Social skills: the ability to empathize and interact successfully with their peer group, and also relate easily to adults. Language skills: the ability to have adequate language skills in order to benefit from experiences facilitating their cognitive, educational and social development. Executive function skills: the ability to hold and manipulate information in the brain, plan and regulate one’s behaviour, problem-solve, and be creative. Emotional self-regulation skills: the ability to adapt behaviours depending on the situation, to control impulses and to shift attention. Self-regulation in learning skills: the ability to postpone immediate satisfaction to attain long-term goals, sustain attention, be persistent, and remain concentrated. Preschool programs are particularly successful in giving children from vulnerable families a boost, putting them on even footing with more affluent families as they prepare to start school.