 1970s, when the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed to accommodate individuals with disabilities in order to integrate them into educational programs to the best extent feasible, given individual limitations. (See Chapter 3 for more about the ADA.) Key principles of including children into the least restrictive environment are:

· Individuality: Understand the limitations and needs of each individual.

· Reasonableness: Modify the program and accommodate the person.

· Integration: Bring the individual and others together.

Full inclusion is the goal; accommodating a child with special needs is unreasonable only if it puts an undue burden on the teachers, fundamentally alters the nature of the program, or poses a threat to the health or safety of the children or staff.

Inclusive education is complex. Teachers will need professional development and ongoing support and resources to modify the environment and curriculum. Many children have special needs that remain undiagnosed. Families are often reluctant to get a full assessment of their children. Moreover, public school systems are severely underfunded to conduct assessments and do not routinely include preschool assessment; private community schools must outsource such work. Early childhood special education and early intervention are relatively new areas of the early childhood professional scope, and most educators and systems will need both incentive and support to learn what it means to be inclusive of children with special needs without altering program quality or overwhelming and exhausting staff.

Gender Equity

Gender issues are part of the educational landscape. There is ample research to confirm the widespread occurrence of gender segregation in childhood (Grossman & Grossman, 1994). Sex differences are less apparent in early childhood than is gender-based behavior (see Chapter 4 ). Although adults may not always directly contribute to biased development, teachers and parents are indirectly responsible for the inequity between the sexes in their children.

Look at unstructured play situations. Free play is the backbone of early education programs and most at-home play, in which children choose playmates and play situations that are comfortable to them. They do not, typically, choose those activities with which they have had little or no experience, nor do they ordinarily choose cross-sex playmates (particularly as peer pressure increases with age). Sexist treatment in the classroom encourages the formation of patterns of power and dominance that occurs very early.

Adults must take an assertive role in recognizing this sexist bias and in replacing it with more equitable experiences for all children. Summaries of wide-ranging research indicate that both our homes and schools are “gendered environments” that spell different expectations and conduct for children on the basis of their gender (Grossman & Grossman, 1994). If we are committed to an anti-bias education and environment (see Chapters 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 and 14 ), we must attempt to reduce gender-stereotypical behavior. The following guidelines can help you make changes:

· Begin where you are. Start with self-awareness and reflection on your behavior, responses, and attitudes.

· What you say and do can make a difference. Acknowledge positive behaviors and milestones by describing what you see and avoiding using gender designations (such as “all boys get your jackets” or “all girls go to the snack table”).

· Watch your language. Avoid descriptions of children such as “pretty/handsome,” and treat the class as a nongendered group (“friends” rather than “boys and girls”); be careful of word choices that reflect gender bias (such as using “He is confident/She is full of herself” to describe the same behavior).

· Establish rules and conduct for cooperation and gender equity. Everybody may play everywhere, with any materials; blocks are not just for boys, and the house corner is not only for girls; no child may be kept from playing because of something she or he cannot change—skin color, disability, or gender.

· Be ready to intervene and provide support. If you hear children say “No boys allowed” or “Girls can’t do that,” be ready to intervene in a supportive way, finding out why they think that, and tell them what you think or what the class rule is.

· Think about how to cope with superheroes and Barbie dolls. Develop strategies for all children, including providing activities that all children may use and that are sex-fair and sex-affirmative in content. Use techniques such as teacher proximity and structured playtime to involve children in activities that they may otherwise avoid.

Expanding children’s learning styles is helpful. Girls need more experiences with spatial exploration and gross motor coordination, as well as quality attention from—but without dependence on—adults. Boys in particular need experiences in flexibility, nurturance, and learning from modeling.

Encourage cross-gender interactions and use cooperative learning activities. Whereas there is little research about the long-term effects of these strategies, a combination of these techniques has been found effective to increase mixed-gender interactions, helping behavior and friendships. Help make and keep connections among children, so they do not get locked into narrow constraints.

Sexuality Issues

One of the most complicated issues that touches the lives of early childhood educators is sexuality. Although human sexuality is not likely to be among typical early childhood curriculum topics, teachers are increasingly more likely to encounter issues of homosexuality in the following ways: working with gay or lesbian families or coworkers, dealing with aspects of femininity and masculinity in children’s sex role identity, and having multicultural materials about gay families.

If teachers are relinquishing stereotypes about ethnicity, ability, and gender, they must also consider avoiding the rejection of a family for its choice of lifestyle or the criticism of a child on the basis of some notion of “femininity” or “masculinity.” Researchers have failed to find evidence that parental characteristics determine sexual orientation (Berger, 2014). The homophobia, either subtle on the part of teachers or overt by other children, that lies at the root of such biased behavior can be hurtful and harassing. We deal with this type of bias just as we do with other forms of prejudice because children should never be made to feel ashamed about their family, their teachers, or themselves.

A relatively new phenomenon in our early childhood programs is the number of children whose parents are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or questioning sexual identity (often referred to as LGBTQ). A truly inclusive school environment takes care to ensure that all family structures are respected, protected from discrimination, and supported in their efforts to be part of their children’s school experience.

