.
Individual Identity
- consider unique characteristics and needs of each child
- remember children are not only members of a group
Gender Identity
- enable child to clarify answers to biological questions (e.g.,
what is a boy/girl?)
- promote participation in activities for equality of development
for both genders
Cultural and Racial Identity
- work to create an anti-bias environment that conveys a true
respect for diversity (via pictures, books, toys/objects, reflecting
cultural interests of others, etc.) in order to create or form
healthy identity attitudes
Friendship and Peer Interaction
- offer ample space and time for interaction
- pair particular children for an activity
- help clarify children's needs
- practice communication skills (eye contact, using names)
- help children understand consequences of behavior
- model social skills with children (directly or via books,
puppets shows, videos etc.)
- maintain a desirable ratio of typical children to children
with disabilities
- provide materials which can be used at the child's and peer's
developmental level
- provide opportunity for interactions with chronological age
- establish the number of children in a group which will facilitate
interaction (avoid odd numbered grouping which will allow for
a child to be left out)
Adult Interaction
- know purpose of interaction
- frequency of adult-child interaction
- proximity
- observe number of adults per area and if should be present
or absent
Peer Disability
- remember children tend to interact more frequently with familiar
peers or with children who are most like themselves in age,
sex, and, level of social competence
- teacher intervention, however, can have powerful effects on
natural interaction episodes
Group Composition
- provide opportunities for a small group activity (2-4 children)
as peer interaction is most likely to occur in small groups
Age/Sex/Familiarity
- children tend to play more and at higher levels of complexity
when with a familiar peer than when alone or with an unfamiliar
child
- "sociable" acts are more likely to occur among children who
are similar in age than among groups of children who differ
in age by more than one year
- socially withdrawn children Are best matched with younger
peers
- matching groups on the level of social competence skill, rather
than age, may facilitate social interaction among peers
- children show same-sexed preference beginning in the toddler
years
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Methods