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Early Years Learning and Development Framework

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Early Years Learning and Development Framework

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The website hosted by Victoria state provides a good collection of pedagogical framework and resources

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Consolidate learning, deepen understanding and develop ATL skills of collaboration, communication and listening and speaking through a range of engaging activities ideal for independent learning and homework.

Fun, interesting and creative activities designed to nurture interpersonal skills in the classroom and at home

Real-life scenarios for students to practise their newly-learned strategies and tips

Opportunities for reflection and self-assessment

Opportunities for group work and peer participation

Understand how the ATL skills connect with and help students to develop agency, self-confidence and enthusiasm for learning.

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PYP ATL Skills Workbook: Interpersonal relationships

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Consolidate learning, deepen understanding and develop ATL skills of collaboration, communication and listening and speaking through a range of engaging activities ideal for independent learning and homework.Fun, interesting and creative activities designed to nurture interpersonal skills in the classroom and at homeReal-life scenarios for students to practise their newly-learned strategies and tips Opportunities for reflection and self-assessmentOpportunities for group work and peer participationUnderstand how the ATL skills connect with and help students to develop agency, self-confidence and enthusiasm for learning.

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The Best Kindergarten You have Ever Seen

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The Best Kindergarten You have Ever Seen

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Kindergartners-centred learning

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At this school in Tokyo, five-year-olds cause traffic jams and windows are for Santa to climb into. Meet: the world’s cutest kindergarten, designed by architect Takaharu Tezuka. In this charming talk, he walks us through a design process that really lets kids be kids.

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من الأشياء التي تعلمناها من علم الدماغ على مدار الثلاثن سنة الماضية، أنّ من أوضح النتائج أنّ تطور/نمو الدماغ المبكر يتأثر تأثراً مباشراً بالتفاعل اليومي للأطفال الرضع مع حاضناتهم. حتى قبل الولادة، يوجد توقعات فطرية لدى الأطفال، بأنه سيكون هناك كبار يلبون احتياجاتهم (2000 Shonkoff& Phillips). كما أن بقاءهم على قيد الحياة، يتوقف على وجود هؤلاء الكبار. وإذا ما تمت تلبية توقعات الرضع من الحماية والرعاية، فإن أدمغتهم تمر بخبرة السعادة والسرور. وتقوم هذه التفاعات المبكرة السارّة بتحفيز الدماغ، وتدفع الأطفال للتواصل بكل ثقة وسهولة مع من يقومون على رعايتهم. أما إذا لم يتم تلبية توقعاتهم بالشكل المناسب، فإن ثقتهم في تلبية احتياجاتهم من خال علاقاتهم بالآخرين قد تتعرض للتحديات. وعندما يحدث هذا، فإن الطفل سيعاني في تطوره الاجتماعي والعاطفي، وذلك لأنّ التطور العاطفي للأطفال الرضع، يشكل القاعدة التي ترتكز عليها كافة أنواع التعلم الأخرى، إضافة إلى النمو العقلي واللغوي (IOM & NRC 2015; Greenspan 1990).

إنّ الخبرات المبكرة في العلاقات، سواء كانت في البيت أو في بيئة التعلم المبكرة، تمهد الطريق لعمل الدماغ في المستقبل. إنّ المعلومات التي جمعها الطفل من خلال هذه العلاقات المبكرة تشكل نواة لعملية بناء الدماغ المعقدة والثرية. وفي الوقت الذي يمر فيه الأطفال بخبرة تلقي استجابات من الحاضنات، فإن أدمغتهم تبدأ ببناء توقعات حول كيف سيُعامَلون، وكيف ينبغي عليهم أن يستجيبوا. على سبيل المثال، عندما يبكي الطفل أو ينفعل فإن استجابات الكبار الثابتة والمتسقة التي توفر له الراحة، تساعده في توقع استجابات مشابهة في المستقبل. وكلما تم تعزيز هذه التوقعات بخبرات مشابهة من خلال تكرارها، فإن أدمغة الأطفال تبني تصورات عن المحيط الاجتماعي والعاطفي الذي يعيشون فيه مثل هذه التصورات تؤثر على كيفية فهم الأطفال لبيئتهم، وتواصلهم مع الآخرين، ومشاركتهم في التعلم. وإذا كانت هذه الخبرات في الأساس إيجابية، فإن الأطفال سينظرون إلى سلوكيات ورسائل الآخرين بطريقة إيجابية، مما يدفعهم لاستكشاف المزيد والمزيد عن العالم من حولهم (بما في ذلك الناس والأشياء). أما عندما يتلقون خبرات سلبية مبكرة ومتكررة، فإنهم يتوقعون بأن تكون سلوكيات ورسائل الآخرين اتجاههم سلبية، ومن ثم يبدؤون بالنظر إلى الخبرات الجديدة مع الآخرين بطريقة سلبية.

سواء كانت العلاقات المبكرة للأطفال إيجابية أو سلبية بشكل كبير، فإنها تؤثر تأثيرأ كبيراً على قدرتهم على التحكم في التوتر. من عمر 0-3 سنوات، يمكن أن يكون للتوتر تأثيرات سلبية على نمو الدماغ (NRC & IOM 2009) وعندما يكون لدى الأطفال خبرات علاقات إيجابية مبكرة، فإنهم يُطورون مظاهر من التعلق بالحاضنات يتسم بالأمان والطمأنينة العاطفية، وهذا بدوره، يخفف التوتر عنهم بمستويات حدته المختلفة. أما إذا كان التوتر شديدأً ومستمراً، فإنه يصبح مرضي، ويصبح من الضروري جداً توفير حواجز وقائية عاطفية، من خال إقامة علاقات آمنة (Center on the Developing Child 2007). وعندما ينبغي على الأطفال التكيف مع التوتر الذي يمكن تحمله) أقل شدة ومؤقت (، فإن العلاقات الآمنة عاطفياً تساعد الأطفال على ضبط استجاباتهم، وبمجرد انحسار التوتر، يعودون للتركيز على الاستكشاف والتعلم. وقد عرفنا من التي دعا إليها مربو الطفولة المبكرة لعدة " الرعاية الحانية المفعمة بالحب " أبحاث الدماغ في السنوات الثلاثن الماضية بأن عقود، لم تعد هي الطريقة اللطيفة المطلوبة لمعاملة الأطفال فقط، بل أصبحت جزءاً أساسياً من نمو الدماغ المبكر.

خال السنوات الثاث الأولى من الحياة، يمر الأطفال في فترة "زمنية طويلة من الضعف وعدم القدرة " يعتمدون خلالها على الآخرين في الأمور التي تتعلق بسامتهم، وبقائهم على قيد الحياة، وتنشئتهم الاجتماعية (Gopnik 2017) ولأن أدمغة الأطفال مبرمجة على التعلم من حاضناتهم، فإن فترة الضعف أو عدم القدرة تعتبر نقطة قوة لا ضعف. ففترة بقاء الرضع والفطم مع الآخرين، سيشحذ أدمغتهم ويبقيها حيّة بانتظار أن تعمل/ تشتغل مستقبلاً (Hamburg 1995). ويبني الدماغ هياكل أساسية، ومسارات تعمل بمثابة الأساس لأداء الاجتماعي والعاطفي واللغوي والعقلي في المستقبل. (Schore 2005; Drury etal 2010) ولذلك، فإن العلاقات التي يمر بها الطفل كل يوم، والبيئات التي تتشكل فيها هذه العلاقات، تعتبر , اللبنات الأساسية في بناء الدماغ. ومن خال مشاركة الأطفال في خبرات التعلم مع حاضناتهم، فإنهم يشكلون أدمغتهم، لتعمل في البيئات المادية والاجتماعية واللغوية الخاصة بالأشخاص القائمن على رعايتهم. يتعلم الأطفال إلى حد كبير من خال انتباههم لتقليد سلوك الحاضنات في كيفية الشعور، والتفكير والتصرف. وببساطة، يمكننا القول بأن التفاعات اليومية لها تأثير هائل. فعلى سبيل المثال، الحاضنة التي تؤدي عادات الرعاية اليومية بلطف وتستخدم اللغة لتساعد الطفل على توقع ما سيحصل فيما بعد، إنما تُعلّمه على تعلم المزيد عن علاقات الرعاية، وتدعم أيضاً تطوره اللغوي. خال هذه الفترة التأسيسية، من المهم أن تدرك الحاضنات ضرورة إيجاد مناخ من الرعاية، مع الوضع بعن الاعتبار النمو الصحي للدماغ. وببساطة أكثر، يتطور الأطفال ويعملون بشكل جيد عندما تتوفر لهم الرعاية في محيط آمن، وماتع و مفعم بالمحبة، حيث يبنون مع حاضناتهم (ذوات الاطّاع الواسع، والحريصات على الاستجابة لاحتياجاتهم واهتمامهم( علاقات آمنة، ودائمة، تربطها جسور من الثقة (Lally 2006).

دماغ الرضيع ضعيف وعرضة للضرر، لكنه في نفس الوقت ذو كفاءة عالية. ولأجل الحصول على نمو صحي لدماغ الطفل، يجب مراعاة هاتن السمتين في نفس الوقت. فالطفل الضعيف يعتمد على العلاقات مع الكبار لبقائه الجسدي، والطمأنينة العاطفية، وبمثابة أساس آمن للتعلم، وكل هذا يساعد في ضبط الذات، والنمذجة، وتوجيه السلوك الاجتماعي، وتبادل المعلومات حول ما يدور في العالم من أشغال وقواعد العيش. ولكن في الوقت ذاته، يأتي الطفل إلى هذا العالم بكفاءة عالية كشخص فضولي، لديه حافز، متعلم مبادر، مقلّد، مفسر، اندماجي، مخترع، مستكشف، متواصل، باحث عن المفهوم والمضمون، وباني للعلاقات. وحتى ينمو الدماغ نمواً قوياً، فإنه يحتاج إلى سياق من علاقات الرعاية، التي توفر له في نفس الوقت، القدرة على التنبؤ العاطفي لتغطية الجانب الضعيف من الطفل، ومناخ من الإبداع العقلي لتغطية جانب الكفاءة. (2013 Lally)

نمو ما قبل الحمل والولادة

متى تبدأ علاقات الرعاية بالتأثير على نمو الدماغ؟ في وقت أسبق/ أبكر مما يفكر معظمنا. مع أنّ هذا المقال يركز بشكل رئيس على العلاقات التي تم بناؤها خلال الفترة الزمنية الممتدة من الولادة وحتى سن الثالثة، إلا أنّ نمو الدماغ قبل الولادة - وحتى قبل الحمل - يستحق بعض الاهتمام )لمزيد من المعلومات حول دعم النمو خلال مرحلة ما قبل الحمل ومرحلة الحمل، يمكنك الرجوع للفصلين الثالث والسابع من كتاب ([For Our Babies: Ending the Invisible Neglect of America's Infants [Lally 2013).

إنّ صحة الأم وعاداتها قبل الحمل تشكل تطور الجنن. فقبل ثلاثة شهور من الحمل، هناك عوامل مثل طعام الأم، وشرابها، المواد السامة، والأدوية/ المخدرات، وتعرضها للضغوط والتوتر، كلها تؤثر في وقت مبكر على بيئة الرحم التي سيتطور فيها الدماغ. وهذا قد يؤثر على تعلم الطفل في المستقبل. ولأن العديد من النساء يصبحن حوامل وهنّ في ظروف صحية سيئة، ويمارسن عادات غير صحية، أصبح من الضروري تناول العلاقة بن مرحلة ما قبل الحمل (وخاصة من الثلاثة شهور قبل الحمل وحتى حدوث الحمل) (2006 Kent et al; 2006 Atrash et al). وبالإضافة إلى حملة التعليم العام لكافة المواطنن حول مخاطر ما قبل الحمل على نمو الدماغ. ينبغي على الولايات المتحدة توفير موقع آمن على شبكة الانترنت لخدمات ما قبل الحمل للنساء في سن الإنجاب، وفحص شامل للاكتئاب وغيرها من المسائل المتعلقة بالصحة النفسية.

في حالة حدوث الحمل، وبدء الدماغ بالنمو في الرحم، قد تؤثر بيئة الجنن بشكل سلبي أو إيجابي على نمو الدماغ. ويكون نمو الدماغ أسرع من أي شيء آخر خال هذه الفترة من الحياة، حيث يجري انتاج الخلايا العصبية بمعدلات مذهلة، ثم تنتقل هذه الخلايا إلى منطقة الدماغ حيث تستقر هناك طوال حياة للشخص، ثم تبدأ بتشكيل روابط عصبية فيما بينها، وتفرق وظائف الدماغ. وتستخدم الأجنة معلومات )مثل نوع وكمية المواد الغذائية التي يستقبلونها، بالإضافة إلى التوتر الذي تمر به الأم واللغة والأصوات التي يسمعها( في تشكيل أدمغتهم لتقع عليهم تلك الخبرات حال ولادتهم. ومجرد اكتمال ثلثا الطريق من الحمل، تكون قد اكتملت نسبة كبيرة من الوصات العصبية الأساسية للدماغ (Thompson, 2010).

