CHAPTER 14
Chapter 14 True/False Questions
Circle T if the statement is true; circle F if the statement is false.
T F 1. Children between the ages of 3 and 5 understand their behavior must please another to
be considered a friend.
T F 2. In the conflict mediation process, the teacher’s role ends after children arrive at a
solution.
T F 3. Conflict mediation can be used with some children as young as 3 and is effective
through elementary school.
T F 4. When you focus time, energy and curriculum on social skills, you are simultaneously
working on increasing children’s cognitive abilities.
T F 5. Concepts related to economics and history have no real place in early childhood
education since they are so abstract.
T F 6. Racial awareness typically begins when a child is about three years old.
T F 7. Friendship coaching only benefits youngsters who already have friends and want more.
T F 8. Research shows that children who have difficulty forming friendships tend to have
difficulty forming relationships later in life.
T F 9. The best place to begin diversity awareness is with examples and contributions from the
children’s families.
T F 10. Cooperation means to do what the teacher requests.
Chapter 14 Multiple Choice Questions
Circle the best answer.
11. Which of the following is/are the focus area(s) of the social domain?
a. Social Skills
b. Social Responsibility
c. Social Science knowledge
d. All of the above
12. Which of the following is NOT an accurate description of children’s social development?
a. Children’s social competence influences their academic achievement.
b. Children are born naturally knowing how to make friends and influence people.
c. In our society, a high level of social competence means that a child exhibits responsible,
independent, friendly, cooperative, purposeful, and self-controlled behavior.
d. Social development can be looked at as the foundation on which other types of learning
takes place.
13. Planning activities for which of the following will support children’s social development?
1. Making friends
2. Maintaining friendships
3. Prosocial behavior
4. Geography
5. Learning and understanding diversity
a. All of the above
b. 1 & 2
c. 4 & 5
d. 1, 2, 3, & 5
14. Which of the following is recommended to promote children’s social understanding?
a. The best way to teach young children about caring for the environment is to study The
Antarctic.
b. The best way to help children have friends at school is to make everyone play together.
c. The best way to build social studies concepts is by explaining how the government works.
d. None of the above
15. Which of the following is likely to be the appropriate age range for this description of
friendship? Tom and David are good friends who play together often. They take turns and share
toys and materials comfortably. One day, Ian approached Tom and said, “I want to be your
friend.” Tom replied, “You can’t be my friend—David is my friend!”
a. 3 to 4
b. 4 to 9
c. 10 to 12
d. None of the above
16. Which of the following statements is NOT supported by the research?
a. When children are taught to think prosocially, corresponding prosocial behaviors follow
automatically.
b. When children demonstrate high levels of prosocial behavior, they are likely to have high
self-esteem.
c. When children behave prosocially they contribute to an environment characterized by
friendly interactions and productive group efforts.
d. All of the above.
17. Which of the following is NOT important to promote diversity in the classroom
environment?
a. Make sure that classroom activities and materials represent different cultures, lifestyles,
peoples of different ages, differing abilities and in non-stereotypical roles.
b. Cultural awareness should focus on how people live today in our country.
c. Make sure that the ethnicity and culture of each of the families of the children in the
setting is represented by pictures, artifacts and classroom materials.
d. Make sure that no holidays are acknowledged in the classroom.
18. How does peer interaction contribute to children’s development?
a. It helps children solve problems without adult involvement.
b. It helps children build problem-solving skills by sharing ideas.
c. It helps children learn more about working with peers of both sexes.
d. All of the above
19. An early childhood educator has been given a set of colorful, attractive posters that she
would like to display. However, she is concerned by the lack of gender balance depicted. Which
of the following would be an appropriate solution to this dilemma?
a. Discard the poster.
b. Ask parents of the children to decide whether or not they mind having the posters
displayed in the classroom.
c. Use the posters as they are but talk with children about the imbalance and how they might
address it.
d. Paste a new face over one of the original ones to get a better balance and don’t mention
anything to the children.
20. Which of the following describes the steps that children can be taught to resolve a conflict?
a. Define the problem, suggest solutions, and negotiate a solution, follow-through.
b. Determine whether the conflict is intentional, review the rules, redirect problem behavior.
c. Stop the activity, protect the hurt child, and comfort the angry child.
d. Review the situation in light of classroom rules, show concern about the other child’s
feelings, discuss the consequences of the action.
21. What does the adult do in the first step of the mediation process?
a. Define the problem in mutual terms.
b. Gain control of the disputed object.
c. Summarize all different solutions suggested so far.
d. Suggest ways for the children to compromise.
e. Summarize the contributions of the onlookers.