Societal views toward sexuality and gender reassignment are changing in some parts of the world, and the definition of marriage (and therefore of family) is expanding. Legal protection, access to health care, and the spreading legalization of same-sex marriage has brought society into a greater awareness of the LGBTQ community and its need for full inclusion. It is important that we continue to examine our potential biases to ensure that our program practices create not only inclusive environments, but also welcoming classrooms for all families. Chapter 3 and the “ Diversity ” box at the end of this chapter discuss these issues and resources.

15-5Professionalism

Every day, early childhood professionals open their doors to young children by the millions. As they do, they are influencing the course of our history in the 21st century. Consider this: A child born in 2010 will be a voting adult in 2028 and may live until the end of the century. We are teaching the children of the future!

If you are thinking about working with young children as a career, you may be wondering if early childhood education is a profession worthy of a lifetime commitment. Can you look forward to a challenging, intellectually stimulating, and rewarding future? To find those answers in today’s world, we look at three issues: standards for children’s programs, professional preparation standards, and advocacy.

15-5aStandards for Children’s Programs

In Chapter 2 , you read about the rich array of programs offered for children in group care from infancy through age 8. Because they are so diverse, it is often difficult to define and assess the standard of care and education with one set of guidelines. Consider these statistics:

· In 11 states, providers in family child care homes do not need any training before being licensed (NACCRRA, 2010).

· In 32 states, prior training is not required to teach in child care centers, and 39 states and the District of Columbia do not require training of family child care providers (Children’s Defense Fund, 2010).

· In 2012, only 7,000 programs were accredited by NAEYC’s National Academy of Early Childhood Programs (NAEYC, 2012).

The most comprehensive set of standards for quality education and care in early childhood has evolved from DAP and are outlined in the NAEYC publication Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 (NAEYC, 2009). These standards are discussed at length in Chapter 2 . In addition, NAEYC describes professional behavior in its Code of Ethical Conduct (see the Appendix and Chapter 5 ). Recent U.S. government efforts of the past five years have offered resources to the states to invest in quality preschool programs. For instance, through the Race to the Top program, many states have developed the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), which assists communities and educators to target dollars toward increasing the quality and quantity of programs for young children (see the full discussion of this in the section entitled “ Education Reform ,” earlier in this chapter).

At the same time, it is important to understand the economics and politics of child care in the United States. Figure 15-8 describes the issues facing families and teachers today. One of the political sticking points of the early care and education standards movement is the greater issues of who is in charge of raising young children, and what are the costs associated with doing it well. Typically, the idea of “parental choice” masks the stress and complications of having to create something affordable and of high quality from a hodgepodge of settings. Although more than 70 percent of women and a far greater percentage of men with children work outside of the home, there is no single system that provides affordable, high-quality, or convenient education and care for children, especially for those younger than elementary age, but this often applies even for children of school age.

Figure 15-8Standards: A Trilemma for Teachers, Parents, and Children

The economics of child care create a three-way problem. This “trilemma” describes the connections needed for a positive education and care, the right of every child. Quality is significantly related to teachers, their knowledge, working conditions, professional salary,and compensation. Affordability is also related to quality by way of parents being provided with high quality without overwhelming financial burden or geographical and scheduling issues that create work stress.

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This should not be a women’s issue, but a societal issue. The raising and educating of children should be a national priority, as it indeed affects the future of the country. President Obama has spearheaded consistent efforts to invest in quality preschool programs (White House Summit on Education, 2014) that will combine private and public resources.

Other parts of the world are even more innovative. For instance, Scandinavian countries typically support working parents with parental leave, heavily subsidized child care, and other supports such as accessible public transportation and access to affordable higher education and job training (Irwin, 2014). No matter where you live, if a society makes it easier for all parents to work and also have quality education for their children, everybody wins.

15-5bProfessional Preparation Standards

Chapter 5 discussed the multiple roles of teachers and the discrepancy regarding the quality of program, availability for families, and compensation for professionals. The challenge is before all of us—child care professionals, parents, leaders of business and industry, and legislators on the local, state, and national levels.

The quality of care in child development programs is linked to the training and education of the staff. Consequently, it is imperative that we attract and recruit to the field of early childhood education individuals who not only are dedicated to working with young children, but also are skilled and competent. Many states are working on developing a career lattice and professional development plan for early childhood staff. Consideration must be given to developing a coordinated system that

· (1)

welcomes people into the field from a variety of backgrounds,

· (2)

offers clear career pathways with articulated training and credentialing systems, and

· (3)

provides a variety of incentives to stay in the field.

Further, teacher preparation institutions are embarking on a cycle of self-study and articulation of coursework and experience that is offered at both the community college and four-year institutions in the United States. National efforts include the NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Preparation, as well as research by groups such as the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (Sakai & Whitebook, 2004). Refer to the seven Standards for Professional Preparation on the back inside cover of this text as you read this book. The standards appropriate to each chapter are highlighted. Many states, such as California, have established Early Childhood Educator Competencies (California Department of Education and First 5 California, 2012). Chapter 5 also includes a description of teacher preparation in the early childhood field.

A program that responds to diversity is one that invites acceptance and respect.

M8 WA#1

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