من الولادة حتى عمر 9 شهور:علاقات الرعاية والدماغ خال فترة التعلق

خال المرحلة الأولى من النمو بعد الخروج من الرحم، ينصب الكثير من الاهتمام الأولي للرضع على بناء وتعزيز روابط آمنة مع حاضناتهم. فبدلاً من تلقي الرعاية بشكل سلبي، يسعى الأطفال الرضع وبنشاط لطلبها. فالأطفال يأتون إلى هذا العالم ولديهم مهارات جسدية، وكفاءات اجتماعية تهيئهم للعب دور نشط في تطورهم. فهم مفطورون (معدين من قبل ذلك عن طريق ترابط الخلايا العصبية وتحويلها إلى مسارات ووصات عصبية) على التفاعل مع من حولهم بطرق تثير الاهتمام و تزيد من احتمال التواصل والتقارب. (Marvin & Britner 2008) ووفقاً للتغذية الراجعة التي يتلقاها الأطفال من التواصل المتبادل في وقت مبكر، فإنهم يقومون بتوجيه سلوكيات التعلق نحو تطوير علاقات آمنة مع حاضناتهم الأساسيات. وقد أظهرت الدراسات أن طلب التعلق يتوافق مع النتائج التي تقول بأنه خال أول سنتين من نمو الدماغ، فإن عملية ربط الوصات العصبية الخاصة بالنمو العاطفي تكون الأكثر نشاطاً. ويبني الدماغ هياكل أساسية ومسارات/ ممرات من الوظائف العاطفية التي تكون بمثابة قاعدة للتعلق، والنشاط الاجتماعي والعاطفي المستقبلي، والتطور العقلي واللغوي الذي سيأتي لاحقاً. (Schore 2000) في هذه المرحلة المبكرة، يبدأ الأطفال باستخدام الرسائل التي يستقبلونها من الحاضنات، لبناء تصورات عن مدى حب الآخرين لهم. ثم يستخدم الرضع هذه التصورات لبناء نموذج العمل الأولي في كيفية التعامل مع الآخرين. وهكذا، يستقبل أطفال الرعاية، خال عمليات التواصل المتبادل، تأثيرات مباشرة على جودة التعلق الذي يبنيه الأطفال مع حاضناتهم، وتأثيرات على الموقف العاطفي الذي سيتخذونه في تفاعلاتهم مع الآخرين.

يحتاج الأطفال الصغار إلى علاقات مع الحاضنات اللواتي:

لديهن حساسية اتجاه احتياجاتهم ورسائلهم

يستجبن لهم في الوقت المناسب (وخاصة رسائل الضيق)

لديهن دقة في قراءة إشاراتهم و تلميحاتهم

يفهمن المستويات الملائمة من التحفيز (Bornstein 2012)

من عمر 7 - 18شهراً: علاقات الرعاية و الدماغ خلال مرحلة الاستكشاف

في العمر ما بن 7 - 18 شهراً، يكون لدى الأطفال دافع للبحث في بيئتهم المحيطة، والأشياء، والناس، وذلك لبناء تعريف بدائي للذات، ثم يقومون باختبار مدى قوة العلاقات واستخدامها. وباستخدام مهاراتهم الحركية للاستكشاف، فإنهم يقدمون على الأمان الناتج عن الاقتراب الجسدي بحاضناتهم، من أجل اختبار قوة علاقاتهم. فتراهم يأتون ويذهبون وأعينهم تراقب مدى انتباه حاضناتهم لهم، ومدى تقديم الاهتمام العاطفي لهم. فهم - بمعنى أو بآخر - يمارسون الاستقلالية (Calkins & Hill 2007; Eisenberg, Hofer, & Vaughan 2007) كما أن أدمغة الأطفال تستعد في هذه المرحلة، لحياة لا تتمحور بشكل كامل حول القرب الجسدي من الحاضنة. وبناء على ردة فعل الحاضنات تجاه تصرفاتهم، يبدأ الرضع والفطم بحفظ الدروس المستفادة في أدمغتهم. مثاً، أي محاولات الاستكشاف المستقلة تعتبر مناسبة اجتماعياُ، وأيها غير مناسب. وأي الأنشطة يكون خطراً، مثل اللعب بالقرب من درج/ سلم ليس له بوابة حماية.

تتزايد مهارات التواصل واللغة لدى الأطفال بشكل كبير خال مرحلة الاستكشاف، ومع أن الأطفال لا يمكنهم أن ينطقوا إلا ببضع كلمات، إلا أنهم يستطيعون فهم الكثير. (Thompson 2011) الكلمات التي يسمعونها من الكبار تحفز مسارات التطور اللغوي لديهم في الدماغ. إن ما يهم ليس فقط الكلمات، وإنما أيضاً أنماط التواصل الكبرى- بمعنى ليس فقط ما يقال، وإنما كيف يقال وكيف يُتلقى (Pawl & St. John 1998). بعد عمليات التواصل المتبادل مع الحاضنات، يبدا الرضع ببناء إحساس بدائي بالذات. فيتوقعون الآتي:

إن الأفكار والعواطف والخبرات المشتركة التي يعالجها الدماغ النامي من خال التفاعات مع الكبار، لها تأثير عميق على تصرفات الطفل التكوينية وتصوره عن ذاته.

من عمر 15- 36 شهراً

خال المرحلة الثالثة، يصبح لدى الأطفال وعي بانفصالهم عن حاضناتهم، وعن أقرانهم، كما يصبح لديهم إحساس بذواتهم كأفراد. ويبدأون بعرض عواطف إدراك الذات، وخاصة تحسسهم من أحكام الآخرين (Vaughn, Kopp & Krakow 1984). فيشعرون بالخجل والاحراج بسهولة عندما ينتقد الآخرون سلوكهم أو مظهرهم ويبدؤون ببناء ما يسمى بالضمير.وتتميز هذه المرحلة ايضاً بانفجار نمو الدماغ في مجالات النمو المتعددة. (بالإضافة إلى النمو العاطفي الذي كان سائداً من قبل) من الناحية العقلية، يحتفظ الأطفال بالأفكار في أدمغتهم لفترة وجيزة، ويشاركون في اللعب الإيهامي، ويصبحون على نحو متزايد قادرين على تركيز انتباههم على الموضوعات، والناس، والأشياء التي يقدمها الآخرون. كما يزداد استخدامهم للغة المنطوقة بشكل كبير. يستخدمون كثيراً من الكلمات الجديدة وتراكيب الجمل المركبة. كما يطور الأطفال مهارات حركية وإدراكية تتيح لهم الركض بسرعة، وتسلق الأشياء المرتفعة، والضرب بقوة، مما يجعل من تطور ضبط الذات شيئًا في غاية الأهمية (Brownwell & Kopp 2007).

لحسن الحظ، فإن هذه المرحلة من التعرف على الذات، تساعد على الظهور المبكر للمهارات الوظيفية التنفيذية، والتي تشمل تطور الذاكرة العاملة، والمرونة العقلية، والتحكم في الذات (Center on the Developing Child 2012). وتؤثر هذه المهارات الناشئة على جميع مجالات التطور، وتزيد من قدرة الأطفال على استكشاف البيئة الاجتماعية والتعرف عليها - ويجتاز النزاعات مع الآخرين. وكلما اكتسب الأطفال فهماً أوضح لاهتمامات الاستقلال والانفصال كلما أدركوا أنه أصبح لديهم خيارات، والتي تعتبر، نوعاً ما، إطلاقاً لحرياتهم. ولكن مع الخيارات - ولا سيما التي تشمل الحاضنات والأقران- يأتي الإدراك الواضح للمسئولية. وهذا الخيار - قلق المسئولية يكون مأساة هذه المرحلة. ومرة أخرى، تلعب علاقات الرعاية دوراً بارزاً في كيفية بناء دماغ الأطفال الصغار. كما أن كيفية تفاعل الكبار خال هذه الفترة الزمنية من الحياة المفعمة بالتوتر يؤثر تأثيراً كبيراً على كيفية نظرة الأطفال لحقوقهم وحقوق الآخرين. أيضاً تعمل تفاعات الأطفال مع حاضناتهم، وأقرانهم والآخرين على تشكيل مستقبل أدمغتهم في المجالن العاطفي والاجتماعي. وتشكل خبرات الفُطّم في حياتهم اليومية توقعاتهم حول مكونات السلوك المناسب اتجاه الآخرين (Barry & Kochanska 2010). وتوفر هذه الخبرات دروساً لتطوير آداب السلوك والقيم الأخلاقية، والتحكم في الاندفاعات والعواطف، والتعلم والتكيف مع قواعد الأسرة والثقافة، والمجتمع. وكلما مر الأطفال الصغار بخبرة الاحساس المتزايد بالاستقلالية والتحكم في النفس، كلما استمرت قدرة أدمغتهم على ضبط السلوك في التطور، ولكنهم لا يزالون بحاجة لتوجيه الكبار، وهذا التوجيه غالباً ما يأتي من خال علاقات الرعاية.

سلوك الرعاية خلال مرحلة التعرف على الذات

الرعاية اليومية المتوقعة في بيئات آمنة ومحددة بوضوح، وذات استجابات محترمة، وتوجيه ثابت ومتوائم، توفر نوعاً من الرعاية التي تعزز ضبط الذات وبدايات وظيفة المسؤول.

إنّ الدماغ الصغير يريد من الكبار أن يتصرفوا بطريقة تحترم وتقدّر حقوق الطفل في أن يرغب، ويأمل، ويستكشف، ويُعبّر عمّا يفضله، وفي الوقت نفسه، عليهم مساعدة الطفل على تعلم احترام الحقوق المشابهة للآخرين. وعلى الرغم من أن الطفل ينمو ويكبر ويصبح أكثر استقلالية، إلا أن دماغه لا يزال ضعيفاً، وعرضة للخطر. لذلك، فإن علاقات الرعاية- بقواعد واضحة للسلوك يتم تطبيقها بطرق منطقية ومعقولة- يوفر السامة والأمان أثناء تطور الدماغ وتشكيله، ويضمن حصول الخبرات الفردية ودروس التنشئة الاجتماعية في بيئة متوازنة ومتوقعة.

ما نتعلمه من علم الدماغ، يساعدنا على فهمٍ أفضل للعوامل المتعددة، التي تؤثر على تطور الأطفال الصغار، وتزودنا باستراتيجيات تقديم الرعاية التي تتماشى مع نمو الدماغ. إن تطور الدماغ يعالج في جوهره الطفل ككل - بدءاً من صحة الأم، وانتهاءً بخبرات الأطفال المبكرة المنبثقة من ثقافة أسر الأطفال ولغتهم، ومجتمعهم، وبرامج التعلم المبكر الخاصة بهم. إنّ أساس تطور الدماغ هو التطور الاجتماعي والعاطفي القائم على رعاية العلاقات. وإذا أدركت الحاضنات كيف أن خبرة الطفل ككل - وخاصة فترة التطور العاطفي- تؤثر على نمو الدماغ، فإنهن سيوفرن علاقات الرعاية التي تساعد الطفل على الشعور بالأمان والانفتاح على عالم جاذب من الاستكشاف والتعلم طوال السنوات المبكرة.

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Photographs: 1 © iStock; 2, 3, 4, 5, © WestEd

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(Caring Relationships: The Heart of Early Brain Development) علاقات الرعاية: هي أساس التطور المبكر للدماغ

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من الأشياء التي تعلمناها من علم الدماغ على مدار الثلاثن سنة الماضية، أنّ من أوضح النتائج أنّ تطور/نمو الدماغ المبكر يتأثر تأثراً مباشراً بالتفاعل اليومي للأطفال الرضع مع حاضناتهم. حتى قبل الولادة، يوجد توقعات فطرية لدى الأطفال، بأنه سيكون هناك كبار يلبون احتياجاتهم (2000 Shonkoff& Phillips).

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10 Quick Ideas For Teaching Social Skills Through Play

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In a preschool classroom, some of the 3- and 4-year-old children smile, laugh, and giggle during free play; are curious about what happens next during story time; ask what and why questions while doing hands-on activities; and use words to express feelings and needs. In the toy area, Tom and Juan both reach for a small blue car. Tom says, "May I please have it first, then you have it later?" Juan replies, "You have it for five minutes and then I have it for five minutes." Noticing this exchange, their teacher says, "Tom and Juan, you are talking about taking turns. What a great way to play together!"

Tom, Juan, and their classmates are a model of social and emotional health in preschool. Children who are socially and emotionally healthy tend to demonstrate, and continue to develop, several important behaviors and skills (adapted from McClellan & Katz 2001 and Bilmes 2012). They

Are usually in a positive mood

Listen and follow directions

Have close relationships with caregivers and peers

Care about friends and show interest in others

Recognize, label, and manage their own emotions

Understand others' emotions and show empathy

Express wishes and preferences clearly

Gain access to ongoing play and group activities

Are able to play, negotiate, and compromise with others

Why social and emotional health matters

Children's social and emotional health affects their overall development and learning. Research indicates that children who are mentally healthy tend to be happier, show greater motivation to learn, have a more positive attitude toward school, more eagerly participate in class activities, and demonstrate higher academic performance than less mentally healthy peers (Hyson 2004; Kostelnik et al. 2015). Children who exhibit social and emotional difficulties tend to have trouble following directions and participating in learning activities. Compared with healthier peers, they may be more likely to suffer rejection by classmates, have low self-esteem, do poorly in school, and be suspended (Hyson 2004; Kostelnik et al. 2015). Thus, children's social and emotional health is just as important as their physical health, and affects their capacity to develop and potential to lead a fulfilling life.

