How Parents and Teachers Can Infuse Social and Emotional Learning.
In the last Newsletter, it was emphasized that Social and Emotional Learning helps individuals develop essential life skills with competencies that support their overall development, well-being, and success in all areas of life.
How can Teachers infuse SEL into the Teaching and Learning Process?
1. Creating a supportive and healthy classroom environment that encourages positivity. With this, children learn to build strong and positive relationships.
2. Incorporate team-building activities into the daily lessons, this can be done through creating activities around the children's interests.
3. Teachers can give self-regulatory techniques to help students better manage their emotions, techniques such as positive self-talk, mindfulness, deep breathing, journaling and reflective writing. All these would help increase self-awareness and how to relate well with people.
4. Social and Emotional Learning can be infused through activities or projects that teach empathy, building good relationship skills, self-awareness as well and developing the critical thinking skills of students.
5. Children learn through imitation and they emulate quickly the things they see. Therefore, teachers should model positive behavior and give responses that validate students' concerns.
Teachers are to ensure that the right and appropriate behavior is being portrayed in the classroom to produce a wholesome development in the learners.
How can Parents infuse SEL into their Homes?
1. Open communication should be greatly encouraged in the home, when children can freely communicate with their parents, it will help promote a healthy relationship in the home, they build great communication skills and self-confidence. This will in turn reflect in their relationship with other people.
2. SEL can be infused by encouraging children to consider the perspective of others, treat people with kindness and respect.
3. Help children learn strategies for managing their emotions, stress and maintaining relationships. This will create the consciousness of knowing and respecting people's boundaries.
4. Engage in active listening, promoting teamwork in the home by creating little tasks that would require everyone to work together.
5. Reinforce the use of positive affirmations and positive self-talk which will help them challenge negative energy or challenging situations.
In conclusion, parents and teachers must work together to ensure that the development of children is holistic in that it covers the totality of the young growing child.