Benefits to PreSchool include foundational social and emotional skills and cognitive language development. Assuming that PreSchoolers have progressed successfully through Erikson’s first two stages of psychosocial behavior, they can trust and act independently by exerting power over themselves and their world.
We practice Responsive Classroom at The Country School, an approach to education associated with higher student achievement and improved school climate. One part of this program has been integral to our school culture: our five-year rotation of CARES (Cooperation, Assertion, Respect and Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-control). Much of this approach is based on modeling appropriate and expected behaviors. When children successfully complete the initiative vs. guilt stage, they experience confidence and resilience. They learn that mistakes are not causes for guilt but instead stepping stones on the path forward. As we like to say at The Country School, FAIL = First Attempt In Learning.