Nursery World - Positive Relationships: Behaviour

Sibling rivalry is natural and unavoidable, but the ways in which
parents respond to arguments can make a real difference to children's
learning. Kay Mathieson offers some advice.

question A couple of our parents are having a really difficult time with their children constantly bickering. At the moment it isn't a problem in the setting, but the parents are worried that home behaviours will spill over to the setting. Do siblings always have to fight and squabble or is it the way in which parents respond that makes it more likely?

answer The old adage 'you can choose your friends but not your family' combined with 'life's not fair' and the human competitive drive sums up the essence of sibling rivalry. The family, however it is made up, is a social group into which the children are born and have no choice. Therefore, this is the group in which much of their social learning takes place. It is an unusually intense and evolving context.

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