I have been coming into our Kindergarten and First grade classes to provide some lessons on social skills and skills related to their emotions. These lessons include reading books from the Social Thinking series.
Meet our friends “Evan, Ellie, Jessie and Molly” who learn along with us through a fun and interactive book series. We will learn all about important social skills to be the best versions of ourselves!
The past few months, our kindergarten and first grade students have been learning new and exciting topics that relate to social and emotional learning.
- Students have learned about the importance of understanding their own emotions and other people’s emotions. They also have learned that we all have our own thoughts, and it is important to think about how other people feel.
- Students have also learned about “following the group plan”. This means that when they are all thinking about and doing the same thing, they are following the group plan. When everyone follows the group plan, we feel happy and safe!
- Students have learned the importance of what it means to keep their body in the group. This is all about the importance of personal space as well as being safe. It is important to stay with the group so that others around you know that you are following the group plan. It is also just as important to make sure you have enough space around you so that everyone feels comfortable and ready to learn.
- Along the way, our students are reminded that making mistakes is okay. It is expected that we make mistakes sometimes. What matters is how we learn from those mistakes so we can do better next time. When we stop and think, this helps us make choices that keep everyone feeling safe and happy!
I will continue to come into each Kindergarten and First grade class monthly to continue learning a wide variety of social skills!
What you can do at home to help support their social and emotional learning:
- Ask your child about these topics! Have them teach you what they mean.
- Ask your child how they are feeling and why. Take the time to be present with them.
- Share with them your feelings. We are models for our children, they look to us to learn how to react and behave. We can show our children that it is okay to be sad or mad, but we can show them how they can still be safe with their words and actions.
- When reading a book to your child, stop and ask questions like “I wonder how they are feeling?” “Why do you think they feel that way?”
If you would like more ideas or suggestions on how to facilitate more social emotional learning at home, look out for more posts in upcoming newsletters. As always I am available via ParentSquare, Email, or phone call:
Emily Bassett
School Social Worker
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