# Merrell’s Strong Start—Pre-K ## A Social & Emotional Learning Curriculum ### Second Edition by ##### Sara A. Whitcomb, Ph.D. University of Massachusetts Amherst and ##### Danielle M. Parisi Damico, Ph.D. Amplify Education, Inc. Brooklyn, New York --- # About Strong Start Strong Kids™: A Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum consists of five brief and practical social and emotional learning (SEL) programs that have been designed for the purpose of promoting the SEL of children in prekindergarten through 12th grade. Strong Start—Pre-K, the first volume in the Strong Kids curriculum, is for children in preschool (or approximately ages 3–5). Strong Start is designed to be both a prevention and an early intervention (EI) program, and it has a wide range of applications with high-functioning or typically developing children or with children who have learning or behavioral challenges. It can be used in a variety of settings. We view Strong Start as a carefully designed SEL program intended to prevent the development of certain mental health problems and promote social and emotional wellness among young children. Moreover, we created this curriculum as a companion to the proven Strong Start—Grades K–2, Strong Kids—Grades 3–5, Strong Kids—Grades 6–8, and Strong Teens—Grades 9–12 programs, which are largely cognitive-behavioral in nature and were designed for use with older children and adolescents. Strong Start is not the right program for all problems or purposes. The overall goals and objectives of the lessons focus on helping young students build awareness of their emotions and the emotions of others as well as create strategies for managing emotions in healthy ways. Strong Start is a low-cost, low-technology program that can be implemented in a school or related educational setting. It is not necessary to be a licensed mental health professional in order to learn and implement this curriculum. The curriculum also can be taught in a self-contained manner within a specific environment and does not require expensive community wraparound services or mandatory parent training groups. --- ## PROMOTING CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH The primary mission of schools traditionally has been viewed as promoting the development of academic skills, but there is no question that most educators, parents, and the general public support and expect a broader mission for schools. Greenberg and his colleagues stated: > High-quality education should teach young people to interact in socially skilled and respectful ways; to practice positive, safe, and healthy behaviors; to contribute ethically and responsibly to their peer group, family, school, and community; and to possess basic competencies, work habits, and values as a foundation for meaningful employment and citizenship….We consequently assert that school-based prevention programming—based on coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning—should be fundamental to preschool through high school education. (2003, pp. 466–467) We agree with this statement. We also propose that teaching children positive social, emotional, and behavioral skills is a critical challenge facing our society. Changes in the structure of society and families have resulted in an increasing percentage of children and families who are at risk for developing a variety of behavioral, social, and mental health problems. ### SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING Another reason for optimism regarding our ability to positively affect the social and emotional health and resilience of children is the evidence in the area of SEL. SEL has been defined as systematic, cohesive, and effective instructional programming designed to teach social and emotional skills to children and adolescents, to prevent mental health problems, and to provide effective EI for those problems that are beginning to emerge. There are many manifestations of SEL programs, ranging from simple training in social or other life skills to expansive, multipronged efforts to prevent antisocial behavior and conduct problems. ### SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL NEEDS OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN To be effective, a curriculum must be designed and implemented to be developmentally appropriate for the students for whom it is intended. For preschool children, there are unique cognitive, social, and emotional developmental needs that must be considered. Cognitively, children in this age range are concrete thinkers, meaning that they have not yet developed the ability to think abstractly or symbolically. They usually have difficulty with tasks that require a great deal of interpersonal insight or self-reflection. In addition, most preschool children have not yet learned to read. Therefore, any curriculum designed for this age group must be explicit and somewhat concrete, use examples with which the children are familiar, use repetition and review to help teach mastery of skills, and be short enough and interesting enough to maintain their attention. ### MODEL FOR PREVENTING BEHAVIORAL AND EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS Educational researchers have adapted a public health prevention model for use in school systems. We can visualize this model and its three levels of prevention as a triangle. The entire triangle represents all students within a school setting, the majority of whom are not experiencing difficulties (i.e., the bottom portion of the triangle), some of whom are at risk of developing significant problems (i.e., the middle portion), and an even smaller percentage who are currently experiencing significant difficulties (i.e., the top portion). Typical practice is to focus on those students who are at the top of the triangle—those who are currently experiencing significant learning and/or social-emotional difficulties. --- ## AN EVIDENCE-BASED PROGRAM We continue to make efforts to establish a solid evidence base for Strong Kids™: A Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum. In 2010, Merrell reviewed the studies that had been conducted to date. Each of these studies found that groups of students who participated in one of the Strong Kids programs showed significant gains in their knowledge of curriculum concepts of SEL. Many of the studies have shown significant reductions of problem emotional-behavioral symptoms as a result of participating in the programs. In addition, some of the studies have evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of the programs from teacher and student perspectives.