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Social & Emotional Development Checklist

According to Educational Resources Information Center, educators prioritize the social development of children ages three to five. Mississippi Early Learning Guidelines require school teachers to evaluate young children according to four core competencies once during autumn, spring and in the middle of the school year. Answers are number-coded with "3" demonstrating the greatest competence equivalent to advanced development. A code of "2" means the teacher believes a child is developing as expected and "1" indicates developmental need.

  1. Positive Self Concept

    • A positive perception of self is the first assessment tool of emotional and social development. Specifically, children are evaluated according to the ability to describe thoughts and feelings, express needs, accept affection and appreciation and make positive, prideful statements about themselves. During observations, teachers may listen out for statements from children such as, "I like," "I want," "I need," and "Thank you." Children may also be evaluated for facial expressions that express inner emotions such as smiles, frowns and corroborating body movements like head nods.

    Emotional and Behavioral Self Control

    • To assess children for behavioral control and proper emotional development, children's behavior is observed after being told to wait and after being told to stop one activity in order to begin another. Children are assessed for the ability to adjust to externally influenced changes without exhibiting aggression and trying to harm themselves, property or others. Displays of anger and disappointment are considered normal, however, and may express with a drooping head, tears or pleading. Finally, this tool evaluates young children for the ability to accept consequences for their actions.

    Positive Environmental Engagement

    • This tool assesses young children's ability to work independently in accordance with established rules. Teachers explain classroom rules to children and give them the opportunity to choose from a list of tasks to complete in a couple of steps. During task executions, children are evaluated for their understanding of the differentiation between classroom materials and personal wares and their care of both. Some classrooms will have a live a plant or pet and children are observed for their treatment of the object or animal.

    Positive Relationships

    • The fourth assessment tool looks for practical, positive behaviors in young children when they are engaging in group play with peers and interacting with children from different cultural backgrounds. Children are evaluated for their ability to listen to others, show empathy, demonstrate affection and ask for help when necessary. Pleasure in interaction is demonstrated by an active exchange of ideas along with the use of positive language like "please," "thank you," and "I like". Interactions are also observed for displays of negotiations and compromise.

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