Springer Enduring Bonds: The Significance of Interpersonal Relationships in Young Children's Lives: 1 (Educating the Young Child, 1)

Mary Renck Jalongo Interpersonal relationships present an interesting paradox to the young child. Although human bonds are a source of love, security and joy, they are, at the same time, the context in which children feel intense and complicated emotions such as jealousy, shame, resentment, sorrow, and rage. To illustrate, consider a series of incidents in the life of a young child named Melissa. All of these events were so memorable that they became oft-repeated family stories. At age 4, after Melissa was reprimanded by her mother, she packed a small plastic suitcase and announced that she was running away. Her mother kept a watchful eye while the preschooler stood at the end of the driveway for several moments. The child’s sister―eight years her senior―decided to go out and gently inquire about her younger sibling’s plans, to which Melissa responded ruefully, “I can’t run away. I remembered that I’m not allowed to cross the street by myself. ” Months later, Melissa enters kindergarten and she arrives home at the end of her school day, obviously upset. When asked about it, she says, “One of the kids told me I was doing my work wrong and it ruined my whole day. ” In first grade, Melissa has experience with one of the school child’s greatest fears: a mean teacher. From the Back Cover Young children are social beings. They grow and develop in diverse social and environmental contexts that profoundly affect who they are and what they will become. In this, the first volume of Springer’s Educating the Young Child: Advances in Theory and Research, Implications for Practice, a group of distinguished authors examine an array of interpersonal relationships that are formative in shaping childhood: bonds with adult family members, ties with siblings, interaction with peer groups, and connections with caregivers, teachers, administrators, and service providers. The socio-emotional development of young children has been a significant area of study for decades and early childhood is widely recognized not only as the period during which affective development originates but also as the phase in which the future course of life is set into motion. As life’s pace and complexity continues to increase, expectations for children’s abilities to control themselves and interact effectively with diverse individuals and groups continue to grow. This, the first volume in a series of edited books designed to synthesize research, theory, and practice, will focus on key interpersonal relationships affecting the young child. A distinguished group of authors will examine a wide array of relationships that affect the child today and influence the adult tomorrow―important bonds such as those between caregivers and infants; among siblings; between literate adults and the language-learning child; between the homeless and those providing support services, between principals and young students; and between recently immigrated preschoolers, teachers, and families, to name a few. About the Author Mary Renck Jalongo is a teacher, writer and editor. As a classroom teacher, she taught preschool, first grade and second grade, worked with children and families of migrant farm workers, and taught in the laboratory preschool at the University of Toledo. Currently she is a professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she earned the university-wide award for outstanding teaching and is the Coordinator of the Doctoral Program in Curriculum and Instruction. As a writer, Dr. Jalongo has authored and edited more than 25 books, many of them textbooks in the field of early childhood education, such as Early Childhood Language Arts (4th ed. Allyn & Bacon) and Creative Thinking and Arts-Based Learning (4th ed. Merrill/Prentice Hall), Exploring Your Role: An Introduction to Early Childhood Education (3rd ed., Merrill/Prentice Hall) and Major Trends and Issues in Early Childhood Education: Challenges, Controversies, and Insight