Teachers can promote children's social and emotional health in many ways, for example, by organizing a material-rich environment to stimulate social interactions among children. This article focuses on two of the most important practices: building trusting relationships and conducting intentional teaching.

Establish trusting relationships

Young children develop and learn in the context of relationships. A trusting and caring teacher-child relationship is essential for children's optimum development (Raikes & Edwards 2009). Children who have trusting relationships with their teachers are, on average, more willing to ask questions, solve problems, try new tasks, and express their thinking than their peers without such relationships (O'Connor & McCartney 2007). In her work supervising student teachers, Ho (the first author) often sees children developing positive social and emotional health as a result of close relationships with their teachers. For example, children learn to use words to express their feelings-such as Amy saying to Emily, "I am sad when you use hurting words!"-and to show empathy-as when Arjun gently pats Brian's head and says, "Are you okay? Do you want to hold the teddy bear?"

Children benefit socially, emotionally, and academically when teachers intentionally create close, trusting relationships (Palermo et al. 2007). But gaining the trust of every child is not as simple as being nice and engaging. How can teachers create trusting relationships with all of the children? Consistently offering warmth, affection, respect, and caring is essential.

Showing warmth and affection consistently

Warmth and affection-even on bad days and when children are misbehaving-are critical to children's well-being in early education settings (Ostrosky & Jung 2005). They contribute to developing secure relationships between children and adults, provide models of gentle behavior, and are linked with children's ability to interact positively with peers (Twardosz 2005). The preschoolers we observed used gentle hands and kind words and positively interacted with peers most of the time. Their social and emotional well-being was nourished by their teachers' warmth and affection, which is shown in the following examples:

Ms. Johnson displays a pleasant facial expression throughout the day. She smiles when greeting children in the morning, says goodbye in the afternoon, and acknowledges children's appropriate behaviors.

Mr. Logan uses the appropriate tone of voice at all times. His speech is at normal pitch and volume; his tone is relaxed and soft. Even when he has to redirect a child's behavior, he remains calm and warm to convey that his concern is with the behavior-not the child.

Ms. Aragon gives appropriate touches when necessary, such as a pat on the back, a handshake, hugs, and brief tickles.

Ms. Lizama moves physically close to the children and bends or crouches to be at the children's eye level while talking to them.

Mr. Sharma often uses loving comments to show he cares: "I am so happy to see you this morning!," "I missed you yesterday," "I love seeing your smile!" And he is careful to make such comments to all of the children in his classroom.

Respecting and caring about every child

Showing respect is a key way to connect with children and strengthen positive relationships. It helps children feel more confident and competent to explore and learn (Dombro, Jablon, & Stetson 2011). Ms. Carnes establishes and maintains close personal bonds with every child in her classroom by consistently acting in respectful and caring ways. Specifically, she

Listens with full attenti on and restates what children say (often also seizing the opportunity to expose the children to new vocabulary). Jason, a 4-year-old, says, "Look, I made a truck with lots of Legos!" Ms. Carnes replies, "Oh, I see, Jason. You built a truck with dozens of Legos." Jason adds, "I use this truck to deliver apples and bananas to the grocery store." Ms. Carnes responds, "Using a truck to deliver nutritious fruits to the grocery store is helpful." Listening to children attentively and reflectively enhances their self-worth and confidence. When teachers actively listen to children, they convey that they care about what the children have to say, and the children are more likely to share their thoughts, ideas, feelings, and stories.

Accepts and reflects children's feel ings. Frowning, Jasper says to the teacher, "Michael has all the big blocks!" Ms. Carnes responds, "Jasper, you seem upset that there are no more large blocks to build with right now. It is difficult to wait!" Amy says with enthusiasm, "We are about to go outside!" Ms. Carnes answers, "The sparkles in your eyes tell me you can hardly wait to go outside. You are excited." When they accept and reflect children's feelings, teachers exhibit sensitivity and caring in a way children understand. Teachers' acknowledgments make children feel heard and accepted (Duffy 2008). As a result, children feel safe to express their emotions-and receive support in identifying, labeling, and better understanding their emotions.

Spends private, quality time with individual chi ldren through one-on-one activities, such as story reading and game pla ying. Emily is sad when her mom leaves. Ms. Carnes reads her a book in a cozy corner with soft pillows and stuffed animals. Afterward, Emily is ready to explore and play in the classroom. Judy complains that no one wants to play with her at the tactile table. Ms. Carnes sits at the table and plays with Judy until another child joins the play. In addition, Ms. Carnes spends quality time with individual children by putting aside other work, moving to the child's level, and conversing openly with the child. Ms. Carnes keeps track to ensure that she speaks with each child regularly, which deepens their relationship and builds trust (Gartrell 2007). Ms. Carnes finds time for these conversations throughout the day, especially during greeting, free play, snack, lunch, and departure time.

Teach social and emotional skills intentionally

Helping children develop social and emotional skills is the heart and soul of any good program for young children (Gordon & Browne 2014). Teachers (and all caregivers) play key roles in helping children develop social and emotional competence (Kostelnik et al. 2015). Teachers can intentionally support children's social and emotional health by using children's books, planning activities, coaching on the spot, giving effective praise, modeling appropriate behaviors, and providing cues.

Warmth and affection-even on bad days and when children are misbehaving-are critical to children's well-being in early education.

Using children's books

Reading and discussing children's books is an excellent way to invite children to identify the characters' emotions and relate the characters' experiences to their own (Roberts & Crawford 2008). To introduce a new social or emotional skill, Ms. Coz carefully chooses high-quality books to read aloud at circle time. Sometimes she chooses books related to children's recent social and emotional behaviors in the classroom. When she sees some of the children having trouble sharing toys, she reads aloud The Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister. When she finds a child crying because her friend hit her, Ms. Coz reads aloud Hands Are Not for Hitting, by Elizabeth Verdick. (See " Children's Books for Teaching Social and Emotional Skills," for more titles to consider.)

To connect the characters and situations in the book with the children's experiences, Ms. Coz plans to read the book at least twice and also add it to the classroom library. During the second reading, she asks meaningful questions: "What do you think the characters are feeling?," "How would you solve the problem?," "Can you use words from the story to explain how you feel when you . . .?," "What could we do differently if this happens in our classroom?" These open-ended questions enable children to talk about their own experiences, learn new vocabulary words, and practice social and emotional skills.

Planning activities

To extend and apply what children learn from reading stories, Ms. Coz plans follow-up activities, such as hands-on crafts, games, and songs. She often uses Book Nook guides, created by the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning ( http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/strategies.html#booknook). These guides help her embed social and emotional development activities into daily routines, including read-alouds. (See " Activities for Supporting Children's Social and Emotional Learning " for some ideas adapted from Book Nook guides.)

Coaching on the spot

When they coach children on the spot, teachers help children realize what they are doing, understand how their actions affect others, and choose positive alternatives (Riley et al. 2008). For example, when Ryan and Ethan build a firehouse in the block area, Ethan grabs the fire truck from Ryan, and Ryan cries. Ms. Coz crouches down at Ethan's level to look into his eyes; calmly and warmly, she says, "Ryan was still using the truck. When you took it away from him, he got upset. What could you do to make Ryan feel better?" After Ethan says he is sorry and gives back the fire truck, Ms. Coz says, "Next time if you want to play with the toy Ryan is using, could you ask if he will share?" Ms. Coz follows up by observing Ethan and providing immediate positive feedback on his desirable behavior.

Giving effective praise

Meaningful feedback pertinent to the task at hand in the form of effective praise is a powerful strategy for fostering children's social and emotional development (Kostelnik et al. 2015). To make praise effective, teachers describe specifically what they see-without generalizing, evaluating, or making comparisons. When Emily finishes her drawing, Ms. Coz notices her picture and her smile. Ms. Coz says, "I see a blue sky, a yellow sun, and green grass around the big brown tree. This picture makes you happy, doesn't it?" This praise is effective because Ms. Coz offers detailed, positive comments immediately after desirable behavior occurs. Noticing Ethan asking Ryan politely for a policewoman figure, Ms. Coz says, "Ethan, you used the magic words May I plea se? to ask for that policewoman while you and Ryan were building the firehouse together. Great job!" Smiling, Ethan responds, "We are friends and we can share things."

Modeling appropriate behavior

Children learn by observing other people, getting ideas about how new behaviors are formed, and using the ideas to guide their actions (Bandura 1977). Many studies have found that modeling-or demonstrating appropriate behaviors-teaches and enhances children's social and emotional skills (Katz & McClellan 1997; Hyson 2004). This research-based conclusion is evidenced in Ms. Coz's and Ms. Carnes's classes. Both teachers implement several noninvasive strategies-including modeling-that their center administrators created to support teachers in promoting socially and emotionally healthy behaviors. They display the strategies on the classroom wall and put them into action by

Moving closer to children, when needed, as a nonverbal cue to rethink behaviors

Modeling appropriate warm and respectful behavior throughout the day and at specific moments when a gentle reminder is needed

Using nonverbal gestures and contact (e.g., nodding the head, giving thumbs-up signs, and touching children gently on the shoulder) to send messages

Employing simple language (e.g., "Walking feet, please" and "Use gentle hands") to set expectations and give reminders

Acknowledging a kind act on the spot or praising a group effort for a job well done

Placing a hand-gently-on a child's hand to redirect attention and behavior

When children see teachers demonstrate these noninvasive strategies, they often smile, use their gentle hands, say please and thank you, give hugs and high fives, and use words to express their feelings.

In addition to being role models, the teachers use the children's appropriate behaviors to model social and emotional skills. They carefully observe and record details about how children apply the target skills, and they share their observations with the children through puppet shows during circle time. Using puppets to demonstrate children's appropriate behaviors helps children learn social and emotional skills meaningfully.

Providing cues

Providing cues to engage children in appropriate social behavior has been shown over time to improve their social behavior with their peers (Bovey & Strain 2005). Ms. Coz and Ms. Carnes often provide verbal cues to help some children participate in activities. Before playtime, for example, Ms. Carnes asks, "James, who are you going to ask to play with you at center time?" During playtime, she suggests, "Saanvi, can you ask Anna to build an airplane with you?" To teach sharing and turn taking, Ms. Coz asks Steven, who has been waiting to play with a toy dolphin for a while, "What magic words could you use to have a turn with the dolphin John is using?"

Both Ms. Coz and Ms. Carnes prominently display visual cues in their classrooms to assist children's social and emotional interactions. For example, they provide teacher-made hand puppets to guide children to use quiet voices, helping hands, and walking feet. To help children calm down, they also created a "push wall"-a designated spot on the wall to push anger out-and use puppets to demonstrate the strategy. These puppets, demonstrations, and explanations are essential for clarifying and modeling appropriate behavior-and the visual cues are essential for reminding the children to practice what they have learned. Long-term visual cues function like a third teacher in the sense that children use the cues to remind one another of solutions and appropriate actions.

Teachers and caregivers promote children's social and emotional health by establishing trusting relationships, created when teachers express warmth, affection, and respect. Teachers can intentionally teach and enhance these skills using evidence-based strategies to teach, model, and reinforce positive behaviors. As evidenced in the preschool classrooms we observed, teachers who prioritize developing children's social and emotional health are richly rewarded with happy, engaged children who learn to avoid and resolve conflicts, share and take turns, and express their emotions in productive ways.

Children's Books for Teaching Social and Emotional Skills

Can You Be a Friend?, by Nita Everly

Care Bears Caring Contest, by Nancy Parent, illus. by David Stein

Fox Makes Friends, by Adam Relf

How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends?, by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

How I Feel Frustrated, by Marcia Leonard

I Can Do It Myself (a Sesame Street Series), by Emily Perl Kingsley, illus. by Richard Brown

I'm in Charge of Me!, by David Parker, illus. by Sylvia Walker

Mouse Was Mad, by Linda Urban, illus. by Henry Cole

My Many Colored Days, by Dr. Seuss, illus. by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

Sharing: How Kindness Grows, by Fran Shaw, illus. by Miki Sakamoto

When I'm Feeling Sad, by Trace Moroney

When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry, by Molly Bang

Activities for Supporting Children's Social and Emotional Learning

Helping hands chain: Trace and cut out multiple hands for each child. Place them in a pocket or baggie that is easily accessible. As you recognize a child's helping hand behavior, have the child get a hand from their pocket and connect it to the class's helping hand chain. The hands can be placed on the wall to wrap around the room. On a regular basis, celebrate how long the helping hand chain is getting!

Hand puppets: Create character puppets by having children color or paint the pictures, cut them out, and glue them to craft sticks. Once dry, children can bring their puppets to circle time and act out the story while you read the story aloud. Later, they can take the puppets to the story area or puppet center.

