Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS), PATHS Preschool

Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS) and PATHS Preschool are school-based preventive interventions for children in elementary school or preschool. The interventions are designed to enhance areas of social-emotional development such as self-control, self-esteem, emotional awareness, social skills, friendships, and interpersonal problem-solving skills while reducing aggression and other behavior problems. Skill concepts are presented through direct instruction, discussion, modeling, storytelling, role-playing activities, and video presentations. The elementary school PATHS Curriculum is available in two units: the PATHS Turtle Unit for kindergarten and the PATHS Basic Kit for grades 1-6. The curriculum includes 131 20- to 30-minute lessons designed to be taught by regular classroom teachers approximately 3 times per week over the course of a school year. PATHS Preschool, an adaptation of PATHS for children 3 to 5 years old, is designed to be implemented over a 2-year period. Its lessons and activities highlight writing, reading, storytelling, singing, drawing, science, and math concepts and help students build the critical cognitive skills necessary for school readiness and academic success. The PATHS Preschool program can be integrated into existing learning environments and adapted to suit individual classroom needs.