The effects of individualized teaching of school readiness skills to children in preschool with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms

One preschooler with ADHD symptoms received the Preschool Life Skills program. The teacher delivered each unit one at a time. They tracked the child’s use of skills like sharing and following instructions.

The team used a single-case design. They measured if skills appeared only after that unit was taught.

Skills showed up only after the teacher taught that exact unit. When a unit was skipped, the child did not use that skill. The data say individualized PLS teaching produced clear gains.

No generalization happened across units. Each skill had to be taught directly.

Sawyer et al. (2014) ran the same PLS program in two Head Start classrooms. They saw a five-fold skill jump with group lessons. The new study shows one child with ADHD needs the same lessons broken into individual units.

Gureasko-Moore et al. (2006) worked with adolescents who used self-management folders. Both studies find kids with ADHD learn school skills, but the preschooler needed adult-led steps instead of self-direction.

Tanguay et al. (1982) taught self-instruction to impulsive preschoolers. Both projects sit in preschool rooms and use brief baselines. The 2021 paper swaps self-talk for PLS, yet both boost independent work.

Do not assume a child will “pick up” the next PLS unit after mastering the first one. Teach and probe each unit for every learner. If you see slow gains, slice the program into smaller steps and track mastery unit-by-unit. This extra front-loaded effort prevents later problem behavior and builds real school-ready skills that stick.