Important skills for elementary school: Implementing preschool life skills program in a kindergarten classroom in Iceland

Abstract

Transition from kindergarten to elementary school can be difficult, especially for children that have not acquired school readiness skills. Previous studies have shown positive correlation between social skills and academic success, as well as between problem behavior at a young age and long term social and academies difficulties. It is important to implement an effective intervention to prevent children at risk for developing further difficulties. The preschool life skills (PLS)program was first developed as a class-wide teaching program, teaching typically developing preschool children important social and communication skills (Hanley, Heal, Tiger & Ingvarsson). The aim of this study was to examine the impact of systematic teaching of school readiness skills in kindergarten in Iceland. First, we compared the view of kindergarten and elementary school teachers in Iceland on important school readiness skills. We translated the PLS program into Icelandic and adapted it to those skills that Icelandic teachers thought to be important. We implemented PLS in kindergarten in Iceland for children who were starting first grade in elementary school in the fall of 2018. Results from the survey showed that both kindergarten and elementary school teachers in Iceland viewed instruction following and functional communication as the most important skills for children to acquire before first grade. The implementation of PLS increased the likelihood of the occurrence of instruction following and functional communication and decreased problem behavior for most children. Keywords: preschool skills, school readiness skills, social skills, life skills, Three tired teaching, kindergarten, behavior skills training.