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Building good relationships with children: A central principle in child guidance
What are your hopes for children? If they include helping children learn eagerly and joyfully and supporting a child's healthy development in all domains, then positive child guidance can help you achieve your goals. Based on principles of developmentally appropriate practice, positive child guidance focuses on helping young children feel safe and secure, develop healthy self-esteem, respect themselves and others, and learn to cope with a variety of stressors. It helps children understand and build the skills needed to handle an array of pleasant and unpleasant feelings. Effective and positive guidance prevents and minimizes aggression and bullying. Most of all, positive child guidance helps children develop self-control and compassion, important qualities in a child's life and in a society's cohesion and survival (Marion, forthcoming [2015]).
The cluster articles in this issue of Young Children illustrate the wide range of topics in developmentally appropriate positive guidance, from fostering children's friendship skills in kindergarten and the primary grades to using an effective transition at the beginning of the day in a toddler classroom. More significantly, every article, whether the author focuses on toddlers or primary grade children, demonstrates teachers' commitment to a central principle in developmentally appropriate practice and child guidance: teachers building good relationships with children. Guidance requires a wellconstructed physical environment and a supportive interpersonal environment. The interpersonal environment refers to the relationships children have with others.
Notice that each author presents guidance ideas, regardless of topic or age of children, that revolve around being respectful, warm, and responsive. As you read the articles in this issue, consider how every author incorporates some of the following developmentally appropriate and very practical strategies for establishing a friendly and positive relationship...