Abstract
The purpose of the study was to clarify two points regarding Social Skills Education (SSE). (1) Which social skills children from infancy to puberty should learn and (2) at what developmental stages they should learn in Social Skills Education. A survey was given to 300 child-care workers, homeroom teachers and sub-homeroom teachers in elementary and junior high schools in Chiba, Gunma, Kanagawa, Saitama and Tokyo. Results showed that children in all developmental stages from infancy to puberty need to learn “skills to sympathize,” “skills to listen,” and “skills to assert.” On the other hand, the need to learn “skills to join the play,” “skills to ask friends to play,” and “skills to solve problems” varied according to each child's developmental stage. In regards to the best time for a child to learn SSE, the child-care workers thought it should be between 3rd or 4th grade of elementary school to high school. Teachers in elementary and junior high schools thought it should be the entire six years of elementary school.
