An assessment of the relationship between the problem-solving skills and social skills of pre-school children

The study aims to investigate the relationship between the problem-solving skills and social skills of pre-school children, and employed the relational screening model. The study group included a total of 127 children -61 girls and 66 boys- enrolled in the pre-school classes of Private Doğa College, Private Bilim College, and Private Gürtan Primary School at the province center of Bolu during the academic year 2016-2017, along with their teachers. The data collection tools employed by the study are the "Problem Solving Skills Scale" 4-7 age group form, developed by Aydoğan, Ömeroğlu, Büyüköztürk and Özyürek (2012), and the "Pre-School Social Skills Assessment Scale" teacher form developed by Ömeroğlu et al. (2012). The data analysis made use of Pearson correlation factor, independent samples t-test, and one-way variance analysis (ANOVA). The study led to the conclusion that no significant relationship existed between the problem-solving skills and social skills of pre-school children, and that gender, as a variable, did not play a significant role on the problem-solving skills and social skills of children. A glance at the problem-solving scores of children, with reference to age as a variable revealed that significant variance occurred with the sub-aspects problem noticing, problem definition, asking questions about the problem, and evaluating the adequacy of the data available for the solution, as well as with the overall scores for problem solving. On the other hand, age as a variable did not play a tangible role on the social skills of children.