Updated throughout and featuring an emphasis on NAEYC and other standards, GUIDING CHILDREN'S SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING: THEORY AND SKILLS, Ninth Edition, provides a comprehensive overview of child guidance and social development. Focusing on children from ages birth through 12 years, it provides a seamless transition from the pre-primary to the primary years and addresses the needs of practitioners working with children in a variety of group settings. Readers learn how to help children develop social competence and positive feelings about themselves, and how to work with children and families from many different backgrounds and circumstances. The book eliminates much of the guesswork and frustration that can hinder practitioners' efforts to influence children's social development and behavior -- providing a unified framework for decision-making and professional practice that incorporates sound principles of children's development, relationship enhancement, and behavior management.

1. Making a Difference in Children's Lives.
2. Good Beginnings: Establishing Positive Relationships with Infants and Toddlers.
3. Building Positive Relationships through Nonverbal Communication.
4. Promoting Children's Positive Sense of Self through Verbal Communication.
5. Supporting Children's Emotional Development and Learning.
6. Building Resilience in Children.
7. Play as a Context for Social Development and Learning.
8. Supporting Children's Peer Relationships and Friendships.
9. Influencing Children's Social Development by Structuring the Physical Environment.
10. Fostering Self-Regulation in Children: Communicating Expectations and Rules.
11. Fostering Self-Regulation in Children: and the Role of Consequences.
12. Handling Children's Aggressive Behavior.
13. Promoting Prosocial Behavior.
14. Fostering Healthy Attitudes about Sexuality and Diversity.
15. Making Ethical Judgments and Decisions.

Updated throughout and featuring an emphasis on NAEYC and other standards, GUIDING CHILDREN'S SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING: THEORY AND SKILLS, Ninth Edition, provides a comprehensive overview of child guidance and social development. Focusing on children from ages birth through 12 years, it provides a seamless transition from the pre-primary to the primary years and addresses the needs of practitioners working with children in a variety of group settings. Readers learn how to help children develop social competence and positive feelings about themselves, and how to work with children and families from many different backgrounds and circumstances. The book eliminates much of the guesswork and frustration that can hinder practitioners' efforts to influence children's social development and behavior -- providing a unified framework for decision-making and professional practice that incorporates sound principles of children's development, relationship enhancement, and behavior management. Over 250 new references make this edition current with the most recent literature and research. Items identified as "Professional Resource Downloads" throughout each chapter offer customizable content (e.g., forms and checklists) for immediate use. Streamlined end-of-chapter summaries closely align with the learning objectives and the main heads, providing an integrated chapter structure that reinforces students' grasp of the content and facilitates review. NAEYC standards are emphasized throughout the text. Every chapter begins with a list of the standards to be addressed. Relevant standards-related content -- and why it is important -- is highlighted in the material that follows and identified by an icon. A detailed correlation chart listing the standards coverage in each chapter appears on the inside front and back covers of the book. The book introduces the Social Support Pyramid in Chapter 1 to describe four phases in guiding children's social behavior. This pyramid appears in each chapter, illustrating how the skills presented in that chapter fit into an overall program of social support and intervention. Theory and research provide a broad basis for understanding child behavior and establish a foundation for appropriate action. The authors draw upon research and practice from a variety of fields, and show readers how theory can be translated into classroom applications. Step-by-step instructions for how to implement skills associated with the content are presented in each chapter, as are many real-life examples to illustrate key points. The authors also describe typical pitfalls associated with learning each skill and how to avoid them. The book discusses the strong links between social competence and academic success. Readers learn how to support long-range goals in the classroom while addressing short-term concerns.