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Ms. Renee is supporting three children in a blockbuilding activity, playing alongside them and offering narration, reinforcement and thoughtful questions. Jacob, a 31/4-year-old child with autism, runs excitedly into the block center, kicking the blocks in all directions. Latrice yells, "Jacob, you're stupid!"
Maya is a younger preschooler in Ms. Leo's classroom, with gross and fine motor limitations related to cerebral palsy. Four-year-old Destiny notices Maya making rainbows on the wall with a prism from the fine motor center. "Lemme see!" Destiny exclaims, grabbing the prism from Maya's hand. Destiny fails to recognize this opportunity to explore a shared interest with her classmate.
Examples such as these illustrate typical conflicts that may occur in preschool classrooms. Like conflicts among all young children, those involving young children with special needs serve as windows into children's socialemotional skills and needs. They also highlight teaching opportunities. Teachers play an essential role in showing preschoolers how to manage peer relationships successfully. Peer conflict is typical for young children but still requires teacher assessment. Paying special attention to children's interactions in inclusive classrooms can allow teachers to take full advantage of opportunities to maximize the meaningful partici- pation of children with special needs and encourage early friendships to blossom among all the children.
Teachers in inclusive classrooms strive to provide individualized education to young children with special needs alongside their peers who do not have special needs. For all children to learn and develop successfully, it is important for general and special education teachers to engage in extensive and meaningful collaboration with each other and with all other service providers who work with a child to target areas of need-including speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and nurses. One of the primary goals of inclusive programs is to create an atmosphere in which positive peer relationships can flourish. In such programs, children with special needs have full access to all aspects of the learning environment, opportunities to participate actively, and adequate supports for success (DEC/NAEYC 2009).
Social skills and the importance of peer relationships for young children
Social skills and social competence are key areas of preschool teaching and learning. In the preschool years, most children learn to successfully navigate a complex world of friendships and adult relationships in environments with new...