ABSTRACT
Before children enter elementary school, they are likely to be enrolled in preschool programs. Indeed, 57% of 3 to 5-year-old children were enrolled in center-based preschool programs in 2005, with percentage estimates considerably higher when only 4-to 5-year-old children were counted (U.S. Department of Education, 2007). Compared to elementary school classrooms, preschool programs typically structure more learning opportunities within the context of peer-based play activities than in teacher-child or teacher-group interactions (Power, 2000). Th us, perhaps more than at any other developmental period, the context of preschool is greatly embedded within and dependent upon children’s peer interactions. Moreover, at this age, social developmental tasks (e.g., acquiring the skills necessary for developing and maintaining peer relationships, negotiating peer confl ict, establishing eff ective means of communicating with peers) are key developmental milestones, and children become increasingly more engaged with peers and more sophisticated in their peer interactions over this developmental period (Fabes, Martin, & Hanish, 2009; Strayer & Santos, 1996). In other words, peer interactions and relationships fi gure prominently in preschoolers’ lives (Harris, 1995).
