Early Childhood Education social and emotional skills

Early Childhood Education social and emotional skills are critical for children to be successful in school. Here are some things you can do to help: Building Cooperative play with other children: Cooperation is a key part of relating to others and forging meaningful relationships. You can promote cooperation in your child through activities like making play dates with friends and baking cookies together.

Conflict negotiation: Allow your child to participate in the resolution of conflicts to help them understand how the conflict began and how to resolve it. When a parent and child participate in solving conflicts together, the child learns how to conquer social conflicts and have better outcomes using a team effort. A good book that supports this method of conflict resolution is “When Sophie Gets Angry- Really, Really, Angry….” By: Molly Bang. Discuss with your child how to handle his or her emotions when he or she is angry, how to use methods that will alleviate many conflicts, and illustrate how to resolve conflicts on their own.

Awareness of diversity in self and others: Young children are aware of the diversity that surrounds them. Be supportive and aware of inclusiveness that your child’s teacher promotes in the classroom: • Displayed images of all the children and families in the classroom. • If the group is not diverse, she may display images of diversity in the community. • Toys and materials that reflect the cultures of the children and families in your group.     Then, expand to include materials that mirror the diversity in the world. • Removal of materials and visuals that promote stereotypes.

Expressions of empathy : Read books to your child which will provide you an opportunity to discuss and name emotions, an important step in teaching empathy: Elizabeth Verdick has written a “Best Behavior” series of books, including “Teeth Are Not For Biting” and “Words Are Not For Hurting”.  Cornelia Maude Spelman has written Way I Feel series of books, including When I Feel Angry and When I Care About Others. The Feelings For Little Children series by Elizabeth Crary includes When You’re Shy and You Know It and When You’re Mad And You Know It.

 

What you need to do with your child:

·            Play games.

·            Work with your child to resolve conflict.

·            Set up play dates with other families.

·            Read books that promote tolerance and empathy. 

Resources:

·               Deck of cards

·               Chutes & Ladders game

·               Play dough

·               Building blocks like LEGO and Duplo.

·               Ethnic and cultural books

 

         Books about feelings