Moving to music: Choose songs with lyrics that encourage movement. Before you start, remind the children that they need to listen closely to the words so they know what actions to take. Classic songs like "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" work well. Many children's CDs have great songs that involve following directions (try "My Ups and Downs," and "Hands Are for Clapping," by Jim Gill). Do the motions with the children as you listen to the songs. After listening to each song several times, children will build confidence and know which motions to do on their own. Point out to the children that they know what to do because they are being such good listeners.

Pass the feeling bag: Place an assortment of scenario picture cards in a bag. As music plays, the children pass the bag. When the music stops, one child picks out a card and identifies it. Have the child talk about how each scenario or item makes him feel and why. Allow children to take turns pulling out picture cards.

Feeling faces collage: Have children cut out different feeling faces from magazines. Mix nontoxic glue and water together in a small bowl. The children put the pictures on top of a piece of paper, take a paintbrush and dip it in glue solution, and paint over their pictures. They can hang their feeling faces collages on the wall.

Share box: Create a special share box that is only introduced during circle time. Children can decorate the box with primary colors or with a bold pattern. Inside the box, place items that can be shared, such as musical instruments, a box of chunky sidewalk chalk, playdough, or several sensory bottles.

Singing: After a story about sharing with friends, sing "Share, share, share your toys; share them with a friend. Share, share, share your toys, let's all play pretend," to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." After a story about feelings, sing "If You're Happy and You Know It" with a variety of emotions and body gestures.

Note: Adapted with permission from Book Nook, created by the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. To use Book Nook guides at no cost, visit http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/strategies.html#booknook.

References

Bandura, A. 1977. Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bilmes, J. 2012. Beyond Behavior Manage ment: The Six Life Skills Childre n Need, 2nd ed. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf.

Bovey, T., & P. Strain. 2005. "Strategies for Increasing Peer Social Interactions: Prompting and Acknowledgment." Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. What Works Briefs. http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/briefs/wwb17.pdf.

Dombro, A.L., J. Jablon, & C. Stetson. 2011. Powerful Interactions: How to Connect with Children to Extend Their Learning. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Duffy, R. 2008. "Are Feelings Fixable?" Exchange 30 (6): 87-90.

Gartrell, D. 2007. A Guidance Approach for the Encouraging Classroom, 4th ed. Florence, KY: Thomson Delmar Learning.

Gordon, A.M., & K.W. Browne. 2014. Beginnings and Beyond: Foundati ons in Early Childhood Education, 9th ed. Belmont, CA: Cengage.

Hyson, M. 2004. The Emotional Development of Young Chil dren: Building an Emotion-Centered Curric ulum, 2nd ed. New York: Teachers College Press.

Katz, L.G., & D.E. McClellan. 1997. Fostering Children's Social Competence: The Teacher's Role. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Kostelnik, M.J., A.K. Soderman, A.P. Whiren, M.L. Rupiper, & K.M. Gregory. 2015. Guiding Children's Social Development and L earning: Theory and Skills, 8th ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage.

McClellan, D., & L.G. Katz. 2001. "Assessing Young Children's Social Competence." Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED450953.pdf.

O'Connor, E., & K. McCartney. 2007. "Examining Teacher-Child Relationships and Achievement as Part of an Ecological Model of Development." American Educational R esearch Journal 44 (2): 340-69.

Ostrosky, M.M., & E.Y. Jung. 2005. "Building Positive Teacher-Child Relationships." Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. What Works Briefs. http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/briefs/wwb12.pdf.

Palermo, F., L.D. Hanish, C.L. Martin, R.A. Fabes, & M. Reiser. 2007. "Preschoolers' Academic Readiness: What Role Does the Teacher-Child Relationship Play?" Early Childhood Research Quarterly 22 (4): 407-22. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3856866.

Raikes, H.H., & C.P. Edwards. 2009. Exte nding the Dance in Infant and Toddler Caregiving: Enhancing Attachment and Relationships. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

Riley, D., R.R. San Juan, J. Klinkner, & A. Ramminger. 2008. Social and Emotional Developm ent: Connecting Science and Practice in Early Childhood Settings. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf; Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Roberts, S.K., & P.A. Crawford. 2008. "Real Life Calls for Real Books: Literature to Help Children Cope with Family Stressors." Young Children 63 (5): 12-17.

Twardosz, S. 2005. "Expressing Warmth and Affection to Children." Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. What Works Briefs. http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/briefs/wwb20.pdf.

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Promoting Young Children's Social and Emotional Health

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Trusting relationships and intentional teaching improve young children's social and emotional health.

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In this digitally-saturated world, it is more vital than ever that educators continue to recognize and value the human interaction skills that are so important to our students' development and well being. After ten years of being emerged in ed tech (pun intended :)) and having raised three kids through this first decade of device-always-in-hand, I've become quite concerned about too much tech and not enough human, social connectivity*. This is the first of what I hope will be a longer series of occasional posts focusing on working to have a "balanced perspective" about technology and education. My thanks to guest writer Thomas J. Lovecraft for this submission. - Kelly Walsh

*I will be exploring various downsides of our digital existence in next Friday's "Cyber Savvy" webinar. Add it to your calendar and come join us (noon EST, 9/7).

There is a tendency to assume that toddlers learn social skills by playing with one another in social settings. This is, however, only part of the process. In fact, the journey begins a long time before a child gets to interact with peers.

The first social skills children learn are acquired by watching the adults around them and the role modeling of what they see. That's why parenting is about so much more than seeing to the physical needs of a child. Prior to a child stepping into a classroom, they should have been taught several social skills.

Once children get into a classroom setting, they need to sharpen their social skills through their interactions with their teacher and their classmates. Preschool teachers need to teach social skills through play and fun.

They can use stories, songs, puppets, and games to teach kids to interact with others. This prepares them to be productive members of society later in life.

These are some of the important social skills parents should focus on, and preschool teachers will reinforce.

1. Expressing emotions

It's vital that as soon as possible children learn to put a name to what they are feeling. It helps them to verbally express their feelings instead of turning to other methods. For example, a child should learn to verbalize that he is angry or frustrated without resorting to throwing things around or hitting other children.

The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) suggests that you teach your child to distinguish emotions like happy, sad, and angry. More complex expressions of emotion will come later.

Children must learn how to process the emotions they are feeling appropriately. Once they can put a name to the emotion, they can be taught how to cope with what they're feeling. These are skills that are much-needed in adulthood.

2. Communication

At different stages, children need to be able to communicate at appropriate levels. For example, between 2-3 years old, a child must make eye contact with the person speaking to them. Patricia Henderson Shimm writes on www.babycenter.com that toddlers often avoid contact as a means of control. They need to learn early on that eye contact is polite and indicates that they are listening. They should be able to greet others and know how to take turns talking.

The complexities advance as they get older. By age 5-6 years old, a child should know how to say please, thank you, and sorry. This takes a lot of children a long time before it's automatic. Positive role modeling is critical at this stage.

The communication skills your child acquires are essential for their integration into society. As early as possible, children need to learn the difference between polite and rude communication. They also need to distinguish between communicating with an adult and a child.

3. Listening

Listening skills are vital as without them, children cannot learn. Teaching your child listening skills is important. They are born with some listening skills, but they need to be enhanced.

One of the easiest ways to teach listening skills is to play 'broken telephone' or variants thereof. Whisper a word or phrase into your child's ear and let them repeat it back. It will take a while, but you'll get to a stage where you can get your child to listen to and repeat 3-4 sentences. JoJo Tabares, a speech communications specialist includes this strategy in her guidelines on how to stimulate listening and speaking skills.

Allowing children to engage in discussions with groups of their peers is also a way of stimulating listening skills and teaching them the value of taking turns. It's as simple as putting them in a circle and asking them to talk about their weekend.

Some children will speak with ease, while others will feel shy. The extroverts need to learn to give the introverts a turn. And the introverts need to learn to come out of their shells enough to participate.

4. Group work

The earlier children learn to function in a group, the better they will behave in group settings when they're older. When you're working with very small children, the types of activities to do will focus on play.

Putting children into groups to play with toys such as blocks teaches them how to interact with others. At first, it may seem that they are playing alongside each other and not with each other. But they are absorbing the things going on around them all the time and processing them, according to kidshealth.org. Role modeling the correct behavior is essential, as it allows children to learn what is appropriate. Some children struggle with this more than others but will learn with loving, patient guidance.

Parents of an only child have an additional responsibility in this regard. They must seek out opportunities to involve their child in socializing groups so that their children get exposure to children of their own age.

In a classroom setting, children should complete group work tasks. They will learn that each group member has a job and that all the jobs need to be done to complete the task.

5. Caring

Children need to learn compassion for others from an early age. It prepares them for relationships they will have when they're older. They need to look at someone who has fallen with sympathy and try to help them.

Children need to know that laughing when someone is in pain or feeling sad is unacceptable. This is also the time that they need to learn to treat animals with a caring approach.

Conflict management is an important part of this social skill. When children learn how to deal with conflict constructively, they will be able to do so when they are adults. Teach children that conflict is normal, provided it is dealt with appropriately. Some good tips for teaching children conflict management provide a great framework from which to work. Children should have some basic conflict resolution skills and know when to get an adult involved to help.

When children are taught conflict management skills, they should learn how to 'fight fair.' That means not resorting to insults and violence to resolve a conflict.

6. Non-verbal skills

Non-verbal skills are the ability to read the facial expression and body language of those around us. It also incorporates interpreting the gestures they see, the tones of voice they hear, and the posture they observe. People often say a lot more non-verbally than they do verbally.

Teach children to interpret non-verbal cues through fun activities. Put on an appropriate TV show or movie. Turn the sound off. Let the children observe the characters. Pause the playback and ask the children if they can tell you how a certain character is feeling. The Everything Parent's Guide to Special Education Author, Amanda Morin, finds that this helps children learn to read social cues.

Ask them how they can tell what the character is feeling. Point out the facial expression, the gestures, and the body language the character is showing. You can also let children stand in front of the class and role play how they feel with a facial expression. Then the other children can guess what the child is feeling. They can talk about what makes them feel the same way.

Conclusion

Children are unique. In the same way, they have unique ways of learning social skills. Teachers should strive to distinguish the differing needs of their learners. A varied approach may be required to reach some of them. But what they all need from a teacher is reassurance that the classroom is a safe space where they are loved and valued.

If a child feels they can trust a teacher, they will confide in them if there is something wrong at home. They need to learn that respect is a two-way street. They show respect to their teacher and peers, and then they'll receive respect in return. Teachers should learn their names and their distinct personality traits as soon as possible so that they know how to reach their learners.

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6 Vital Social Skills to Teach to Pre-School Children

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In this digitally-saturated world, it is more vital than ever that educators continue to recognize and value the human interaction skills that are so important to our students' development and well being.

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Social Skills and Emotional Competence - Lesson Idea

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Social Skills and Emotional Competence - Lesson Idea

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Know

As a child development professional, supporting social and emotional competence is a major part of your job. Appropriately, you will spend the bulk of your time with children promoting positive interactions, helping solve problems, and responding to intense emotions. You are promoting positive social and emotional skills in every interaction you have with a child. Evidence suggests that social-emotional competence contributes significantly to skills in other domains like cognitive development and physical development. Researchers at the Center for the Study of Social Policy found an additional benefit of such an emphasis on social and emotional competence: It decreased the amount of child abuse and neglect in families. Parents with children in exemplary programs reported that the skills their children learned related to anger management and violence prevention directly affected the way parents and children interacted. When children expressed their emotions appropriately, parents began to see their children differently.

You can imagine this is true in center settings as well. Children who are socially skilled are more likely to advocate for themselves, ask another adult for help, express their needs, feelings, and interests appropriately and clearly, and connect with others. When children are able to clearly express their needs and wishes, we are better able to understand how to meet their needs. Adults also have an easier time caring for children who are able to listen and follow directions, follow the routine of the program, solve problems, and ask for help rather than engaging in challenging behavior. Social and emotional competence also leads to more positive adult-child relationships and more positive peer relationships. It is through these positive relationships that children learn best.

What does this have to do with preventing child abuse and neglect in center settings? The answer is simple: when you see each interaction as an opportunity to build a positive relationship, you are more likely to view children positively. You are more likely to see behaviors as communication.

The 4 year old who is "tattling" on another child is saying, "We need your help."

The 3 year old who is climbing up the slide is saying, "Help me learn to use this."

The 4 year old who throws a soccer ball over the fence is saying, "I'm frustrated."

The child running around the room is saying, "Help me find someone to play with."

Seeing behaviors as communication makes you less likely to become frustrated or overwhelmed. You are more likely to make good decisions about responding to behaviors that challenge you. These decisions help strengthen your relationships with children, and these relationships prevent child abuse and neglect in your program.

You can learn more about social-emotional development by downloading and reading the article on Social and Emotional Competence at the end of the Learn section.

What is Social and Emotional Competence?

Social and emotional competence is the ability to interact with others, regulate one's own emotions and behavior, solve problems, and communicate effectively. Children who are socially and emotionally competent have (Center for the Study of Social Policy, 2013):

Children who have these characteristics are not just successful in classrooms. They're successful in life. There is strong research evidence that social and emotional development contributes to development across domains: cognitive, physical, communication. In many ways, social and emotional development opens the door to richer and deeper learning. In early childhood, we understand that relationships are the foundation of all learning, so it makes sense that having strong relationships helps children learn.

