Focusing on the continuity in the quality of classroom environments as children transition from preschool into elementary school, this study examined the associations between classroom quality in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and children’s social skills and behavior problems in kindergarten and first grade. Participants included 1175 ethnically-diverse children (43% African American) living in low-wealth rural communities of the US. Results indicated that children who experienced higher levels of emotional and organizational classroom quality in both pre-kindergarten and kindergarten demonstrated better social skills and fewer behavior problems in both kindergarten and first grade comparing to children who did not experience higher classroom quality. The examination of the first grade results indicated that the emotional and organizational quality of pre-kindergarten classrooms was the strongest predictor of children’s first grade social skills and behavior problems. The study results are discussed from theoretical, practical, and policy perspectives.

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Evidence that young children display more happiness when sharing than receiving treats supports that humans, by nature, are prosocial. However, whether this "warm glow" is also found for other prosocial behaviors (instrumental helping and empathic helping) and/or in different cultures is still unclear. Dutch (studies 1 and 2) and Chinese (study 3) young children participated in a sharing task, followed by instrumental helping and empathic helping tasks in which they were praised (thanked) if they helped. Consistent results were found across three studies, showing that (1) participants displayed more happiness after giving than receiving treats; (2) toddlers displayed more happiness after instrumental helping than initially interacting with the experimenter; and (3) toddlers' happiness remained the same after positive social feedback (i.e., being thanked). Taken together, these results indicate that independent of culture, both sharing and instrumental helping are emotionally rewarding, supporting an evolutionary origin of these behaviors.

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