Appendix C

What Is Social Development and Why Is It Important?

Definition

Social development is the process of children getting to know and value the people in their lives. It involves being able to establish and maintain relationships, develop social skills, and get along with other children. Social development includes learning to share, cooperate, take turns, and negotiate with others.

Interacting with Others

Children's relationships with other people begin in infancy when as babies they respond to the familiar voice, smell, and touch of a parent or primary caregiver. It continues when as toddlers they learn to play alongside each other. Then, as preschoolers, children learn to negotiate, giving up some individual desires for the greater rewards that come from working and playing with others.

Impact of Play

Children develop social skills by interacting with family members and primary caregivers, by watching and copying adult behaviors, and by playing. Play, an important vehicle for children's social development, has been tied to later success in school. At each stage of development, play takes on different characteristics.

• Infants' play can be almost anything they do-smiling back at some one, kicking a pillow, crawling under a table, wiggling toes and waving fingers, beating a bowl with a spoon, and touching a person's hair or face. They learn about taking turns when adults teach them games such as peek-a-boo or roll a ball back and forth. Around the age of eighteen months, children begin using pretend play. For example, a child of this age might pretend to put a doll to bed or to talk on the phone.
  
• Toddlers tend to play alone, sometimes with an older child or adult. Eventually, they will play next to each other while using the same materials. At this stage, toddlers develop a sense of self that includes determining what belongs to them and what belongs to others. Therefore, it is difficult for them to share, as they may see their belongings as an extension of themselves. Toddlers also like dramatic play, recreating familiar activities such as taking care of babies, cooking, dressing, leaving, and coming back.
  
• Most preschoolers play cooperatively-organizing their own play around a theme, defining roles, making up rules, and assigning jobs. They may work toward a common goal, such as building a road. This type of play encourages children to learn to share, listen to other people, take turns, compromise, consider other people's feelings, use self-control, and overcome fears. Preschoolers also use dramatic play to try out negative feelings-they can be mean and nasty because they are just pretending.

Dramatic Play

How preschoolers experience dramatic play varies according to their age and stage of development.

• Three-year-olds may not realize that they made a conscious decision to pretend. They run from monsters and scary creatures, collect and gather things, pack suitcases, and make plans. They may never carry out these plans or go anywhere with their packed suitcases.
  
• Most four-year-olds know when they are pretending. They use dressup clothes and create more complex roles and scenarios.
  
• Five-year-olds create complex scenarios in which they pretend to be real or fantasy characters. They may use pretend play to express anxiety or conquer fears-I don't want to move to a new house or I'm afraid it will hurt when I get a shot at the doctor's.

Friendships

An important part of social development is learning how to make and keep a friend. Every child needs at least one special friend to talk to, play with, and to care about. It is also important for children to learn that disagreements are a part of friendship. With encouragement from adults, they can learn to express their views, discuss and resolve their conflicts, and continue being friends.

By the time children enter kindergarten, most have acquired a wide range of social skills that will serve them well in school and life. For example, most children know how to:

• Share happy experiences and feelings
  
• Make friends
  
• Be kind and generous to others
  
• Show affection
  
• Help someone (such as help another child tie her shoes)
  
• Wait for a turn and share toys and materials
  
• Join a conversation or activity
  
• Use words to express strong feelings such as frustration or anger
  
• Cooperate with others to do a job or in a play situation

These social skills will help children have successful experiences in school and in life.

Summary

Children's social development during the early years affects their adjustment to life. Their abilities to play, relate to others, and learn are strongly influenced by their relationships with other people, such as family, friends, and Head Start staff. Positive interactions during these years will help children succeed throughout their lives. Adults can encourage and support social development in the following ways:

• Invite children to assist in completing a task.
  
• Play with children to teach them how to play and to model behaviors.
  
• Provide many opportunities, adapting them as necessary, to learn through play.
  
• Observe and assist children who have difficulty being accepted by the group.
  
• Encourage children to help each other.
  
• Model positive ways to interact with others.

Appendix B | Appendix D | Index