Developmentally Appropriate

Social / Emotional Environment For

Preschoolers

Timmy Ardian Roring

1213012010
Jehezkiel Winarno
1213012030
 Outline
1. Social/Emotional Issues of the Preschool
Years.
2. Developmentally Appropriate Social /
Emotional Interaction:
Nurturing Individual Identity
Nurturing Gender Identity
Nurturing Cultural and Racial Identity
Nurturing Friendship
Teaching Pro-social Behavior
Guidance Toward Self-control
 When toddlers become
preschoolers, they start spending
time in groups with other
preschoolers and other adults.

Parents & teachers have new

expectation about childrens
abilities to conform to social
standards and limits.
 Social / Emotional Issues of the Preschool Years
Identification
Children seek to look, act, feel, and be like significant
people in their social environments.

Identification done by
1. Observation and imitation
2. General conceptual
3. Cognitive growth
4. Affectionate Affiliation
 Identification process is related to
1. Acquiring a gender or sex-role identity
2. Acquiring a cultural or racial identity
3. Internalizing adult standards for behaviors
4. Developing feelings of self-confidence and
personal competence
 Gender Identity Consists of 2 components:
1. Sexual Identity determined by biology
2. Sex-role behavior determined by culture

Four & five year olds actively look for friends

like themselves.
By age of four, children clearly distinguish
between boy toys & girl toys it is
shaped by parental behaviors
Cultural & Racial Identity
Preschool children identify themselves as
members of families and their larger culture.

Research indicates that children are aware of

their racial / cultural identity by the age of
four & have absorbed attitudes toward their
own and others racial identity.

It depends on the attitudes of adult caregivers

Initiative
Is a component of healthy sense based on
Erikson. It encourages preschoolers to take
action that asserts themselves.

It includes:
1. Pretending
2. Inventing
3. Creating
4. Taking risks
5. Playing with others
 As children initiate their own activities, enjoy
their accomplishments, feel valued for their
purposeful actions confidence
If initiative is not accomplished Guilt
Friendship
Preschoolers come to stages of play that
indicate their increasing interest and skill in
social interaction.

Stages of Play:
1. Onlooker play
2. Solitary play
3. Parallel play
4. Associative Group play
5. Cooperative play
 Behavior patterns in friendship:
1. Popular Children
2. Rejected Children
3. Neglected Children
Pro-social Behavior vs. Aggression
Aggressiveness brought from toddlerhood
have to be controlled by preschoolers.
Otherwise, they will try to defend their rights
by physical aggression
Preschoolers can be helped to move slowly
beyond totally encompassing egocentrism.
Self-control
Preschool children expand abilities for
language understanding enables them to
comprehend standards taught by adults.
The process of forming a conscience an
inner voice of self-observation, self-guidance,
and self-punishment occurs.
 Developmentally Appropriate
Social / Emotional Interaction
Curriculum in the classrooms involves far more
than narrowly defined skills such as learning
colors, numbers, or how to cut with scissors.

Learning how to fit into the world around them

is at the heart of concerns of 3,4,5 year old
preschoolers. Nurturing individual childrens
needs to give them strength in accepting the
difficult challenges of adapting of group
demands
 Nurturing Individual Identity
Implications for Teachers:
Use words and nonverbal actions to show
affection for children and sincere interest in
them. help them become active.

Example:
You look ready to play today, Dominique.
Weve got the clay out again. I remember how
much you liked that last week.
 Spend time talking individually with each
child each day. freely initiate conversation
and listen attentively

Example:
Tell me more about your visit with your
grandparents, LaPorcha. It sounds like you
had lots of fun
 Create a classroom atmosphere that
encourages and values individuality, but dont
foster a spirit of competition.
Example:
Teacher calls childrens attention to each
others accomplishments (gives children
concrete examples of past successes)
Example:
Christopher likes to make pictures of
airplanes, have you noticed, Jeremy??? I can
always tell when its a picture Christopher
made.
 Respond with sensitivity to childrens
individuality.
Example:
1. Julio finds it hard to relax with a book at
naptime, so I let him take his favorite little
cars on the cot.
 Convey respect also for individual parents
styles and needs, and use parents knowledge
of their children as a primary source for
getting to know individuality.
Example:
1. Jeremys mom is a single parent with 3
children, so I realize she doesnt have much
time to spend in the classroom. I call her
every now and then to let her know what
weve been doing in class, and to have a
chance for her to tell me how Jeremys doing
at home.
 Provide opportunities, materials, and
encouragements for children to initiate
activities that have meaning and interest for
them personally.
Things Teachers / Caregivers Should Not Do
Are too busy or involved with their own
agendas to acknowledge and enjoy childrens
presence.
Use names as synonyms for no, dont, or
stop, as in Tony!
Fail to maintain eye contact or be available
physically for conversation.
Discourage children from talking actively with
them & prefer to maintain a quiet
environment.
 Speak to the whole class all the time, seldom
initiate conversation with each child.
Create atmosphere that fosters competition.
Criticize or belittle typical childlike behavior,
like in Why cant you sit still and do
something quiet for a change?
Use judgmental vocabulary.
Judge parents by their own standards of what
good parents do.
Fail to communicate with parents respectfully.
Fail to provide opportunities for children to
gain initiative.
 Nurturing Gender Identity
Implications for Teachers:
Accept childrens right to be curious about
their bodies, and the need for simple, factual
responses when they demonstrate that
curiosity.

Roberto stands up when he uses the toilet

because he is a boy. Boys and girls bodies are
made differently. Its more convenient for girls
to sit on the toilet seat.
 Offer experiences that challenge narrow,
stereotypical views of gender behavior.
Example:
1. I remember you told me that your daddy
cooks you breakfast in the morning, so not
just mommies have to do the cooking.
2. We did see 2 women firefighters when we
visited the firefighters, class, firefighters can
be men or women.
 Re-organize the play environment to
encourage more cross-gender play choices
Example:
 Examine pictures and language in books in the
classroom to make sure diversity in work and
home roles is portrayed.
 Involve children in new activities
Example:
1. We need some help preparing the vegetables
for our soup. Will you help, Peter?
 Communicate with parents about goals and
classroom practices to support healthy gender
identity.
 Examine personal feelings about gender free
activities, comments, and attitudes.
 What Teachers Shouldnt Do
1. Respond differently to boys and girls
2. Reinforce stereotypes
3. Punish childrens curiosity about biological
differences.
 Cultural and Racial Identity
Teachers can promote positive attitudes
toward this if they can create an anti-bias
environments.
If so, children will be able to:
1. Construct knowledge & confident self identity
2. Develop comfortable, emphatic interaction
with diversity
3. Develop critical thinking and the skill for
standing up for oneself and others in the face
of injustice.
 What Teachers Can Do
1. Examine all pictures and books to ensure
that they realistically portray the diversity.
racial free.
 What Teachers Can Do
2. Provide toys, materials, and activities which
are pro-diversity.
 What Teachers Can Do
3. Involve all parents in classroom activities,
visits, and opportunities to share family
stories, songs, drawings, and traditions of their
cultural background.
 What Teachers Can Do
4. Become sensitive to opportunities to help
children move from discomfort or prejudice.

Example:
1. When the teacher hears a child tell another
that her grandpa said she shouldnt play with
black people, the teacher tells the child that
being black is no reason for not playing with
someone.
 What Teachers Shouldnt Do
1. Respond with discomfort to children whose
racial / cultural background or family
structures are different from their own.
2. Fail to challenge, and help children challenge,
biased remarks or actions in the classroom.
3. Provide stereotypical materials.
 Friendship
What teachers can do:
1. Offer space and time for the face-to-face
conversations that are essential for developing
social understandings.
2. Pairing particular children occasionally for a
common activity may be helpful especially in
the case of shy or neglected children.
3. Help children clarify their needs by asking them
what they like to play, or with whom.
Example: Do you want to play with Alex? Hes in
the block area now.
4. Help children develop effective skills for
entering play.
Example: If you want to play with Jennifer, go
over and say: Jennifer, do you want to play
blocks? We can make a bed for the dolls.
5. Help children understand how their behavior
affects the response of others.
Example:
When you knocked down the blocks, it made
the other boys angry, so thats why they said
they didnt want you to play. If you want to
play blocks with them, you need to ask what
you can do to help.
6. Support children as they experience feelings of
frustration or anger or a desire to withdraw
temporarily from social interaction.
Example:
I think Jennifer would rather play by herself
for a while. You could ask her again later.
 What Teachers Shouldnt Do
1. Insist that everyone in the class are friends,
rather than helping children learn to
distinguish friendly behaviors.
2. Insist that everyone in the class like one
another rather than accepting childrens real
preferences in playmates.
3. Dictate childrens play partners constantly.
4. Prevent children from getting direct
experience in managing interaction with
peers.
 Teaching Pro-social Behavior
1. Providing Materials
2. Providing Activities
3. Encouraging assistance
4. Considering social action
5. Helping children recognize pro-social behavior
6. Reinforcing pro-social behavior
7. Modeling pro-social behavior
8. Limiting aggression and anti-social behavior
9. Helping develop empathy
10. Giving opportunities for kindness
Providing Materials
Providing Materials
Providing Activities
Providing Activities
 What Teachers Shouldnt Do
1. Expecting too much in the area of sharing and
cooperation.
2. Insisting on children exhibiting insincere pro-
social behavior.
3. Forcing adult solutions for conflict.
4. Threatening to withdraw friendship in
response to negative behaviors.
 Guidance Toward Self-Control
In general, Developmentally Appropriate
Guidance is:
1. Positive
2. Teaching-oriented
3. Collaborative
 Ten Guidance Techniques that are
Developmentally Appropriate Include :
1. Modeling
2. Positive Statements
3. Reinforcement, Noticing, and Strokes
4. Redirection
5. Setting Limits
6. Choices for Control
7. Natural and Logical Consequences
8. Discussion for Problem-Solving
9. I-messages
10.Renewal Time
Helping Preschoolers with Emotional Control
Security What Shouldnt be done:
Warm relationships
Acceptance Ignoring, distracting,
mocking, shaming
Active Listening
Showing anger
Limits on expression
Forcing children to express
Outlets feelings they dont feel
Modeling behavior
Material for Expression
Learning about feelings
Vocabulary to express
feelings
Thank You