22. What does the adult do in the summing up phase of conflict mediation?
a. Define the problem in mutual terms.
b. Gain control of the disputed object.
c. Summarize all different solutions suggested so far.
d. Suggest ways for children to compromise.
e. Summarize the contributions of the onlookers.
23. Mrs. Garcia is ill. Her five-year-old son Jose, offers her his teddy bear for comfort. What
aspect of pro-social behavior does little Jose still need to know about?
a. Recognition
b. Decision
c. Taking Action
d. None of the above
24. The purpose of using activities related to diverse cultures in a homogenous classroom is to
provide which of the following?
a. Opportunities to make the dramatic play area more interesting.
b. Opportunities for children to feel more comfortable with people less familiar to them.
c. Learning experiences about the dominant culture.
d. Early chance to learn languages other than English.
25. In a classroom in which children are “thinking globally and acting locally,” what might they
be doing?
a. Picking up litter on the playground to reduce pollution.
b. Sending pennies to starving children in Zimbabwe to address world hunger.
c. Keeping a scrap book of all the trouble spots in the world to track world peace.
d. All of the above
26. If you were told a teacher was in the “contribution” stage of curriculum change (according to
Banks), what might you see in the classroom?
a. One day devoted to Martin Luther King, Jr. and then it’s back to business as usual.
b. In a classroom that uses curriculum themes, some themes related to ethnic groups or to
people with special needs.
c. Diversity concepts integrated throughout the teacher’s plans in a variety of ways.
d. Children taking action to bring people’s attention to the plight of homeless people in the
community.
27. Which of the following activities represents the political science portion of the Social
Studies curriculum?
a. Children make a family tree of their parents and grandparents.
b. Children vote on a name for a class gerbil.
c. Children study the interaction between home and workplace environments.
d. All of the above
28. Why are early childhood professionals advised to spend time teaching children about
conflict resolution?
a. It is an important part of the social studies curriculum.
b. It emphasizes communication and empathy.
c. It teaches children about the sociology of the early childhood environment.
d. a and b
e. All of the above
29. Which of the following best suits the goal of promoting an inclusive early childhood setting?
a. Hanging up a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. on his birthday.
b. Making gingerbread men for Christmas.
c. Inviting children to bring their favorite food from home to share with the class.
d. Taking a field trip to an orchard and having children select a favorite apple then
explaining his or her choice to the group.
30. Mr. Lynn taught his first graders an English-American and an African-American version of
the same singing game. Which social studies curricular area would this best represent?
a. Sociology
b. Human Ecology
c. Anthropology
d. Geography
31. Which of the following is part of negotiating a conflict?
a. Explaining the reasons behind a suggested solution.
b. Accepting reasonable disagreement.
c. Compromising on a solution.
d. Listening to and acknowledging others’ rights, opinions and feelings.
e. All of the above
Chapter 14 Short Answer Questions
Give short, concise responses to each of the statements.
32. Identify the steps people go through in order to be helpful.
33. List the basic categories of friendship skills.
34. Identify three of the major components of social responsibility.
35. List three reasons why a group of young children may exclude a particular child.
36. Identify 3 strategies for helping children develop positive attitudes toward diversity
Chapter 14 Essay Questions
Give complete responses to each statement.
37. Give children opportunities to interact with adult members of their own and other cultural
groups. Based on what you have read, discuss in detail five strategies you would use to
create a classroom climate in which children treat each other with kindness.
38. A common criticism of American social studies education is that children don’t know
enough about history and geography. Describe an activity that you would create to help a
group of 4 year olds become interested in one of these subjects. What would you plan for a
group of second graders? Discuss in detail what the activities would look like and what you
expect children to learn from them.
39. Identify the three steps people go through in order to be helpful. Write a puppet script/ skit
to demonstrate to children these three steps. You may wish to include narration in your skit
as well as dialogue between the two characters (one who needs help and the one who is the
potential helper). Remember that children relate best to puppets that resemble people rather
than animals or cartoon characters.
40. You and the children in your class see an older, shabbily dressed woman sitting on a bench
near the school every day with all her belongings in a grocery cart. Some children express
fear; others are worried that she has no home. One child wonders whether she can be helped.
How can you address the children’s concerns and also teach them about important social
studies concepts? Provide clear strategies and a rationale for your answer.
Chapter 14:
Short Answer: Give short, concise responses to each of the statements.
Essay: Give complete responses to each statement.
