Caring for School-Age Children
Chapter 7
Helping Children Develop Social
Competence
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Social Competence
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Social Competence
• Making and keeping friends is extremely
important
• Teaching social skills is part of the
curriculum in schools and child care
programs
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Strategies
• Coach children in effective ways of
behaving toward friends
• Praise children for successful interactions
• Model good social skills
• Discuss characteristics that foster
friendships
• Use games and role-playing
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Activities
• Make a Friend
• OK, We’ll Do It
• Best Friends Are…
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Personal Reflection
What are the influences on
children’s ability or inability to
resolve conflict?
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Conflict Resolution
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Conflict Resolution
• Decide to resolve the conflict
• Each side tells what happened
• State what each person needs to resolve
the conflict
• Explore possible ways to resolve the
conflict
• Later, evaluate situation to see if resolution
is working
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Strategies
• Increase children’s ability to read
nonverbal cues
• Help children see that others may have a
different view
• Provide many opportunities for trial and
error
• Encourage children to draft a conflict plan
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Activities
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Silent Stories
Cultural Scenes
Fighting Fair
Role-Playing
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Shopping Trip
Build a Tower
Brainstorming
Picture Problems
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Self-Image
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Two Components of Self-Image
• Our perception of ourselves
• Perceptions conveyed by others
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Strategies
• Have a genuine interest in each child
• Recognize each child’s uniqueness
• Support self-esteem through meaningful
activities
• Conduct group meetings
• Provide many ways for children to feel
successful
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Activities
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Greetings
Interior Decoration
Getting to Know You
Puppet Talk
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TV Talk
Silhouettes
Getting to Know Me
Family Tree
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Cooperation
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Cooperative Behavior
• Cooperation does not come easily to
children
• Children are beginning to understand that
others have needs
• Supportive adults help children with
cooperation
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Strategies
• Model expected behavior
• Emphasize cooperation rather than
competition
• Design space to accommodate groups of
varying sizes
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• Lead discussions about sharing, fairness,
taking turns, and negotiating
• Plan activities that require children to work
together toward a common goal
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Changing Children’s Behavior
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Help Children Reverse Destructive
Behaviors
• State demands clearly and specifically
• Avoid common cliché statements of
expectations
• Consider stating expectations in the form
of rules
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Strategies
• Try to understand behavior
• Help children develop an honest sense of
their own competence
• Help children praise themselves
• Allow children to express feelings
• Model acceptable behavior
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• Help children devise ways to act on
feelings of sympathy
• Encourage children to put feelings into
words
• Create a nonaggressive environment
• Be consistent
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Communications That Help to
Change Behaviors
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Responses to Children That Can
Bring About Change
• Acknowledge children’s feelings
• Describe the situation
• Help children recognize how their
behavior affects others
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Behaviors That Create Problems
for Individuals or the Group
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Excessive aggression
Quiet and distant demeanor
Overly active behavior
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
(ADHD)
• Special needs
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Personal Reflection
Have you tried to help a child
whose behavior was like one
described in this chapter? What
strategies did you use?
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