How to Improve the Social and Emotional Skills of Pre-K Students

Pre-kindergartners are bursting with potential, but without social and emotional development, they may struggle to thrive. It's essential to help them form healthy connections with others and manage their emotions to make smart decisions.

Luckily, this lesson has a fun and engaging approach to promoting social and emotional development. It encourages students to identify opportunities for them to improve socially and emotionally by looking back on the social and emotional positive actions that they have learned from Unit 3 to Unit 5.

To begin, this lesson reviews the positive actions for self-management, which can serve as their goals for self-improvement. The "Eight Gifts" poster is displayed for this purpose, and one by one, the class goes over each positive action. As they do, the students are encouraged to evaluate themselves and identify which self-management skills they need to improve.

After this, an activity that recalls the positive actions for getting along with others follows. It uses the "Code of Conduct" poster, and as the teacher goes over each positive action, smiles fill the room as the students agree that they have been doing these actions to improve their social skills.

Similar to the first two, the next activity displays the "Sing Your Truth" poster and looks back on the positive actions for self-honesty. The students feel good about themselves for practicing these actions to help themselves get better.

As a positive reinforcement and conclusion, the class reads their ICU messages from the ICU box. The messages prove that doing positive actions to improve themselves feels rewarding.

Schools can help pre-kindergartners gear up for success by developing their social and emotional skills. These skills are essential and lay the foundation for future accomplishments.

With improved social skills, students can form meaningful relationships that can provide motivation and support. Plus, they can confidently navigate different social situations, become excellent communicators, and take on leadership roles.

But that’s not all! By enhancing their emotional intelligence, students learn how to manage their emotions, particularly during difficult times. This fosters a resilient and optimistic attitude that helps maintain a positive self-concept.