Making friends : assisting children's early relationships. - Page 1 |
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#55 | September 2008 Making Friends Assisting Children’s Early Relationships Inclusive settings are challenging age-old stereotypes about how children with and without disabilities interact. Peek inside a preschool inclusive classroom and you will often find typically developing children altering their games so that children with disabilities can play along. At circle time, children who need help sitting up are supported by classmates. Children crouch down to speak eye-to-eye to their friend in a wheelchair. In short, friendships are forming. fpg Scientists Barbara Davis Goldman and Virginia Buysse explore these friendships, as well as those between very young children, in the chapter “Friendships in Very Young Children” in Contemporary Perspectives on Research in Socialization and Social Development. In the past, the authenticity of friendships among children with and without disabilities and among very young children has been questioned. However, as Goldman and Buysse note, there are many studies which show that these children can and do form friendships. The focus of this chapter is on sharing the descriptive evidence of early friendships between very young children, and young children with disabilities. They also suggest ways that parents and teachers can use the information to help identify and foster these relationships in young children with and without disabilities. Characteristics of Friendship In very young children, as with older children, friendship is defined as a positive relationship between two children. Young children who are friends are interested in being near one another, have fun together, will choose to play with one another over others in a group, and challenge themselves and the friend to try new and more complicated tasks. Some interactions between children of this age may appear to the casual observer to be meaningless or without structure, yet many involve reciprocal turn-taking, and a clear awareness of how the actions fit together. These early “games” can help solidify a growing friendship. Often young children interact by copying one another. One child will perform an action, and then look at the other child, using body language to ask them to repeat the same action. This creates a similarity between the children. When children cannot yet speak, this seems to say, “Look, I like to do the same things you do!” Mimicking behavior shows cooperation and the desire to keep the interaction going. These games can have their own set of rules that the two children make up, and can be played once, or repeatedly, often across days. These are among the most complex interactions for toddlers, both requiring and encouraging the child and the friend to develop socially and cognitively. FPG authors Barbara Goldman and Virginia Buysse suggest ways parents and teachers can identify and foster young friendships in children with and without disabilities.
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Title | Making friends : assisting children's early relationships. - Page 1 |
Full Text | #55 | September 2008 Making Friends Assisting Children’s Early Relationships Inclusive settings are challenging age-old stereotypes about how children with and without disabilities interact. Peek inside a preschool inclusive classroom and you will often find typically developing children altering their games so that children with disabilities can play along. At circle time, children who need help sitting up are supported by classmates. Children crouch down to speak eye-to-eye to their friend in a wheelchair. In short, friendships are forming. fpg Scientists Barbara Davis Goldman and Virginia Buysse explore these friendships, as well as those between very young children, in the chapter “Friendships in Very Young Children” in Contemporary Perspectives on Research in Socialization and Social Development. In the past, the authenticity of friendships among children with and without disabilities and among very young children has been questioned. However, as Goldman and Buysse note, there are many studies which show that these children can and do form friendships. The focus of this chapter is on sharing the descriptive evidence of early friendships between very young children, and young children with disabilities. They also suggest ways that parents and teachers can use the information to help identify and foster these relationships in young children with and without disabilities. Characteristics of Friendship In very young children, as with older children, friendship is defined as a positive relationship between two children. Young children who are friends are interested in being near one another, have fun together, will choose to play with one another over others in a group, and challenge themselves and the friend to try new and more complicated tasks. Some interactions between children of this age may appear to the casual observer to be meaningless or without structure, yet many involve reciprocal turn-taking, and a clear awareness of how the actions fit together. These early “games” can help solidify a growing friendship. Often young children interact by copying one another. One child will perform an action, and then look at the other child, using body language to ask them to repeat the same action. This creates a similarity between the children. When children cannot yet speak, this seems to say, “Look, I like to do the same things you do!” Mimicking behavior shows cooperation and the desire to keep the interaction going. These games can have their own set of rules that the two children make up, and can be played once, or repeatedly, often across days. These are among the most complex interactions for toddlers, both requiring and encouraging the child and the friend to develop socially and cognitively. FPG authors Barbara Goldman and Virginia Buysse suggest ways parents and teachers can identify and foster young friendships in children with and without disabilities. |