MODULE 17

Socio-Emotional Development of the

Preschooler

Socio-emotional development
Is crucial in the pre-school years. We hear a lot of parents and teachers and
preschool administrators says that attending preschool is more for “socialization” than
for formal academic learning.

Big ideas on preschoolers' socio-emotional development

1. The development of initiative is crucial to the preschooler.
2. A healthy self –concept is needed for preschoolers to interact with others.
3. Environmental factors influence gender identity in young children
4. Pre-schoolers’ social development is shown through the stages of play.
5. The caregiving styles of parents and teachers affect the preschoolers’ socio-
emotional development.
6. Pre-schoolers are interested in building friendships

Preschoolers’Initiative
Preschoolers deal with the psychological conflict of INITIATIVE versus GUILT.
Erikson believed that healthy preschoolers develop initiative, the tendency of
preschoolers to want to take action and assert themselves. They will yearn to create,
invent, pretend, take risk and engaged in lively and imaginative activities with peers.
When parents, teachers and other adults supports these attempts and provide a
stimulating environment, the preschoolers sense of initiative will grow. On the other
hand, if adults shoe overprotection, extreme restriction and criticisms, the preschooler
will develop guilt.
As preschoolers go through the conflict of initiative vs. guilt, they show so much
energy in doing imaginative play activities. Everyplace becomes a playground to explore,
every single thing an interesting piece to thinker with. Adults sometimes get exasperated
over this behavior and begin to see the preschooler as “naughty” or “ makulit”. Some
parents and teachers then become overly
restrictive, resorting to threats, intimidation
and other scary tactics that disrespect the
preschooler just to establish “control”.
Consequently, the child may develop

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excessive guilt. Although a good amount of guilt helps in making children take
responsibility for their behavior, excessive guilt hampers emotional growth. Preschoolers
who are always punished and criticized end up constructing a view of themselves as
being “salbahe” (bad) “bobo” (dumb) or even “walang kwenta” (worthless).
Judicious Permissiveness
This involves setting realistic boundaries that keep preschoolers safe and
respectful of self and others, while allowing them greater opportunity to explore, tale
risks and to engage in creative process.
Self-concept and the preschooler
By the end of toddlerhood, preschoolers come out with a clear sense that they
are separate and distinct person. With their ability to make representations, they can
now think and reflect about themselves.

SELF-CONCEPT – refers to the way one sees himself, a general view about one’s
abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND GENDER IN THE

PRESCHOOLERS’ SOCIO –EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
As the preschooler’s ability to create schemas develop, they became capable of
GENDER TYPING the process of forming gender roles, gender-based preferences
and behaviors accepted by society. They come to form gender stereotypes. Preschoolers
begin to associate certain things like toys, tools, games, clothes, job, colors or even
action or behaviors as being “only for boys” or “only for girls”. Consequently. They from
their own gender identity, the view of oneself as being masculine or feminine.
Gender typing and gender identity are influenced by environmental factors such
as the family, teachers, peers, and the mass media. This is where Bronfenbrenner’s
model comes into play. Different spheres of influence determine the preschooler’s
development of a gender schema.
Mass media and ICT which include television, movies, the internet computer
games also offer various images of what it means to be a boy or girl.

PARTEN’S STAGES OF PLAY

Play is the main agenda of the preschool

years. Play has a social dimension. As the
preschooler develops, social interaction with

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playmates increases. Mildred Parten, in the 1930’s did a study on children's play behave
or which led to Parten’s stages of play.

1. Unoccupied-the child appear not to be playing but directs his attention on

anything on that interest him.
2. Onlooker-the child spends time watching others play. He may talk to them but
does not enter into play with them.
3. Solitary Play-the child starts to play on his own. He seems not to notice other
children playing nearby.
4. Parallelel Play-the child plays with toys similar to those near him, but only plays
beside and not with them. No interaction takes place.
5. Associative Play-the child plays with others. There is interaction among them,
but no task assignment, rules and organization are agreed upon.
6. Cooperative-the child plays with others bound by some agreed upon rules and
roles. The goal is maybe to make something, play a game, or act out something.

FRIENDSHIP IN PRESCHOOL
As they continue to grow,
preschoolers become interested in having
friends. This should be encouraged in the
preschool years as friendships benefit the
preschooler’s development by providing
stimulation, assistance, companionship, social
comparison, and affection (Kostelnik, 2010).
Through friendships, preschoolers are able to
practice different social roles like being a
leader, a follower, someone who takes risks and someone who helps out and comforts.
Friendships are very important because they provide added sense of belongingness and
security. In the preschool years, parents and teachers must expose children to
experiences that help them learn skills in establishing friendships, maintaining positive
relationships, and resolving conflict.
CAREGIVING STYLES
Caregiving styles affect the socio-emotional development of the children.
Caregivers here refer to both parents and teachers and even other adults that care for
the child. Baumrind gave a model that describes a different types of caregiving styles.
This was based on a longitudinal study that looked into the adult authority and the
development of children that Baumrind conducted which began in the 1960’s. Decades
later she identified varying degrees of demandingness and responsiveness as

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determinants of our four styles of caregiving. Marion (2007) expounded on these
determining factors.
RESPONSIVENESS
Refers to caregiver behaviors that pertain to expression of affection and
communication. It refers to how warm, caring, and respectful the adult is to the child. It
involves openness in communication and the willingness to explain things in ways that
the child will understand.
DEMANDINGNESS
Refers to the level of control and expectations. This involves discipline and
confrontation strategies.