There are three main strategies teachers working with preschool age children can promote social and emotional competence:

Teaching or helping children learn to recognize and deal with emotions

Teaching or helping children learn to recognize and solve social problems

Teaching or helping children learn to be friends

You can learn a great deal about each of these strategies by visiting the CSEFEL and NCPMI websites provided in the References & Resources section at the end of this lesson. You will also learn more in the Positive Guidance and Social & Emotional Development courses. Below is a brief introduction to these three strategies.

Emotional Literacy

Emotional literacy is the ability to recognize emotions in yourself and others. It's also the ability to express and regulate emotions. Classrooms or programs that promote emotional literacy talk about emotions throughout the day every day. Adults identify and label their own emotions and the emotions of children. They read stories about emotions and help children recognize and identify emotions in themselves and others. Teachers also provide concrete strategies to help children address and express their emotions appropriately. For example, in some classrooms children are taught the "Turtle Technique" to help them stop and think about appropriate ways to express their emotions when they're angry.

Another way teachers can support emotional literacy is by continuing to assist in children's development of empathy. Empathy is the ability to take on another person's perspective. You can do this by describing your own emotions and the emotions of children in your classroom. Begin by asking children to think about how they would feel in certain situations. Encourage opportunities for reflection, critical thinking, and compassion. While children at this age may not fully understand the concept, teaching empathy can begin early. People who understand the emotions of others are less likely to act aggressively toward one another. This means that teaching children empathy can help prevent aggressive behavior in your classroom. Teaching empathy also brings awareness to your own mental and emotional health, which can help prevent child abuse and neglect in your program. Through repeated exposure at young ages children can begin to develop skill in empathetic perspective taking and strengthen emotional literacy. Learn more about the difference between empathy and sympathy here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw.

Problem-Solving

All of us experience problems. Our success lies in how we deal with those problems. The skill of successfully navigating complex social situations does not necessarily come naturally. In classrooms that foster social and emotional competence, children are taught specific strategies for solving social problems. They may learn to recognize they have a problem, think of solutions, think about the outcomes or consequences of their solutions, and give it a try. Adults may also help children generate solutions to try.

Friendship Skills

Learning how to make and keep friends is a lifelong skill. There are a variety of skills that are considered friendship skills. These include:

Asking to join others in play

Offering ideas and suggestions

Sharing

Taking turns

Giving compliments

Knowing how and when to apologize

In classrooms that foster social and emotional competence, staff members look for opportunities to promote friendship skills. They encourage friendly behavior, model friendly behavior, and set up opportunities for children to practice friendship skills.

To learn more about specific ways you can use these strategies to promote social and emotional competence, watch the following video from the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations' (NCPMI) website: https://challengingbehavior.org/document/promoting-social-emotional-competence/

See

What do programs that promote social and emotional competence look like? Watch this video to find out.

Video not available
Learn about the importance of social development

Do
From the Center for the Study of Social Policy:

Always give children an opportunity to say goodbye when they are leaving the program or when staff changes occur.

Help children process class or staff changes.

Communicate staffing changes to parents and children.

Intentionally help children enter into new settings (e.g. by allowing for transition/orientation time).

Encourage children to express their feelings.

Encourage sharing, taking turns, and cooperative play.

Offer children many ways to express themselves: theater, music, visual arts.

According to the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, to foster emotional literacy you can:

Read books about feelings and make sure your classroom library has plenty of books about feelings.

Post photos of people with various emotional expressions.

Encourage and reinforce children to use feeling words.

Notice and label children's feelings.

Plan activities to teach and reinforce concepts on emotions.

Label your own feelings.

To promote problem-solving you can:

Specifically teach the steps to solving problems.

Engage children in generating solutions to common challenges.

Post visual reminders about problem-solving.

Recognize and give specific feedback to children who have been "good problem solvers."

Help children reflect on their own problem-solving skills.

Change your approach to meet individual children's needs.

To promote friendship skills, you can:

Encourage children to work together.

Make positive and specific comments about children who are working together, helping each other, etc.

Use a variety of strategies to teach friendship skills (e.g., sharing, turn taking, helping others).

Provide children with planned opportunities to practice friendship skills.

Model appropriate friendship skills in interactions with children and other adults.

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Promoting Children's Social Skills and Emotional Competence

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As a child development professional, supporting social and emotional competence is a major part of your job. Appropriately, you will spend the bulk of your time with children promoting positive interactions, helping solve problems, and responding to intense emotions. You are promoting positive social and emotional skills in every interaction you have with a child.

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Working in the public school system for many years, I often heard guidance counselors asking for advice about the kinds of activities they should do with their social skills groups.

Students in the group often had difficulty with skills such as listening, waiting their turn in conversation, staying on topic, sharing materials, understanding another person's feelings, getting along with others, resolving conflict, and appropriately expressing their own feelings.

This article gives five suggestions for activities to do with your social skills group. You may think these activities are more appropriate for elementary-age students but I think they can really be adapted for younger and older groups.

Activities can also be modified for a one on one situation such as parent/child or counselor/student.
What the research says: Phillip C. Kendall, Professor of Psychology, reported the positive effects of using modeling and role playing, and teaching self-evaluation when teaching social skills. Further research, such as Social Skills Training for Teaching Replacement Behaviors: Remediating Acquisition Deficits in At-Risk Students, confirms the benefits of intense social skills instruction.
5 Activities to Do with Your Social Skills Group

Activity 1:
When first introducing kids to a social skills group it is a good idea to have them understand what social skills are and why they are important.

As a starting activity, write down different social skills on individual slips of paper and put them in a bowl, hat, etc. Have your students sit in a circle and pass around the slips of paper, taking turns pulling them out one at a time.

The image below will give you an idea of some of the social skills to put in the bowl. You can break this into several lessons by only doing a few social skills at a time. You also might want to add some skills that are not on the list such as showing empathy, staying on topic in conversation and using manners.

When the student pulls the slip of paper from the bowl, ask him/her to say what the social skill means, have them give an example, and/or ask them to tell the rest of the group why that skill is important.

Give as much guidance and support as your students need to answer the questions. You may want to go first, to show the students how to do this activity.

Here is an example:

If a student picked "sharing materials" she could say "That means to let someone use something that you are using. For example, if I am coloring with crayons I can let my friend borrow my crayons and color with me. Sharing is important because it shows others that you care about how they feel. Part of being a good friend is sharing."

You could even have students act out the skills. So in this example, you can have one of your students pick materials to share with the other members of the group.

You can also let students create their own drawings of the skill you are talking about. To give you an idea of what I mean, below is a drawing of sharing:

Depending on the students' skill and age level, frustration tolerance, and ability to sustain attention, you can do all of the suggestions I mentioned in this activity or just one.

Recommended Article: 15 Behavior Strategies for Children on the Autism Spectrum
Activity 2:
The video below has a great activity for practicing sharing, turn-taking, listening, following directions, encouraging others, and being polite. While the therapist uses bubbles as the prop, other objects can be used to tailor this activity to students of different ages.

Imagine implementing this same lesson but using activities such as shooting a basketball in a net, playing with a remote control car, doing an activity on the computer, etc.
Recommended Article: 8 Fun Activities to Practice Social Skills with Your Child

This next video shows you how to use conversation starters to create a reciprocal dialogue. The counselor encourages the students to pick a topic, ask another person a question related to the topic, and have the other person ask a question back.

This activity allows students to practice listening, taking turns in conversation, staying on topic, and expressing interest in another person's thoughts, ideas, and/or life.

This next video gives you great ideas for how to talk to children about what it means to be a friend. After you teach the lesson, have your students tell you what they learned about being a friend, draw a picture that shows someone being a friend to another person, and/or practice one of the skills in the video.

For example, this video mentions being a good listener and sharing as two of the things good friends do, so as part of the lesson have your students practice listening to each other and/or sharing items.

Talk to your students about what it means to be an active listener (e.g., looking at the person who is talking, waiting your turn to speak, responding to what the person said, trying to understand how the other person might be feeling, etc.).

The "What it means to be a friend" lesson could be a great segue into the lessons above which hone in on sharing skills and conversation skills.
Related Article: How to End Bullying Part 1: 19 Tips for Parents and Teachers

Speaking of being a good friend, complimenting others (a great friendship skill) is another nice activity to do with your group.

Set the expectations from the beginning that only kind words and respect for each other is allowed in the group.

For this activity, you could go around in a circle and have each student say something nice about someone else in the group.

To make sure everyone gets a turn to be complimented, put people's names on slips of paper in the bowl and have them pass it around taking turns pulling out names.

This activity will get easier as the students get to know each other better. If the students just met and are not sure what to say about each other, allow them to say something nice about a family member or friend outside of the group.

As the group gets to know each other, the compliments should be about the group members.

Side Note: To teach self-evaluation, discuss how you and your student(s)/client(s) did during each activity. Give specific feedback about what went well and discuss areas that need improvement. Let your clients share their own thoughts and perceptions about how they did during the activity. Encourage your clients to think about their own behavior when they are involved in similar real-life scenarios.
You may be interested in Model Me Kids: Videos for Modeling Social Skills: Model Me Kids produces dozens of videos to teach kids social skills that will help them develop better relationships. Video modeling is a research-based practice. Here is a sample video.

You can view more of the Model Me Kids Video Program here.

Recommended Book: Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller

Interactive Social Skills Books for Kids
Recommended: Become a Certified Self-Esteem Coach for Children
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More Articles to Help with Social Skills

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Working in the public school system for many years, I often heard guidance counselors asking for advice about the kinds of activities they should do with their social skills groups. Students in the group often had difficulty with skills such as listening, waiting their turn in conversation, staying on topic, sharing materials, understanding another person's feelings, getting along with others, resolving conflict, and appropriately expressing their own feelings.

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CECE Early Childhood Videos at Eastern CT State U.

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How to Talk to Your Child: The Best Strategies for Effective Communication

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This is a show about how parents can talk to their children. It may seem obvious; however we often shut our children down and end up in a constant loop of saying the same thing over and over. That's not talking, or more importantly, not listening.

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Part 1: Teaching primary children communication skills

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At Rhyl Primary School, one pupil uses a checklist to observe other pupils working together and taking turns; use of paired talk.

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Supporting Communication among Early Learners

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Supporting Communication among Early Learners

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Supporting children to become effective and confident communicators is an important role for both parents and educators. Right from birth children are social beings who try to communicate with the world around them. If they feel heard and understood it supports their emerging identity and sense of self. It doesn't matter whether the communication is verbal or non-verbal - it is the experiences that will ultimately support their literacy and numeracy competency throughout early childhood.

If babies and children aren't provided opportunities to express themselves and communicate with others in a variety of ways it can contribute to them feeling as though they are never 'heard' or 'understood'. As adults, we tend to give up trying to communicate with someone when we don't feel as though they are listening or open to how we are communicating with them. It is the same with children, they will lose their spark to investigate, problem solve and communicate in different ways. They may become withdrawn, have difficulty making sense of their experiences at home and play and miss out on the many valuable interactions needed to extend their vocabulary and communication skills.

So how do we as parents and/or educators ensure we are supporting our children to become effective communicators right from birth? How can we provide experiences to encourage them to develop a love of communicating with others?

The Australian Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) includes communication in Learning Outcome Number 5. Regardless of whether you are an educator or following the Australian framework, it provides many valuable indicators for everyone with children under 5 to explore.

So let's take a closer look at the indicators as outlined by the EYLF document. I'll share some easy ideas/strategies in 'normal speak' under each heading for parents and educators to try. Of course, we can't do everything but if we try to do at least a few from each area it will ensure we are providing a positive foundation for language, literacy and numeracy learning and discovery.

Children communicate in many different ways. It's important to realise that they might not be actually talking or using words in a way that you understand but they are still communicating and we should always acknowledge and respond to these attempts. Sometimes it can be easy to miss these moments because we are busy and often only listening for verbal interactions.

Encourage babies and children to explore facial expressions through mirror play, songs, stories and craft. Recognise when they are using a certain expression to communicate with you even if they can't articulate the words.

Try talking less and responding more to a child. Look for non-verbal cues that you might be missing if always the one doing the directing or talking. Encourage non-verbal communication by responding to body language, eye contact/gaze, facial expressions and gestures such as pointing.

Recognise that a child from another culture who also might speak another language can still be supported to communicate in different ways. If your child's friend does not share the same language perhaps you could help them to learn a few keywords from another language or explore the other child's culture through internet research, pictures and song.

If a child cannot speak but communicates through sign language then you might support your child or class to learn a little sign language. This is of course just as important in early childhood settings too. You don't need to teach a child a whole new language or become fluent in sign language, but you do need to ensure they have an awareness of the many ways to communicate and can foster that interest to help children make sense of the world around them.

Provide play experiences that allow children to explore concepts of measurement and number through vocabulary while playing. Ask open-ended questions and encourage communication and discussion during group or role play.

Interact with babies as they try out new sounds or attempt to communicate. Reflect back to them and use your own facial expressions and gestures to also communicate.

Try not to finish a child's sentence or word, encourage but let them get there at their own pace. Remember that speech is only one form of communication, how else is that child communicating with you? How can you answer with respect and understanding?

