Support of Social and Emotional Development of Pre-school Children from Socially Disadvantaged or Culturally Different Environment.
The main goal of the training program based on the “Good Start” methodology is to increase the competences of pedagogical staff in pre-school facilities, thus contributing to the improvement of work with children, supporting healthy development and growth of children in terms of development of their social and emotional skills in early years. Particular attention is paid to children from socially disadvantaged or culturally diverse environment for whom the entry and attendance of pre-school is often more challenging and may result in behavioral difficulties. In addition, the attention is also paid to the children with different mother tongue, especially with regards to their integration into the children’s group and learning the new language.
The 40-hour training program is divided into the theoretical and practical part. It consists of several blocks taught the period of 6 months since the main goal of the program is to guide the pedagogic personnel through a change of attitudes, approach and practices in their work. It is based on the introductory two-day training during which the participants acquire information on the principles of the Good Start methodology to support the social and emotional development of pre-school children, the activities for working with children and parents in pre-schools, rehearsal of these activities and self-reflection of teachers implementing the methodology in practice.
| Chapter | Description |
| 1. Showing children love and care | Getting to know children and parents constitute the basis for supporting social and emotional competencies. Children feel welcome and important, which supports their self-confidence and independence. |
| 2. Supporting the feeling of safety in pre-school | Children learn what is the role of rules in school, why they are important and train the application of rules in different situations. |
| 3. Encouraging and praising children. | The positive evaluation of the specific activity of the child strengthens self-confidence and the ability to cope with obstacles, failures and breakdowns. |
| 4. Teaching children to understand their own feeling | Children should learn how to name their feelings and emotions and different coping strategies. This will enable them to recognize and deal with their own emotions as well as the emotions of others. |
| 5. Coping with resistance/ Time Out | Children learn, that persistent disobedience, breaking the rules and aggressive behaviours will not be tolerated and should be dealt with. |
| 6. Establishing good relationships and partnership with parents. | Establishing and maintaining good relationships with parents is a crucial part of the overall preschool experience for children, making it an important priority for teachers. |
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