A 5- or 6-year-old is faced with social and intellectual challenges on a daily basis. Whether these are problems with people at school or conflicts with friends, your child will need skills to handle these challenges. It's not only important for you to be aware of the problems she faces, but to show her how to solve them.

The simplest way to teach your child to solve problems is to let her watch how you and other people deal with them. Another method is to use children's books that feature conflict-resolution techniques (Rainbow Fish by Marc Pfister), important issues in life such as learning disabilities (Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Krauss), or social issues such as homelessness (I'll Fly Away by Eve Bunting).

Depending on the situation or conflict, you may want to talk to her as well as read books to her. If she is wondering about a social issue, or needs help learning how to meet her social needs, try discussing these issues, then going to the library or bookstore to naturally filter these topics into her life. Here are a few literary suggestions categorized by issue:

· Gender differences: Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman follows a girl who wants to be involved in the school play, but everyone tells her that she can't because she is a girl.

· Sharing: The Mitten by Jan Brett brings friends together to keep warm in a mitten in the middle of winter.

· Separation Issues: The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown deals with a little bunny that tries to run away from his mother, though the mother always reassures him she'll be there no matter where he goes.

· Nightmares: There's a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer is about a boy who has nightmares and how he deals with them.

Your child is learning by watching and listening to you. You won't always be there to help her through these challenges, but you can provide her with resources to use when she is on her own.

Source: Zooba Kindergarten