Provide sensory experiences that allow for the exploration of the senses through both verbal and non-verbal communication. Can they explain what they are touching, hearing or tasting or are they more confident to just explore non verbally and let what they are feeling shine through on their face? How can you tell what a baby is thinking about an experience? What about a toddler?

Provide real tools and props for play so that they can explore and communicate in a way that is meaningful to their current experiences and family culture. Allow them to role play with these tools and therefore bring their own ideas, imagination, creativity and previous interactions into conversations and group activities.

Model language and expression through everyday activities. Encourage conversation while playing and exploring. Use questions wisely but not constantly to promote learning.

Support children to build upon the communication skills they are already displaying by extending not just feeding back to them. Child - "I got car" Educator/parent "Yes, I see you have the BLUE car." Expose them to new words and experiences and they will begin to include them into their future experiences and play.

Read to children often (yes, even babies!) but also encourage older children to tell the story of their favourite book or to make up an entirely new one. Perhaps they might prefer to draw a picture of their story or act it out as a song or play.

Use tone and rhythm in your voice while reading to really engage children (especially babies and toddlers) and ask them to join in and tell you 'what might happen next?'"What sound does the brown cow make?"

Introduce a wide variety of books, stories and formats - pop up, lift the flap, interactive, felt board, magnetic, rhyming, picture, informative, multicultural, ebooks, audio books, photo books, art books....

Use junk mail, newspapers and magazines for craft activities such as collage or cutting out pictures of healthy foods. Use the opportunity with older children to chat about what junk mail is for (advertising/selling) or why newspapers are printed or how they are printed. There is always an opportunity to learn when engaged with text.

Explore artists and artistic principles through the craft experiences you offer - relate them to a picture they might see in the art book displayed open on the table or informative articles on the computer.

Educators - why not encourage children to bring in a favourite story from home to share with the group, for babies and toddlers you could ask the parent to bring along a picture book or other text that they feel their bub is currently really interested in. I recently had a toddler bring in a poster with native birds on it as mum said he loved it. He was excited to point to the birds and tried to make bird noises when showing me. It was obviously special to him and was another form of text that allowed him to communicate without resorting to his limited speech. The other children loved investigating it with him and finding their own ways to communicate what they could see on the poster.

Be prepared to sit with the children as they read or explore different texts and listen to what they are saying. Join in their play and engage them in conversations about what they see.

Try to provide opportunities for dramatic play both indoors and out. Again use props for play taken from real life, use real materials that children will find familiar. They may have used them before in their home or they might have seen others using them. Some of the more popular ones I use are old phones, keyboards, clipboards, handbags and shoes. These allow children to use their imagination and their understanding of the world around them to create and portray their roles and ideas as play unfolds naturally.

Provide art experiences using varied mediums (clay, paint, pens, soap slime, sand, playdough, glue etc) that allow for creative self-expression, problem-solving and investigation. Engage in conversation with them about what they are creating, what it means to them, what will they do next?

Recycle print images from magazines and junk mail to use in craft and group time experiences. For older children, you might extend these activities to projects such as making recycled paper or practising scissor skills to cut out pictures for the collage tray. Younger children will love to tear paper and participate in projects such as paper mache and basic collage with magazine pictures. They could draw or 'write' on sheets of newspaper or perhaps older children could do some printing and make their own magazine or paper. Maybe they could draw pictures on paper to make their own storybook.

Be sure to create opportunities to explore with music, dance and drama. Follow interests that may lead on from a current book interest. My twins have been playing 'Little Red Riding Hood' for months now ever since reading a new book. There have been drawings, plays, shows, songs and paintings. It's amazing that they have yet to grow tired of the theme!

Be involved as you read or share. Stop and answer those endless questions, they can be annoying I know but they are golden opportunities for learning and they are telling you they need and want to know more!

Ensure children have access to materials that they can use to create patterns with, sequence, sort or incorporate into dramatic play. Some of our current favourites are colourful stones, gumnuts, scarves, egg carton trays, teddy bear counters, coloured cars, farm animals and twigs. The younger children love lids and containers (obviously large enough not to be choking hazards please), silky material offcuts, larger coloured stones, pool noodles cut into blocks, cups, small baskets, trays and pop pom balls. It's truly amazing what children can do when exploring with simple loose parts such as these.

Develop regular routines that will allow children to comprehend the passing of time. "After story time it's nearly lunchtime at 12 pm isn't it?" "When does my Mum come back?" "After afternoon tea at 3.30pm".

Use rhyme and patterns when reading stories or engaging in dramatic play. Where is the green sheep? and Going on a Bear

Hunt are good examples of this technique.

Begin incorporating the sounds of letters when talking about letters in conversation. Help children see the correlation between the two.

Play sequence memory games with objects from their play. Ask them what they need to find next to complete the game or task. For example, you might place an apple (and other fruit), a peeler, and a chopping board on a tray in front of them before morning tea time - you would then ask what needs to happen next before morning tea can be served. They might reply with a knife for chopping and a plate to put the apple pieces on. A basic example obviously but you get the idea!

Point out symbols and patterns in their home or care environment as you notice them. It might be a picture of musical notes on a flyer, dollar signs on advertising, the time the clock is showing on the wall or simply the letters of their name on their drink bottle at snack time.

This can be a tricky area for many parents and educators as we all have different opinions on the use of technology with children under 5. Personally, my children rarely use the computer, we don't own tablets and I don't let them play with apps on my phone. I don't have an issue with others that let their children do this, I just don't see a need for it with my children. There is however a place for technology in early childhood education if used wisely although I don't believe it should be relied upon!

Here are a few ways that I do incorporate technology into learning. Everyone is different, you might have other ways and I'd love to hear about them!

Recycle and reuse technological equipment so children can explore their use through play experiences. Old keyboards, phones and mobile phones (battery removed) provide many rich experiences and information to explore and help them make sense of.

We use the internet to research pictures of processes and concepts we might be interested in. We recently explored breadmaking and the occupation of bakers after we baked some bread rolls.

We have used the computer keyboards to find letters of our names and type them then print so the children are able to grasp the sequence of events to reach a finished written product.

The children have helped me to remove the memory card from my camera, insert into the computer and download photos to print and email to their parents.

We have searched for and read ebooks/watched movies about particular subjects of interest, usually to do with roles and cultures within our community.

I name and explain the roles of certain equipment we have in the home/care environment as we use them in our day to day routines. Microwave, TV, printer, washing machine, dryer, music speakers, phones. What are they? What are they used for? Where did we get them?

There are of course many educational games for computers and phones which can provide valuable experiences but I prefer to stick with play-based learning opportunities to cover this area. They will have plenty of time to sit in front of a computer when they reach school but I know that many do feel different to me and that is ok!

I hope I have given you some ideas and inspiration for supporting your children to become effective communicators...no matter their age.

Remember that communication does not always mean speech and language but it will always be a way for children to express themselves, connect with those around them and extend upon their learning journey. And as their parent or educator, you can encourage them on this journey by using a few of the simple strategies listed above.

If you have any questions or some other ideas you would love to share please do so in the comments below or on my Facebook page.

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How to increase children's language,listening and communication skills.

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Supporting children to become effective and confident communicators is an important role for both parents and educators. Right from birth children are social beings who try to communicate with the world around them. If they feel heard and understood it supports their emerging identity and sense of self.

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Teaching Communication to Children with Autism

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Teaching Communication to Children with Autism

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Teaching Communication Skills To Children With Autism | Yes Or No Questions | Episode 13

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Practical Strategies for Teaching Self-Management and Social Skills

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Practical Strategies for Teaching Self-Management and Social Skills

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Download the Practical Strategies Flyer for Teachers (PDF 320kb)

View full-featured PowerPoint presentations with The PowerPoint™ Viewer (verions 97 and later)

Modules are best viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Scripted Stories for Social Situations
Scripted Stories for Social Situations help children understand social interactions, situations, expectations, social cues, the script of unfamiliar activities, and/or social rules. As the title implies, they are brief descriptive stories that provide information regarding a social situation. When children are given information that helps them understand the expectations of a situation, their problem behavior within that situation is reduced or minimized.

Scripted Stories for Social Situations Tip Sheet
(1 pg) HTML | PDF

I go to Preschool (on the bus)
(14 pg) HTML | PPT

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What Do We Do In Circle?
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I Can Be a Super Friend
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Book List -Using Books to Support Social Emotional Development

Children's Book List
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Book Nook

These easy-to-use guides were created especially for teachers/caregivers and parents to provide hands-on ways to embed social emotional skill building activities into everyday routines. Each book nook is comprised of ideas and activities designed around popular children's books such as Big Al, Hands are Not for Hitting, On Monday When it Rained and My Many Colored Days. Examples of suggested activities include using rhymes to talk about being friends, making emotion masks to help children identify and talk about different feelings, playing games around what to do with hands instead of hitting and fun music and movement activities to express emotions.

Free Spirit Publishing, Inc. 2000 Hands Are Not for Hitting by Martine Agassi

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Teaching Social Emotional Skills

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Super Friend Award
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Emotion Faces
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en español: Feeling Chart: English-Spanish ( PDF)

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The Turtle Technique
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Problem-Solving Steps
Poster: PPT | PDFPre-K: PPT | Toddler: PPT
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Solution Kit Cue Cards
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The following are from Tools for Developing Behavior Support Plans the Module Archive. These are Modules from 2003. The Archive has Spanish and HTML versions available. For the most current modules, see: Training Modules.

Observation Cards
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en español
Tarjetas de observación PDF Formulario de Entrevista de Evaluación Funcional-Niño pequeño PDF

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CSEFEL: Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning

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The National Center for Effective Mental Health Consultation (CEMHC) addresses the needs of Early Head Start/Head Start (E/HS) staff and families for practical guidance on effective ways to promote young childrenís social and emotional development and reduce challenging behaviors.

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Practical Strategies for Social Emotional Skills

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Practical Strategies for Social Emotional Skills

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Practical Strategies for Teaching Social Emotional Skills

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Building attention skills in children: THE BUCKET!

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5 Incredibly Fun GAMES to Teach Self-Regulation (Self-Control) | Social Emotional Learning

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A Japanese Method to Develop Creativity in Kids

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Dawn Meskil, Early Childhood Section Chief, Preschool Exceptional Children (619) Co-Coordinator Keashia Walker, Early Childhood Section Chief, Preschool Exceptional Children (619) Co-Coordinator Find state and local early childhood and preschool exceptional children program contact information. Early Childhood Listserv -PSU Exceptional Children Directors, Preschool Coordinators and interested staff may sign up or submit an update for our listserv.

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Encourage critical thinking with 3 questions | Brian Oshiro | TEDxXiguan

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Planning and Reflection Develops Thinking Skills

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Planning and Reflection Develops Thinking Skills

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Readying Every Kindergartner

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Claudia Miner: A new way to get every child ready for kindergarten

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Early education is critical to children's success -- but millions of kids in the United States still don't have access to programs that prepare them to thrive in kindergarten and beyond. Enter the UPSTART Project, a plan to bring early learning into the homes of children in underserved communities, at no cost to families.

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Effective Strategies for Critical Thinking

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Effective Strategies for Critical Thinking

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If we want children to thrive in our complicated world, we need to teach them how to think, says educator Brian Oshiro. And we can do it with 4 simple questions.
This post is part of TED's "How to Be a Better Human" series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community; browse through all the posts here.
We all want the young people in our lives to thrive, but there's no clear consensus about what will best put them on the path to future success. Should every child be taught to code? Attain fluency in Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi and English?

Those are great, but they're not enough, says educator and teacher trainer Brian Oshiro. If we want our children to have flexible minds that can readily absorb new information and respond to complex problems, he says, we need to develop their critical thinking skills.

In adult life, "we all have to deal with questions that are a lot more complicated than those found on a multiple-choice test," he says in a TEDxXiguan talk. "We need to give students an opportunity to grapple with questions that don't necessarily have one correct answer. This is more realistic of the types of situations that they're likely to face when they get outside the classroom."

How can we encourage kids to think critically from an early age? Through an activity that every child is already an expert at - asking questions.

1. Go beyond "what?" - and ask "how?" and "why?"

Let's say your child is learning about climate change in school. Their teacher may ask them a question like "What are the main causes of climate change?" Oshiro says there are two problems with this question - it can be answered with a quick web search, and being able to answer it gives people a false sense of security; it makes them feel like they know a topic, but their knowledge is superficial.

At home, prompt your kid to answer questions such as " How exactly does X cause climate change?" and " Why should we worry about it?" To answer, they'll need to go beyond the bare facts and really think about a subject.

Other great questions: " How will climate change affect where we live?" or " Why should our town in particular worry about climate change?" Localizing questions gives kids, says Oshiro, "an opportunity to connect whatever knowledge they have to something personal in their lives."

2. Follow it up with "How do you know this?"

Oshiro says, "They have to provide some sort of evidence and be able to defend their answer against some logical attack." Answering this question requires kids to reflect on their previous statements and assess where they're getting their information from.

3. Prompt them to think about how their perspective may differ from other people's.

Ask a question like "How will climate change affect people living in X country or X city?" or "Why should people living in X country or X city worry about it?" Kids will be pushed to think about the priorities and concerns of others, says Oshiro, and to try to understand their perspectives - essential elements of creative problem-solving.

4. Finally, ask them how to solve this problem.

But be sure to focus the question. For example, rather than ask "How can we solve climate change?" - which is too big for anyone to wrap their mind around - ask "How could we address and solve cause X of climate change?" Answering this question will require kids to synthesize their knowledge. Nudge them to come up with a variety of approaches: What scientific solution could address cause X? What's a financial solution? Political solution?

You can start this project any time on any topic; you don't have to be an expert on what your kids are studying. This is about teaching them to think for themselves. Your role is to direct their questions, listen and respond. Meanwhile, your kids "have to think about how they're going to put this into digestible pieces for you to understand it," says Oshiro. "It's a great way to consolidate learning."

Critical thinking isn't just for the young, of course. He says, "If you're a lifelong learner, ask yourself these types of questions in order to test your assumptions about what you think you already know." As he adds, "We can all improve and support critical thinking by asking a few extra questions each day."
Watch his TEDxXiguan talk now:

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Critical thinking is a 21st-century essential - here's how to help kids learn it

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This post is part of TED's "How to Be a Better Human" series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community; browse through all the posts here. We all want the young people in our lives to thrive, but there's no clear consensus about what will best put them on the path to future success.

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Turns out, it's less about "teaching" creativity to children - and more about creating a fertile environment in which their creativity will take root, grow and flourish. Researcher Mitch Resnick, director of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at MIT, explains how we can do this.

There's a common misconception that the best way to encourage children's creativity is simply to get out of the way and let them be creative. Although it's certainly true that children are naturally curious and inquisitive, they need support to develop their creative capacities and reach their full creative potential. Supporting children's development is always a balancing act: how much structure, how much freedom; when to step in, when to step back; when to show, when to tell, when to ask, when to listen.

In putting together this list, I am combining tips for parents and teachers, because I think the core issues for cultivating creativity are the same, whether you're in the home or in the classroom. The key challenge is not how to "teach" creativity to children, but rather how to create a fertile environment in which their creativity will take root, grow, and flourish.

The list is organized around the five components of what I call the Creative Learning Spiral, a process that encourages children to imagine what they want to do, create projects through playing with tools and materials, share ideas and creations with others, and reflect on their experiences.

For each of these five components, I've suggested two tips. However, these tips are just a very small subset of all of the things you might ask and do to cultivate children's creativity. View them as a representative sample, and come up with more of your own.

IMAGINE
1. Show examples to spark ideas
A blank page, a blank canvas, and a blank screen can be intimidating. A collection of examples can help spark the imagination. When we run Scratch workshops, we always start by showing sample projects - to give a sense of what's possible (inspirational projects) and to provide ideas on how to get started (starter projects). We show a diverse range of projects, in hopes of connecting with the interests and passions of workshop participants.

Of course, there's a risk that children will simply mimic or copy the examples that they see. That's OK as a start, but only as a start. Encourage them to change or modify the examples. Suggest that they insert their own voice or add their own personal touch. What might they do differently? How can they add their own style, connect to their own interests? How can they make it their own?
2. Encourage messing around
Most people assume that imagination takes place in the head, but the hands are just as important. To help children generate ideas for projects, we often encourage them to start messing around with materials. As children play with LEGO bricks or tinker with craft materials, new ideas emerge. What started as an aimless activity becomes the beginning of an extended project.

We'll sometimes organize mini hands-on activities to get children started. For example, we'll ask children to put a few LEGO bricks together, then pass the structure to a friend to add a few more, then continue back and forth. After a few iterations, children often have new ideas for things they want to build.

CREATE
3. Provide a wide variety of materials
Children are deeply influenced by the toys, tools and materials in the world around them. To engage children in creative activities, make sure they have access to a broad diversity of materials for drawing, building and crafting. New technologies, like robotics kits and 3-D printers, can expand the range of what children create, but don't overlook traditional materials. A Computer Clubhouse coordinator was embarrassed to admit to me that her members were making their own dolls with "nylons, newspapers, and bird seed," without any advanced technology, but I thought their projects were great.

Different materials are good for different things. LEGO bricks and popsicle sticks are good for making skeletons, felt and fabric are good for making skins, and Scratch is good for making things that move and interact. Pens and markers are good for drawing, and glue guns and duct tape are good for holding things together. The greater the diversity of materials, the greater the opportunity for creative projects.
4. Embrace all types of making
Different children are interested in different types of making. Some enjoy making houses and castles with LEGO bricks. Some enjoy making games and animations with Scratch. Others enjoy making jewelry or soapbox race cars or desserts-or miniature golf courses.

Writing a poem or a short story is a type of making, too. Children can learn about the creative design process through all of these activities. Help children find the type of making that resonates for them. Even better: Encourage children to engage in multiple types of making. That way, they'll get an even deeper understanding of the creative design process.

PLAY
5. Emphasize process, not product
Many of the best learning experiences happen when people are actively engaged in making things, but that doesn't mean we should put all our attention on the things that are made. Even more important is the process through which things are made.

As children work on projects, highlight the process, not just the final product. Ask children about their strategies and their sources of inspiration. Encourage experimentation by honoring failed experiments as much as successful ones. Allocate times for children to share the intermediate stages of their projects and discuss what they plan to do next and why.
6. Extend time for projects
It takes time for children to work on creative projects, especially if they're constantly tinkering, experimenting and exploring new ideas (as we hope they will). Trying to squeeze projects into the constraints of a standard 50-minute school period - or even a few 50-minute periods over the course of a week - undermines the whole idea of working on projects. It discourages risk taking and experimentation, and it puts a priority on efficiently getting to the "right" answer within the allotted time. For an incremental change, schedule double periods for projects. For a more dramatic change, set aside particular days or weeks (or months) when students work on nothing but projects in school.

SHARE
7. Play the role of matchmaker
Many children want to share ideas and collaborate on projects, but they're not sure how. You can play the role of matchmaker, helping children find others to work with. In the Scratch online community, we have organized month-long Collab Camps to help Scratchers find others to work with - and also to learn strategies for collaborating effectively.
8. Get involved as a collaborator
Parents and mentors sometimes get too involved in children's creative projects, telling children what to do or grabbing the keyboard to show them how to fix a problem; other parents and mentors don't get involved at all. There is a sweet spot in between, where adults and children form true collaborations on projects. When both sides are committed to working together, everyone has a lot to gain.

A great example is Ricarose Roque's Family Creative Learning initiative, in which parents and children work together on projects at local community centers over five sessions. By the end of the experience, parents and children have new respect for one another's abilities, and relationships are strengthened.

REFLECT
9. Ask (authentic) questions
It's great for children to immerse themselves in projects, but it's also important for them to step back to reflect on what's happening. You can encourage children to reflect by asking them questions about their projects. I often start by asking: "How did you come up with the idea for this project?" It's an authentic question: I really want to know! The question prompts them to reflect on what motivated and inspired them.

Another of my favorite questions: "What's been most surprising to you?" This question pushes them away from just describing the project and toward reflecting on their experience. If something goes wrong with a project, I'll often ask: "What did you want it to do?" In describing what they were trying to do, they often recognize where they went wrong, without any further input from me.
10. Share your own reflections
Most parents and teachers are reluctant to talk with children about their own thinking processes. Perhaps they don't want to expose that they're sometimes confused or unsure in their thinking. But talking with children about your own thinking process is the best gift you could give them.

It's important for children to know that thinking is hard work for everyone-for adults as well as children. And it's useful for children to hear your strategies for working on projects and thinking through problems. By hearing your reflections, children will be more open to reflecting on their own thinking, and they'll have a better model of how to do it. Imagine the children in your life as creative thinking apprentices; you're helping them learn to become creative thinkers by demonstrating and discussing how you do it.
This article was originally published on the MIT Press Reader site. Watch Mitch Resnick's TED Talk here:

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10 tips for cultivating creativity in your kids

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There's a common misconception that the best way to encourage children's creativity is simply to get out of the way and let them be creative. Although it's certainly true that children are naturally curious and inquisitive, they need support to develop their creative capacities and reach their full creative potential.

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STEM in Early Learning: Engineering with the Three Little Pigs

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When we ask children questions-especially big, open-ended questions-we support their language development and critical thinking. We can encourage them to tell us about themselves and talk about the materials they are using, their ideas, and their reflections.

This is the fifth and final article in this TYC series about asking questions that support rich conversations. During the past year, Conversations with Children! has documented and analyzed the many different types of questions teachers ask and the rich discussions with children that flowed from those questions. The series has explored children's interests, considered their developmental needs, respected their cultural perspectives, and highlighted their language development and thinking.

Using an adaptation of Bloom's Taxonomy to think about the types of questions teachers ask children, this article focuses on intentionally using questions that challenge children to analyze, evaluate, and create. This can increase the back-and-forth dialogues teachers have with children-stretching children's thinking!

For this article, I spent the morning in a classroom of 3- and 4-year-olds, located in a large, urban elementary school in Passaic, New Jersey. All 15 children spoke both Spanish and English (with varying levels of English proficiency), as did their teacher and assistant teacher. The teachers in this classroom stretch their conversations with children, having extended exchanges in both languages by listening to and building on children's answers.

Understanding Different Types of Questions

Bloom's Taxonomy has long been used as a way to think about the types of questions we ask students. We have adapted it for young children. Although Remember has mostly right or wrong one-word answers and Create invites use of the imagination and answers that are complex and unique to each child, these levels are just guides. It is up to you to consider which types of questions are appropriate for each child you work with. The lower levels form the foundation for the higher ones.

Remember

identify, name, count, repeat, recall

Understand

describe, discuss, explain, summarize​

Apply

explain why, dramatize, identify with/relate to

Analyze

recognize change, experiment, infer, compare, contrast

Evaluate

express opinion, judge, defend/criticize

Create

make, construct, design, author

A conversation about building with cups in the makerspace

A conversation between the teacher and two children began during planning time and continued as the children built in the makerspace.

During planning time

Teacher: I am excited to see how you will build with the cups. Do you have any idea how you will build with them? (Analyze)

Child 1: I will show you what I can do. ( He draws his plan on a piece of paper.)

Child 2: I want to work with the cups too.

Teacher: Maybe you can collaborate and share ideas.

Child 2: Yeah, we can work together.

Child 1: We can build a tower.

Later, as the first child is building

Child: I put these two and put these one at a time and then these two.

Teacher: How did you stack these differently? () (The child doesn't respond.)

Child: (He becomes excited, pointing.) I show you!

Teacher: Please demonstrate!

Child: I knew what my idea was. (He shows the teacher how he stacked the cups.)

Teacher: Can you describe what parts of the cups were touching? (Understand)

Child: I was trying and trying and trying!

Child: This one is the right way and this one is down.

Teacher: Oh, this one is right side up and this one is upside down!

A conversation about creating a zoo in the block area

The children were preparing for a visit to a local zoo. After listening to the teacher read several books about zoos, one child worked on building structures in the block area to house giraff es and elephants.

Teacher: I am excited to see how you are building the enclosures.

Child: It fell down and I'm making it different.

Child: I'm trying to make a watering place for the elephant to drink water. I have to make it strong so he can drink and the water doesn't go out.

Child: I'm gonna ask him.

A conversation about coding with robots

The children had been using the Ozobot Bit, a small robot that introduces children to coding, for many months. Because these robots are programmed to follow lines and respond to specific color patterns (e.g., coloring small segments of the line blue, red, and green will make the robot turn right), preschoolers engage in a basic form of coding just by drawing lines. In this conversation, the teacher helps a child develop his own code.

Child: (He draws as he speaks.) You have to keep going.

Child: Because have to draw it 'fore it can go. And you don't draw it, it don't go nowhere. Wanna see?

Teacher: So if it's not on the line, it won't go anywhere. It only goes on the line.

Child: Yeah.

Child: You can't stop it with your hand. . . . And if you want to make another one, first you have to turn it off and then you make another one. (He demonstrates with four markers how to code on the paper and then puts the robot on the line.) Now it going backwards.

Child: (He makes the black line on the paper thicker and retries the Ozobot, but it still stops and turns around.)

Child: I gonna do the whole thing again. (The child starts drawing the code.)

A conversation to stretch dramatic play

A child held a baby doll and a girl doll as the teacher entered the dramatic play area.

Child: This girl has a baby. We going to the doctor because we all sick.

Child: The doctor has to check my heart and then he gonna check my mouth.

Child: They go to bed back home and go to sleep.

Child: I'm going read them a book.

Teacher: Oh, that is such a good idea! Do you have a special book in mind? (Understand, )

Child: (She nods her head in affirmation and smiles broadly.) I have a special book. (She holds up My House: A Book in Two Languages/Mi Casa: Un Libro en Dos Lenguas, by Rebecca Emberley.)

Teacher: Will you read the book to me? I'll pretend that I am sick and I am in the bed and you can read the book to me. (The child gives the teacher a small blanket.) You are giving me my blankie. You read and I'll listen. (, ) (The child invents her own story as she turns the pages.)

Conclusion

As the teacher, it's up to you, the one who knows your students best in an educational setting, to decide which questions are appropriate for which children during a particular interaction. It can be challenging to develop and ask questions that engage children in analyzing, evaluating, and creating, such as, "If you could come to school any way you wanted, how would you get here? Why?" But questions that each child will answer in her own way are well worth the effort!

: Thank you, Megan (teacher), Ms. Perez (assistant teacher), and all of the wonderful students who taught me so much about coding! In addition to being the teacher, Megan King is the author of the chapter "A Makerspace in the Science Area" in the book Big Questions for Young Minds: Extending Children's Thinking. And a great big final thank-you to the five preschool classrooms that invited me into their worlds, sharing their questions and conversations with TYC readers.

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Conversations with Children! Asking Questions That Stretch Children's Thinking

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This is the fifth and final article in this TYC series about asking questions that support rich conversations.

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Computational thinking for Early Learners

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Computational thinking for Early Learners

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As our technologies have rapidly developed and manipulating those technologies has emerged as a key college- and career-ready skill, teaching students how to program, question, and manipulate digital devices has become commonplace in our schools. But coding is the application of learning. Before students can effectively perform these tasks, they must understand the concepts behind that application.

Computational Thinking is the prerequisite skill for understanding the technologies of the future. It is a thought process, rather than a specific body of knowledge about a device or language. Computational thinking is often associated with computers and coding, but it is important to note that it can be taught without a device.

For that reason, computational thinking can be a part of any classroom, including the classrooms of our youngest learners in the primary grades. And, I would argue, it is quickly becoming a necessary foundational skill for students. By explicitly teaching, and allowing space for the development of, computational thinking, teachers can ensure that their young students are learning to think in a way that will allow them to access and understand their digital world. Teaching computational thinking, in short, primes students for future success. Furthermore, it can be integrated into existing routines and curricula.

Core Components of Computational Thinking

BBC outlines four cornerstones of computational thinking: decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithms. Decomposition invites students to break down complex problems into smaller, simpler problems. Pattern recognition guides students to make connections between similar problems and experience. Abstraction invites students to identify important information while ignoring unrelated or irrelevant details. Lastly, students use algorithms when they design simple steps to solve problems.

At first read, it's challenging to imagine kindergartners solving algorithms. However, each of these cornerstones, at their core, dovetails nicely into the active learning and thinking that happens in grades K-2. Children in the primary grades want to play. They aren't afraid to take risks. By utilizing the natural inclinations of young children to explore and play, and by encouraging problem-solving skills, we can move students' thinking forward. Computational thinking encourages playful thinking, but gives it structure so that the skills students are learning can be transferred to more complex tasks later on.

And it's probably even easier than you might think to invite your youngest learners to join you as inventors and problem-solvers and jump into the world of computational thinking! Here are some ideas for getting started.

Strategies for Incorporating Computational Thinking in Early Learning Classrooms
Teaching Decomposition
Teaching decomposition to young learners means that students are invited into problem-solving scenarios. Teachers share the complex, multi-step problem and facilitate conversations that help students to break it down. While students at these ages are not always developmentally ready for multi-step directions or problems, they are ready to be exposed to models of adult thinking. In doing this, students begin to develop a framework of strategic, computational thinking.

I deas to Try: Teachers might describe a scenario, such as planning a birthday party, that involves multiple steps. This type of task can quickly become overwhelming without an organized to-do list of smaller, more approachable challenges. Students can help to break down the larger task, and the teacher can help to draw or write a visual representation of their thinking, giving students a mental map of how to solve similar problems in the future.
Teaching Pattern Recognition
Pattern recognition, as a cornerstone of computational thinking, begins with the basic ABAB pattern creation that is taught in the primary grades and extends to more complex layers of thinking. Pattern recognition invites students to analyze similar objects or experiences and identify commonalities. By finding what the objects or experiences have in common, young students can begin to develop an understanding of trends and are therefore able to make predictions.

Ideas to Try: To teach students to recognize patterns, you might begin by investigating trees. What do all trees have in common? They all have a trunk. They all have roots. They all have branches. While there are many differences between types of trees, these components are present in all trees.

Next, work with your students to create a collage of trees. Notice how they all have trunks, roots, and branches. Then, talk about how the trunks differ from one another. Some are thick, while others are thin. Some are brown, while others are white. Talk about how the roots and branches differ.

To extend this thinking, invite your students to draw a picture of a tree, labeling the trunk, roots, and branches. Emphasize that while your class' trees might look different from one another, they are alike in their core components.

Finding patterns simplifies tasks because you can use what you already know. By teaching students to recognize patterns, their awareness of the world around them expands. This helps them to use the patterns they have identified to solve future problems and make predictions about the world.
Teaching Abstraction
Abstraction is focusing on the information that is relevant and important. It involves separating core information from extraneous details.

Ideas to Try: In primary classrooms, teachers naturally teach kids the concept of abstraction with literature as they identify the main idea and key details. To take this one step further, teachers can encourage students to hunt for information, clues, or treasures by giving them a goal as they approach a book or even an experience. As students listen to a speaker during a school presentation about dental hygiene, a kindergarten class might be hunting for details about brushing your teeth. By teaching students abstraction, they are able to sort through all of the information available to identify the specific information they need. This is an invaluable skill as students read larger texts and are presented with more and more complex information.
Teaching Algorithms
Algorithmic thinking involves developing solutions to a problem. Specifically, it creates sequential rules to follow in order to solve a problem. In the early grades, kids can learn that the order of how something is done can have an effect.

Ideas to Try: To present this idea to students, you might ask them to think about making a sandwich. What should we do first? Second? What if I put the cheese and lettuce on my sandwich before I add the mayonnaise? Conversations about sequence and order develop the foundations of algorithmic thinking.

To get students thinking in algorithms, invite them to design the path from their classroom to the gym by detailing a series of steps. Then, let them try it out! Additionally, invite students to think about their morning routine. What steps do they take to get ready for school each morning? How would the order impact the outcome? Asking students to consider how inputs change the outcome encourages them to be reflective in their thinking and to make changes to their plan to achieve the desired result.

Linking our Youngest Minds to the Thinking of the Future

Teaching young students computational thinking strategies goes far beyond increasing their comfort level with computers. It's much deeper and more profound. We live in a world with Smartphones and Smarthomes, and understanding how devices work allows us to approach technology as a partner to help us solve problems. Computational thinking allows students to be active, rather than passive, users of technology. The manner in which we understand the technology that surrounds us, and the way we ask questions about these devices, will become a significant differentiator in the 21st-century workforce. Those who can do it successfully and efficiently will be better placed for both professional and long-term life success. Preparation for this can and should start with our youngest learners.

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Kristen Thorson is a Getting Smart Columnist. She is known for her experience as a teacher, interventionist, and curriculum and assessment developer. Connect with her on twitter: @kristenthorson

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4 Early Learning Strategies for Developing Computational Thinking Skills

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We live in a world with Smartphones and Smarthomes, and understanding how devices work allows us to approach technology as a partner to help us solve problems. Here's how we can start giving kids these skills sooner rather than later.

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Gamified Reading - Transdiscplinary Strategy

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Gamified Reading - Transdiscplinary Strategy

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How to Teach Online Research Skills to Students | 5 Steps for Teaching Students How to Search and Filter Information

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5 simple steps to teaching Google search tips and internet research skills for students. This updated 2020 post and free eBook shows how to research effectively online for kids in primary school, middle school and high school. These tips are summarized in a free online research skills poster for you…

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Search engines can streamline the process of teaching basic research to elementary schoolchildren who require expert guidance on how to navigate the Web - and the earlier, the better.

Elementary school is when kids first begin to learn how to learn. Kids start using search engines quite early on, making elementary school the perfect time to teach research skills that become a foundation for a lifetime of learning.

The base skill for all schoolchildren is the ability to sift content for relevance and accuracy. Here are five ways teachers can help improve this skill in elementary-age children.

1. Define the task

What exactly must be researched? It's very easy to get lost if children do not know precisely what they are looking for. In elementary school the subjects may be relatively simple, but they still must be defined accurately to aid in the search.

Teachers should talk with students about what they will be looking for and how to get specific results. The more specific they can get, the easier it will be to come up with search terms.

2. Discover keywords

Elementary school students may not fully grasp the concept of keywords, so they'll need to be instructed in this foundational aspect of search technology. Search engines perform well only if correct keywords are used, and students need to learn how to come up with those words to get the results they need.

Keywords are typically based upon the most common approach to discussing a subject. Often, it will take some trial and error to discover just what keyword combination yields the desired results. Teachers can create a whole lesson around keywords, including what they are, how they work and how to find them.

3. Use appropriate tools

Google and Bing are probably the most popular search engines, but they may not be the best for teaching research skills to young people. Teacher Mary Beth Hertz recommends one of the more popular search engines for students, Sweet Search, whose results are screened by experts. Using something like Sweet Search may make it easier to teach research skills by weeding out a lot of the chaff that so often comes up on the more popular engines.

4. Teach about source hierarchy and evaluation

Elementary students can comprehend the tiers of legitimacy related to information-gathering. Teachers can explain about primary sources, original research and the reliability of information found on the Web. Kids can learn about how information travels from research papers to news sources to blogs and so on.

By going through examples, teachers can demonstrate the way various information sources find their information and present it to the public, and how to determine which information is best to use for their projects.

Children may not need to cite abstracts from scientific research papers, but they can learn to seek information more intelligently.

5. Take notes and compile information

The complexity of note-taking skills will depend on the students' grade level, but even kids in the younger grades can learn to take pencil to paper and record the most important pieces of information they gather. The better they get at finding quality sources, the easier the note-taking will become.

Students should also learn how to cite their sources appropriately.

Setting up a lifelong skill

Learning research skills at a young age will give students a skill that will serve them over a lifetime. This skill will not only be useful in school, but in their everyday lives as they attempt to absorb ever-increasing amounts of information. Teachers will do their students a great service in teaching these skills.

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Teaching Research Skills to Elementary School Children | Resilient Educator

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arch engines can streamline the process of teaching basic research to elementary schoolchildren who require expert guidance on how to navigate the Web -- and the earlier, the better.

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Today's learners need to know how to ask and answer their own questions. They need to be independent thinkers and not always given questions provided by teachers. By stepping back and providing your students with tools to begin generating their own higher-order questions and then analyzing the researched information, our youngest learners will be well-prepared for their future. Keep reading to learn a few simple steps to get your students excited about the new content and formulating their own questions throughout the research process.

Google-able vs. Non-Google-able

Young students need to understand what a good research question looks like. I always introduce the difference by having a discussion about "Google-able" questions and "Non-Google-able" questions. "Google-able" questions are simple questions that one search engine can answer in one quick step. "Non-Google-able" questions take time and many resources to find the answer. I then show a short youtube video about a nonfiction topic (Galapagos turtles is always a big hit!). Students watch the video and write down as many questions as they can on post-it notes. Once students are finished, they sort and label their questions into "Googleable vs. Non-Google-able." Then, for Day 2, I partner my 3rd graders up and they choose a nonfiction book to read with their partners. As they read their book, they use PostIt Plus app to record questions while reading. This is such an amazing app because they can color code their questions right within the app and post-its don't get lost. They stay organized on their iPads.

Analyzing the Answers to Generated Questions

Now that students understand how to generate good research questions, I step back and let them choose a topic of choice to research. This is when our Genius Hour starts. Students think about a passion that they have then think about what breaks their heart about that passion. For example, a student that loves football may have a heartbreak that players can get hurt playing football. Then, students will formulate questions to ask that will ultimately lead them to a creative project that solves the problem.

Students use the Bookmark feature in Safari to save reliable sources into a folder named Genius Hour. This will be useful when they need to cite their evidence in their final projects.

As students begin to find answers to their questions, I show them how to keep the information organized using Notes on their iPads. Within Notes, they start a Folder and create categories for their research. For example, a student researching an animal may have notes on Habitat, Diet, Life Span, etc. By creating separate notes, students learn how to analyze their learned information and to categorize it. These are all skills that students MUST be able to do to be prepared for their future.

Creation Time!

I always tell students that the best research questions are answered by their own brain using the new learning they gained from researching. Once students have done the research, they then choose a way to present their learning to an authentic audience. Check out our Padlet from my latest Genius Hour class of 3rd graders for ideas on creation methods and research topics.

The best part of the research process is sharing with an authentic audience! We invite parents, families, and school personnel to come in for our Genius Hour presentation days.

Katey Hileman is a 3rd-grade teacher and Technology coach. She has led many Professional Development sessions within her school district and at numerous conferences in Indiana. She is a Google Level 1 Educator, an Apple Certified Teacher, and a Seesaw Ambassador. She has been a guest blogger for Kidblog.org and is active in the Twitter community. You can follow her on Twitter @kateyhileman. She is always excited to share meaningful lesson ideas and learn from others!

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Research Skills in the Elementary Classroom - EdTechTeam

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Today's learners need to know how to ask and answer their own questions. They need to be independent thinkers and not always given questions provided by teachers. By stepping back and providing your students with tools to begin generating their own higher-order questions and then analyzing the researched information, our youngest learners will be well-prepared ...

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Teaching Media Literacy to Pre-Schoolers

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Teaching Media Literacy to Pre-Schoolers

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How do I start teaching media literacy to my preschooler?

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How do I start teaching media literacy to my preschooler? Get expert advice and tips from Common Sense Media editors.