Teaching 4-Year-Olds To Feel Better
NPR
You're 4 years old, building a block tower. Another kid runs up and knocks it down. What do you do? A) Tell her that's against the rules. B) Go tell a teacher. C) Hit her. D) Start to cry. E) What did you say again?
According to a large national study just released, it's possible to teach kids in preschool to give better answers to that question — not only when asked by a researcher, but in real life. And these improved social and emotional skills, in turn, can help them spend more time engaged in learning. The study looked at Head Start programs. It's "the first large-scale nationally randomized study of strategies for promoting the social and emotional development of 4-year-olds," as the New America Foundation's EdCentral blog points out. And for the first time, it shows that teaching aimed at social and emotional learning can be effective on a large scale.
Pamela Morris, a senior research fellow at MRDC, directed the work, which was released July 7 on the first day of Head Start's annual research conference.
"HHS is interested in an evidence base about what would make a difference for Head Start kids," says Morris, who is also a professor of applied psychology and director of the Institute for Human Development and Social Change at New York University.
There's a reason the federal government is focused on this now. As many states and localities move to increase access to preschool, there are widespread calls to ensure that such programs are effective, and a big debate over what "effective" looks like.
While many programs have traditionally focused on academic readiness, a shift has been building toward an emphasis on social and emotional learning. Researchers have identified qualities like delayed gratification, "grit" and "mindset," and they've developed curricula designed to instill those qualities. The idea is that the ability to apply yourself to a task, screen out distractions and believe in the possibility of your own improvement is a bigger determinant of success than reading and math skills........
