Many early childhood educators are seriously concerned about bullying and aggression. Children's negative social behaviors also dominate the media and are the focus of much current research. Recent studies result in some progress in understanding the early origins and harmful effects of physical and relational aggression and designing…

Wise teachers of infants and toddlers know how concerned, helpful, empathic, cooperative, and friendly--that is, how prosocial--very young children can be. Teachers see older infants crawl or toddle over to "friends" arriving later in the morning and greet them as if they had not seen them in weeks. Teachers and families know that these young…

It is important for teachers to make the activities they present, including games, opportunities to promote children's development in one or more domains. Teachers need to select games that are developmentally appropriate. It is relatively simple to modify traditional games, such as Musical Chairs or Simon Says, to be cooperative instead of…

At the same time young babies are developing an understanding of self as separate from others--what it means to be "me"--many also face having to negotiate living, learning, growing, and developing as part of a group--what it means to be "we". This is true for more than half of all infants in the United States under the age of…

Presents practical suggestions for encouraging helping behavior through classroom climate, structure, activities, and materials. (BD)

Describes how one day care program for children and infants from low-income families developed, implemented, and evaluated a curriculum approach to facilitate children's social development and to deal with the problem of aggressive peer interactions. (RH)

Reports a study which compared the play of nine four-year-old girls with baby dolls and with Barbie dolls. Nonfacilitative play behavior was observed much more frequently in the baby doll sessions than in the Barbie sessions. Suggests that Barbie dolls could be used as an alternative doll activity in preschool classrooms. (CB)

Stresses the value of early peer interaction among young children for future academic, social, and career development, describing the components of social skills and suggesting ways to help children become socially competent. (KS)

Reports research on the effects of television on the prosocial behavior of young children. (MS)

Describes a strategy whereby kindergarten children recorded acts of kindness on slips of paper and put the slips into a "Kindness Jar." Found that children used slips of paper recording the acts as tokens of appreciation for their friends, to recognize instances of conflict resolution, to report on collaboration, and to emphasize teamwork. (KB)

Notes that recess in elementary education is filled with struggles and crises; presents suggestions for playground education and guidance. Suggests that teachers can implement children's prosocial playground behavior by presenting a repertoire of acceptable games to play and tools for game organization, providing support on the playground, keeping…

Presents techniques for teachers, parents, schools, and communities to promote young children's social development. Cites research findings supporting these techniques, which focus on interpersonal interactions of caregivers with individual children or small groups of children. (HTH)

Maintains that early childhood educators should encourage cooperative behavior among young children. Teachers can encourage such behaviors by organizing space and activities that facilitate cooperative social interactions; by supporting and reinforcing children's cooperative ventures; by planning for cooperative classroom activities; and by…

The authors present a checklist designed to help preschool and kindergarten administrators and teachers build confidence in their ability to be inclusive and to increase their awareness of the needs of children with disabilities. Teachers can use the checklist to prepare for the inclusion of a child with a disability. "Identifying potential…

Discusses ways in which early childhood educators can deal with young children's behavior or discipline problems in the classroom by guiding children to alternatives to such behavior rather than by punishing them. (BB)