Description
The project’s purpose was to promote young children’ social and emotional development through bibliotherapy by teaching children how to label, express and regulate emotions. The project developer created a picturebook and a series of lesson plans to enhance young children’s social and emotional development and help them become socially and emotionally competent. The project was developed based on social learning theory, which indicates that children learn through observing actions and consequences. Therefore, the picturebook visualized appropriate ways to express and regulate emotions using metaphors and illustrations. The lesson plans were aligned with Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) measures and reinforced the learning outcome. The project targeted children ages three to five years old and it was implemented in preschool and pre-k classrooms. The project developer evaluated the impact of the project using the teacher action research method. Data included observational field notes, informal interviews and a reflective journal. Data were analyzed for consistent themes. The results show that the three major goals of the project were achieved: 1) contribute to children’s positive attitudes; 2) help children to correctly identify and label their own and other’s emotions; 3) help children to understand the multiple causes for emotions in daily life. As a result, the project developer implicated that bibliotherapy was an effective strategy to promote young children’s social and emotional development, which is necessary for children’s development, school readiness and social life.
