Friendships are such a wonderful and special part of life. From memory making to going through the highs and lows with your peers makes life so much richer. As a child, learning social skills and how friendships fit is a huge learning curve as they go through their childhood and find their ‘people’. As a parent, how do you connect and how do you teach your kids basic social skills and about what a great friendship can be?
Today Janine is joined by Caroline Maguire and in this episode they discuss:
How do we teach our children social and emotional awareness in a fun and play filled way? Eventually our children will become adults so when they walk out into the world, we want them to step into their lives as aware and in control of their emotions as possible.
In this episode we discuss:
The transition to preschool to elementary school can be such an anxious time for both parents and for the children. There’s a lot of unknowns to get them ready for and sometimes we think there’s lots we have to do to prepare them for starting. Today we discuss what you can do to help reduce anxiety for your little one with nursery practitioner, Caroline Allen.
In this episode they discuss:
social and emotional development
It’s that time of year where people are looking for gifts for the kids in their lives. I wanted to share five fantastic holiday presents that build social-emotional skills in children. Take a listen to hear my top 5 ideas for games, activities, and toys that help kids with social and emotional learning.
Recently I watched the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor all about Mr. Rogers. I enjoy documentaries and like to watch them at night as part of my evening routines. I started to watch this one evening, and within the first few minutes, they had already talked about emotional regulation and social skills. I decided to stop and watch it during the day when I could write things down.. When I watched the documentary, I took a ton of notes, and I wanted to share some of my favorite quotes and insights I gained from watching. Take a listen!
Social Stories are a great tool to help kids manage difficult or confusing situations. It’s a way to give information about those situations, including what is expected or what might happen in a simple, supportive and reassuring way. Carol Gray initially defined and refined the process of creating social stories. They can be particularly effective with kids who are on the spectrum, but they can also be used with anyone who just needs a little help to manage a situation or events. I’ve written social stories for kids at school to help them manage continuing a grade or losing a game at recess. One of my colleagues and I even wrote a social story about not passing gas in the classroom (for real, it is the funniest social story ever!!).
A few weeks ago, I wrote a review of the book It’s So Much Work to Be Your Friend by Richard Lavoie. I absolutely love this book, and I wanted to focus in particular on one of his interventions that can help kids learn from their social errors in the moment - The Social Skill Autopsy. Addressing a social misstep and using it as a teachable moment is a great way to help kids identify what went wrong and what they could try again the next time.
One of my colleagues and dear friends recommended that I should read this book. I’m so glad she did. I absolutely love it! The central focus of this book is that “children with learning problems tend to struggle with social relationships”. The author gives practical advice and everyday ways you can help your child improve their social functioning. He recognizes that due to children’s learning disabilities, they may not be able to pick up on the social cues like other kids, so they need more direct instruction and guidance to learn how to interact with others and be a good friend.
This is the second part of a two part post regarding social and emotional developmental expectations in elementary school. The first post focused on early elementary school (K - 2) and this post focuses on late elementary school (3 - 5).
Social and emotional development is critical for children. Children who are on the right track for social and emotional development can make connections with peers and adults, can manage conflict effectively and are more easily able to focus in school on their education.
I thought it would be helpful to lay out some expected social and emotional development for elementary school aged children.
