Benefits of an intergenerational program in the early years

Intergenerational programs unite the young and old in shared activities to foster positive relationships across generations, reducing loneliness caused by living in residential care and improving children’s attitudes toward the elderly. This study evaluated an intergenerational program in 2019 between an Early Learning Centre (ELC) associated with a metropolitan university in Melbourne, Australia, and a residential aged care facility. The program provided opportunities for the children to engage and participate in their society, increase the social connections within communities, and develop their social emotional skills. This study explored 4- and 5-year-olds’ attitudes towards older people, empathy, prosocial behaviour, and coping strategies through a multimethod approach. 32 children from the intergenerational program and 25 children from a regular ELC group were interviewed about their experience with older people while their teachers completed empathy and coping questionnaires. Results showed children in both groups had positive attitudes towards older people. Children enjoyed making friends, singing songs together, building social connections, and learning about the older adults’ life stories; they were encouraged and supported to see themselves as citizens of a community. The paper explores the value of qualitative interviews with participating teachers, children, and parents for a more informative evaluation

Improving Coping Skills and Promoting Social and Emotional Competence in Pre-Schoolers: A Pilot Study on COPE-R Program

Developing children’s ability to manage or cope with difficult situations and problems at a young age prepares them for future challenges, and enables them to experience greater success in life. Positive social interactions and self-regulation of emotions are two key competencies in helping a child cope effectively. This paper reports the change in the coping strategies that four to five years old preschool children demonstrated in challenging situations, and in behaviours that reflected their social emotional competence, after participating in a five-week teacher-led COPE-R program. The COPE-R program focuses on developing empathy and prosocial skills in young children. The outcome of the program was evaluated based on the development of social and emotional competence, measured by rating scales completed by parents and teachers. In addition, the development of coping skills was evaluated based on young children’s personal responses to six age-appropriate challenging situations through a semi-structured interview, and by rating scales completed by parents and teachers. The results of this pilot study provide support for the benefits of an early childhood program such as COPE-R, which promotes development in preschoolers’ social-emotional competence as well as their repertoire of coping strategies in challenging situations

Shared needs teachers helping students with learning disabilities to cope more effectively

Abstract not available