title: Playing with Others: Head Start Children's Peer Play and Relations with Kindergarten School Competence.
abstract: Time-sampled observations of Head Start preschoolers' (N= 264; 51.5% boys; 76% Mexican American;M= 53.11 andSD= 6.15 months of age) peer play in the classroom were gathered during fall and spring semesters. One year later, kindergarten teachers rated these children's school competence. Latent growth models indicated that, on average, children's peer play was moderately frequent and increased over time during preschool. Children with higher initial levels or with higher slopes of peer play in Head Start had higher levels of kindergarten school competence. Results suggest that Head Start children's engagement with peers may foster development of skills that help their transition into formal schooling. These findings highlight the importance of peer play, and suggest that peer play in Head Start classrooms contributes to children's adaptation to the demands of formal schooling.
authors.affiliation: T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University.
authors.forename: Natalie D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Eggum-Wilkens
authors.affiliation: T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Fabes
authors.affiliation: T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University.
authors.forename: Sherri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Castle
authors.affiliation: T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University.
authors.forename: Linlin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University.
authors.forename: Laura D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Hanish
authors.affiliation: T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University.
authors.forename: Carol Lynn
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Martin
keywords: Head Start; kindergarten transition; peers; play; school competence