Updated throughout and featuring an emphasis on NAEYC and other standards, GUIDING CHILDREN'S SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING: THEORY AND SKILLS, Ninth Edition, provides a comprehensive overview of child guidance and social development. Focusing on children from ages birth through 12 years, it provides a seamless transition from the pre-primary to the primary years and addresses the needs of practitioners working with children in a variety of group settings. Readers learn how to help children develop social competence and positive feelings about themselves, and how to work with children and families from many different backgrounds and circumstances. The book eliminates much of the guesswork and frustration that can hinder practitioners' efforts to influence children's social development and behavior -- providing a unified framework for decision-making and professional practice that incorporates sound principles of children's development, relationship enhancement, and behavior management.