The GOALS Program : Goal Orientation, Attribution Learning and Self-control

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What is the GOALS Program?
The GOALS Program is a classroom-based curriculum designed to promote the development of social, emotional and school readiness skills in preschool children. Developed by Dr. Jennifer Betkowski and Dr. David Schultz, the GOALS Program has 35 lessons. Each lesson is 20-30 minutes long. Lessons use videos, modeling, role play and other activities to teach children basic social and school readiness skills.

Watch videos to see how teachers use the GOALS Program.


Mr. Mack and Miss Green of St. Bernardine’s Head Start talk about using the GOALS Program in their classroom.	Teachers talk about how parents can use GOALS Program concepts at home.

Teachers share what they think about the GOALS Program.	Teachers share how they use the GOALS Program at home.

What will my child learn in the GOALS program?
In the GOALS program, your child will learn many important skills like:

Controlling behaviors
Paying attention and ignoring distractions
Being a good friend
Cooperative planning
Problem solving by coming up with friendly solutions
Understanding accidents and how to react to them
Recognizing and labeling different emotions

How can parents get involved in the GOALS program?
If your child is in a classroom using the GOALS program, you can use this website to know what your child is learning and practice the skills at home. Children will learn and use program skills best if you help reinforce new techniques each week at home. Also, you can contact the program developers with any questions you may have.

How will my child benefit from the GOALS Program?
In 2009, the GOALS Program was compared to the regular classroom curriculum in a Baltimore City Head Start center.Compared to children who did not receive the GOALS Program, children who received GOALS showed:

Fewer behavior problems
Greater self-control
Better ability to pay attention

For more description of the research findings, click here.

How will parents benefit from using the GOALS Program at home?
If program concepts are used consistently at home, parents may see changes in child behaviors. For example, you might notice that your child calms down more quickly when upset. You may also notice that your child pays attention to you and follows directions better. You may also notice that when playing with other children, your child can problem solve independently instead of asking you to help out.

GOALS Program Timeline
This table shows what your child will learn over the course of the GOALS Program.

Week and Program Concepts	Website link for more information
Week 1: Introduction & Group Rules Raise hand, body still, look at person talking, listen
Week 2: Problem solving, emotions Identify things that are the same and different Label emotions by looking at faces Problem solving by figuring out what happened first	http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/problem-solving/ http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/friendship-emotions/
Week 3 & 4: Friendly problem solving How to act like a friend How to join a group like a friend	http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/friendship-emotions/ http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/problem-solving/
Week 5 & 6: Attention & Ignoring Paying attention Ignoring distractions Shifting attention from one thing to another	http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/attention-ignoring/
Weeks 7 & 8: Self-control Using “freeze” to calm down when excited, frustrated or upset	http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/self-control/
Weeks 9 & 10: Friendly problem solving Checking in with other kids by asking, “Is that ok with you?” Coming up with friendly solutions to problems (like sharing a toy that 2 children want to use)	http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/problem-solving/ http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/friendship-emotions/ http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/self-control/
Weeks 11 & 12: Friendly problem solving Figuring out what other kids are feeling by asking, “What’s the matter?” Use words to describe how you are feeling	http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/self-control/ http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/friendship-emotions/ http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/problem-solving/
Weeks 13 & 14: Understanding Upset Emotions Learning about emotions like disappointed, frustrated and sad Using words to describe how you are feeling	http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/self-control/
Weeks 15 & 16: Accidents Understanding difference between “accidents” and “on purpose” How to respond to accidents	http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/accidents/
Weeks 17 & 18: Left out of a group Understanding that kids are not always being mean when they leave someone out of a group How to respond when left out of a group	http://goalsprogram.org/preschool/accidents/
Weeks 19 & 20: Wrap-up Wrap-up: Review of all program skills