Social emotional learning is the latest buzzphrase when it comes to children and the well-being of children in the educational setting! Reading with your child is the perfect way to boost their social emotional learning by having discussions with your kids and using the characters and their feelings in the stories to help connect the text to their situations.
Here are a few tips on how to connect stories to your child’s social emotional health:
Use the stories to…..
-Help your child Identify with characters’ personalities (both good and bad), and use the story plots to help your child relate to the situations
- Model good behavior to hopefully help child make the right decisions, so that they may try to have healthy relationships with other children
-Teach how to be kind to others
-Teach how to problem solve by asking for help or learning how to work out any problems or unwell feelings, talking to others, and expressing themselves healthily when talking
-Teach how to take care of your body in order to take care of your mind (yoga, meditation, healthy physical release activities, or breathing exercises when stressed or angry)
-Write or draw pictures or create crafts (journaling)
-Model use of positive words, teamwork and collaboration, good listening skills, empathy, and responsibility
-Celebrate the diversity and multiculturalism within in the books
With all of this in mind, your child will be on his/her way to being healthy in mind, body, and soul!
