PREVENTION PROGRAMS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING IN PRESCHOOL YEARS

Abstract

The individuals continue to live with the achieved skills and behaviors. The inefficiencies in these skills affect the acquisition of new skills, learning and quality of life. Social-emotional learning skills are the skills that are necessary in various areas from social life to academic life. Social-emotional learning skills can be improved through teaching of the desirable behavioral patterns, and also through the prevention of undesirable behavioral patterns. In this study, available prevention programs for the development of social-emotional learning in preschool years were examined. The five prevention programs titled as Al’s Pals: Kids Making Healthy Choices, DARE to be You, High/Scope Perry Preschool Program, Second Step, and Zippy’s Friends were handled. The aims, contents, and effects of these programs were reviewed. The results of the review showed that Al’s Pals is a resiliency-based prevention program to risk factors such as violence and poverty, DARE to be You is a resiliency-based intervention program to later substance abuse while High/Scope Perry Preschool Program is an intervention program to abstain from school failure and other related problems. It was also revealed that Second Step is a violence-prevention program, and Zippy’s Friends is a suicide prevention program. It was found that all of these programs are valid and effective in improving behaviors that negatively affect social-emotional learning of preschool children. It is clear that these programs can be used by proficient teachers and educators to support children’s social-emotional learning skills as well as main objectives of the programs regarding prevention. Article visualizations: