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This is a list of ideas and strategies to help implement more life skills into an early elementary setting. Lists like these are always growing because I am continuously looking for new ways to incorporate these skills into my classroom.

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This mind map explains my exploration of life skills in early elementary grades. I first noticed what skills students were lacking and then researhed how to develop this skills. My research was done online and in a classroom setting. This mind map gives a basic overview of my thoughts reguarding the skills that need to be better developed in young children.

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This is a video social story that helps young students learn how to win and lose. I used a similar video in my special education preschool class to teach self regulation and social skills. After playing this video for my students we played a game similar to musical chairs. There were several rounds that knocked studetns out of the game and only one winner. After each round a student did not get to advance. After losing they had to say, "That's OK!" At the send of the game we practiced congratulating the winner.

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This video discusses the important of teaching life skills at an early age. Building life skills such as, communication, decision making, goal setting, conflict resolution, asking for help, and job seeking skills are crucial to creating a positive and caring community of learners. I incorporate as many life skills into my lessons as possible to give my students the best foot forward and achieve in life.

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overcoming obstacles life skills program

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Teach life skills and change our world: Jill Siegal Chalsty at TEDxCharleston

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Jill Chalsty says the way to help young people succeed in the classroom and beyond, is to build their schooling on a strong foundation of communication, decision-making and goal setting tools. Jill Siegal Chalsty, Education Reformer -- A filmmaker, writer, and award-winning expert in conflict resolution, who founded Community for Education Foundation, and has brought its Overcoming Obstacles Life Skills Program to millions of students.

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Teachtown videos were first introduced to my by our school social worker. The videos prompt social skills in a student friendly way. This video was used in our classroom when a student was having difficultly following the rules of a game. It helped emphasize that other peoples feelings get hurt when you do not play by the rules. Teachtown has a variety of videos for many different skills.

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This article is geared towards parents teaching their children life skills. All of these skills can also be incorporated into a classroom. To learn how to make good choices the teacher can set up a classroom store. The students can earn classroom money and learn how to properly save and spend. There are many oppertunities to incorporate these skills into daily lessons.

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Susan Lundman

Susan Lundman began writing about her passions of cooking, gardening, entertaining and recreation after working for a nonprofit agency, writing grants and researching child development issues. She has written professionally for six years since then. Lundman received her M.A. from Stanford University.

Talking out loud is an important way you can help your children develop abstract thinking skills. According to a 2006 research paper for the Brain Injury Association of New York State, ample evidence shows that voicing your own problem-solving process helps your children learn how to think more abstractly. For example, when your toddler drops a bowl of spaghetti on the floor, work through a problem-solving scenario out loud: "If I leave that mess on the floor, someone could slip and hurt themselves. And germs might grow, making our air dirty. I could scoop it up with my hands, but if I use a paper towel my hands won't get so dirty."

When you use abstract words such as "more" and "less" and abstract concepts such as grouping and sorting your child will naturally absorb the lessons about abstractions. For example, talk about sorting all the utensils with sharp points in one section of your kitchen drawer and those with curves in another section. Or make a game of picking up toys by first picking up blue toys and then switching to another sorting concept such as toys with faces or toys you could use for throwing.

When pretending to drive a bus, take care of a baby or wash a pretend car, your child is using language and movement to juggle abstractions and reality. Encourage dramatic play with a box of costumes and props, read books with your child every day, speculate about different endings for books or TV shows and teach your child how to play charades using pictures cut from a magazine of people doing different activities.

While you won't be able to rely on your young children to plan activities for a summer vacation four months in advance, they can think about what they need to do for school the next day or what to do on Saturday morning after eating breakfast. Making such planning a regular part of your day teaches your child thinking and reasoning skills. Spend time listening to your child's plans, asking questions and encouraging the process. Likewise, ask questions and encourage conversation after activities. Use open-ended questions beginning with "how" or "why" instead of questions that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no."

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Activities for Helping Kids Develop Abstract Thinking Skills

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Think of your child's demands for "More" during dinner or assertions of "Mine" when you ask her to share as positive indications that she is developing abstract thinking skills. By moving from concrete food or toys to the abstract concepts of "more" and "mine," your child is using abstract thinking...

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This is an indepth article that explains how to use the tool. It also has accodomations and modifications for students with special needs. This research has helped me select developmentally appropriate activities for my students while teaching social skills.

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edu 432 tools for teachers description padlet

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This is a resource to help primary teachers incorporate social skills into their daily curriculum. I have been using social thinking skills model to better understand what areas my students are sturggling in. Then i would present situations to help teach that specific skill to the class.