Smart Skills Program
Smart Skills is a behaviour guidance Resource Kit and Training Program for early childhood professionals and families with children aged from birth to 6 years.
Smart Skills provides a sound basis of strategies and tips to incorporate social skills development into the everyday lives of young children. The program aims to build social-emotional competence, thereby improving behaviour, and in the longer term, fostering lifelong learning, friendships, and confidence.
Current research and evidence indicate that:
- There is a link between behaviour guidance and social skill development (Spence, 2003);
- Early interventions such as social skills programs targeting children 0-6 are the most successful and are more effective than programs that target older children (Elliot and Gresham, 1993); and
- Programs, which incorporate staff and parent involvement, have a higher level of parent engagement, and are regarded as most appropriate (Elliot and Gresham, 1993 & Cooper et al, 2002).
The Smart Skills Program is an innovative and flexible package that has been specifically designed to meets the needs and gaps identified above. Workshops and the accompanying Smart Skills Resource Kit have been developed by the community, for the community, to meet the needs of diverse early childhood and home environments and to be inclusive of all children and families.
Smart Skills has taken an action research, community development approach to resource and program development. The process has taken five years of collaboration in the Inala-Goodna region West of Brisbane, with funding from the Inala to Goodna Communities for Children Initiative, funded by the Federal Government under the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy, and facilitated by Mission Australia. It has been a process of listening and responding to parents, early childhood professionals, and consultants, and those who specialise in the areas of additional need in early childhood, namely, the Indigenous, culturally and linguistically diverse, and disability fields. A total of 16 childcare services, 5 playgroups, and 22 other professionals have contributed to the project. The result is an inclusive resource with a contemporary theoretical framework tempered with the practical tips and language of parents and workers who will use it.
Smart Skills links in with the Early Year’s Framework and is designed to enhance quality assurance accreditation.
Smart Skills is currently available for purchase and both the Training and Resource Kit can be accessed by the childcare sector and the community.
Please fill in and fax/email/post the
>> Expression of Interest in Training Form [PDF], and/or the
>> Smart Skills Resource Kit Order Form. [PDF 1mb]
Smart Skills Training Program
Smart Skills is a unique and flexible Training Program, designed to assist both staff and parents to support social skill development amongst children from birth to 6 years.
Smart Skills Workshops cover a range of tools that support social skills development in everyday practice. Training is based on personal and professional reflection, inclusive practice, the child-centred and strengths-based approach, and the belief that all children are competent learners who are capable of decision-making.
Peer mentoring is encouraged throughout the workshop series (a total of 6 hours) with the opportunity for children’s service staff in the Ipswich region to receive follow up support from CAERSU’s Inclusion Support Facilitators.
Smart Skills Training can be organised for groups of early childhood professionals, parents, playgroups, Out of School Hours Care Workers, Prep or Kindergarten teachers, or other affiliated children’s services. Cost is negotiable depending on the location and number of participants in training. Contact CAERSU and/or fill in the Expression of Interest in Training Form.
Smart Skills Resource Kit
Smart Skills is a behaviour guidance Resource Kit designed to assist early years staff and parents to develop social skills among children from birth to 6 years. The research-based resource, launched in February 2009, has been further developed with practical advice from early childhood professionals, inclusion support workers, and parents, through a five-year community development process.
The user-friendly Smart Skills framework outlines five (5) areas where social skills can be taught and behaviours guided naturally, within everyday activities:
Smart Skills includes pages of practical tips and strategies on 14 specific social skills. Each skill has a page specifically designed for staff and another specifically for parents. This format supports communication and consistency of learning and practice between home and care environments, and remains mindful of how to be inclusive of children with additional needs. Social skills covered include: helping; coping; sharing, taking turns and waiting; making good choices; listening; greeting; controlling impulses; and empathy.
There are additional activities which include: how to make SAM the sock puppet, the Smart Skills mascot; bubble breathing; relaxation scripts; personal interests page for each child; how to incorporate making friends into a daily schedule; and exercises to encourage an adult’s personal and professional reflection on their interactions with children. The Resource also includes a wealth of support and resource agencies, websites, and literature available for further assistance.
Please fill in and fax/email/post Resource Kit Order Form to purchase your Smart Skills Resource Kit ($100 GST inclusive, plus $14 postage and handling per kit).