BAUMRIND’S CAREGIVING STYLES

Baumrind’s Caregiving Styles and Their Effects on Children

Description
Caregiving Style The caregivers/parents/teachers Effects on the Preschooler
with this caregiver style has the
following descriptions:
 Expect behavior appropriate to
the age of the child.
 Maintain reasonable and fair
limits.
 Closely monitor the activities of  Makes the preschooler
the child feel safe and secure
 Teaches the child to take
Authoritative  Warm and nurturing responsibility for his or her
(High  Have realistic expectations of actions.
demandingness, the child  Develops good self-control
high responsiveness)  Develops a realistic view
 Communicate messages in a
of oneself
kind, firm, and consistent
manner  Builds the child capacity
for empathy
 Discipline approach focuses
more on teaching than
punishing

 Set subjective or unreasonable  Lead to aggressive

limits behavior of the child

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  Communicate messages
 Strive to have strong
psychological control
punishment, sarcasm,
withdrawal of love threats
 Not able to teach children a
better way to behave
 Permit the preschoolers to
regulate their own behavior
and make their own decisions
even when preschoolers are
not yet ready to do so
 Do not set rules or very few if
any
 Do not demand good behavior
or tasks accomplishment
 May lack confidence in their
ability to influence the child
Authoritarian
 Maybe disorganized and
High demandingness ineffective in managing the
family and household/class
 Shows undemading, indifferent
and rejecting action towards
the child
 Has little commitment to their
roles as parents/caregivers
 Maybe depressed or
overburned by many concerns
like poverty, marital problems,
or absence of support from
others.
EXPRESSION OF BASIC EMOTIONS
37-48 Months (3-4 years)
 Expresses what he/she likes
 Brings about poor self-
control
 Results in poor self esteem
 Has difficulty controlling
his/her impulses
 Tends to be dependent
 Tends to be demanding of
their caregivers
 Tends not to persist or
easily gives up on a task
 Do not easily follow
 Maybe rebellious
 Does not handle
frustration well
 Has inadequate emotional
control
 Difficulties in school
performance
When parents’ behavior is to
the extreme or if child
experiences this style early, the
child may have:
 Attachment problems
 Delayed cognitive
development
 Poor social and emotional
skills
 Delinquent behavior later
in adolescence
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 Expresses what he/she dislikes
 Can talk about difficult feelings (e.g.., anger, sadness, worry) he/she experiences
Self-regulation of feelings/emotion
 Willing to try something in order to learn
more even if unsure of a successful
outcome
 Perseveres when faced with challenging
or new tasks
 Accept brief delays in gratification
 Accept defeat well; is not a sore loser
 May have some fears but is not overly
fearful, anxious, or nervous
 May feel sad at times but not to the
point where he/she is depressed
Display of Self-Approval Emotions (shame, pride, guilt)
 Plays to learn a game
 Plays to gain mastery of a game
 Shows pleasure and enjoyment over his/her successful attempts or efforts
 Confidently joins small groups especially if situation is competitive
 Seeks assistance from an adult or child to solve a problem

Receptivity to other emotions

Receptivity to emotions and having empathy
37-48 months
 Feels others’ distress and acts appropriately (e, g., helps, comforts, gives,
suggestions, etc.)
Emerging Sense of Self
Knowledge of self and Basic Roles of people in his environment

Talks about parts of the body and their functions

 Talks about own specific abilities and characteristics (e.g.., sings, dances, is helpful,
studios, etc.)

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Forming Attachment
 Shows preference for the company of significant adults and children (other than
the primary caregiver) over unfamiliar adults and children
Interaction with other children
 Plays with 2 or 3 children using the same play equipment
 Participates in games with other children but plays in his own way
 Chat/converses with other children
 Takes turns and shares toys with others
 Actively participate in classroom and group routines
 Plays organized group games fairly
Interaction with adults
36 Verbalizes -48 MONTHS
 feelings related to events that are arise in classroom, home, and environment in a
positive way
 Speaks respectfully with adults using “po” and “opo” and/or appropriate titles
 Recognizes the importance of adult’s ideas and experiences by listening and asking
questions when they share these
 Clarifies rules and routines before abiding by them

 Shares personal perspective when he/she does not agree with or see the value of a
rule or routine
 Can take on another person’s viewpoint pakiramdam (Sensitivity)
 Knows when to stop asking questions or when he is being “makulit”
 Cooperate to minimize conflict or tension
Appreciating diversity
 Ask questions that indicate he/she notices differences on social economic status
 Ask question about new/different words(dialects) and practices in the community
 Talks about gender differences and roles
 Regards everyone respectfully, using proper titles/labels and does not resort to
name-calling
 Willing to make friends with other children and adults in different situations and
locations (e, g., schools, neighborhood)
The Role of Caregivers in the Socio-emotional Development of the preschooler

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Tips are given to caregivers (parents and teachers).
1. Greet each child with his/her names each day. Be sincere and respectful to each child
2. Read story books that deal about friendships and different feelings
3. Develop routines in the home or school that encourages working together and getting
along.
4. Help children to learn make rules and play simple games by providing opportunities
for them to play in small groups
5. Play games that involve social interaction and teamwork
6. Observe how a child plays with other children. Teach him to request, bargain,
negotiate, and apologize
7. Help children understand and cope with strong feelings by giving them words that
they can use to express how they feel. “I can see you are SAD about your pet, ANGRY at
your sister.”
8. Use dolls, puppets or pictures to demonstrate to children how to express feelings
appropriately
9. Acknowledge how the child feels.
10. Catch children doing good. Affirm the efforts they make to accomplish something. Be
specific in your praise. Do not just say, “good job” or “very good”. Instead say “when I
saw you pack-away your toys, I felt really happy. Remember to always pack-away
11. Reads story books that deals about friendship
12. For teachers develop routines that encourages working together and getting along.

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