In Swedish pre-schools and schools a number of programs are used that instruct children about social and emotional training, as well as value-based education. These programs often have their origins in USA and other Anglo-Saxon countries and are thus products of translation processes. This paper deals with these processes and the interest is not primarily on the translation of language, but the cultural translations implicated when programs move across cultural, as well as social (socio-economic) borders. In this transformative process the programs are adapted to norms and values, supposedly pertinent in the receiving cultural and social context. This positions the program constructors as experts not only within the area of social and emotional training, but also as mediators between cultures and the production/reproduction of culture-specific childhoods. This paper explores a selection of the Swedish program StegVis designed for children 4-6 years, and the translation/adaptation process from the American program Second step, via a Danish version called Trin for Trin. The focus is narrowed into exploring some basic aspects of the programs concerning the presentation of the different versions of the programs and their cultural contexts; how scientific authority is legitimized in the programs within the different cultural contexts.