SEL, or Social Emotional Learning, as it suggests, helps one navigate the social and emotional demands of daily life. However, SEL goes beyond that to build competencies for success in the present and future.
It is common for parents to expect their child to be well-behaved, manage their emotions, and get along with their peers. In a way, they are expected to have social and emotional competencies naturally in the course of the developmental process without being taught. Instead, encouraging social and emotional learning (SEL) allows important skills such as managing difficult emotions, making responsible decisions, handling stress, and building healthy relationships to develop. When your child is not taught these skills during their formative years, there's a high probability of developing behavioral problems that can, in turn, affect their academic performance and learning ability.
In this article, we will delve in-depth to understand the importance of social and emotional learning, effective ways to teach these skills at home, and easy-to-implement SEL activities to succeed in school, college, and beyond.
Simplify SEL With This Powerful Framework
Understanding social-emotional competencies and teaching them is not as complicated as it may sound. One of the most popular frameworks for SEL is the CASEL framework (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning), which provides a foundation for applying evidence-based SEL strategies at your home and in other settings.
The CASEL wheel addresses five broad and interrelated areas of competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. These areas deal with the overall development and well-being of your child. They can be taught and applied at various developmental stages from childhood to adulthood and across various learning-based settings.
These broad inter related areas of competencies include:
1. Self-awareness: The ability to identify one's emotions, strengths, and thoughts, and finally leading the way towards discovering one's own self-perception.
2. Social awareness: Being able to understand different perspectives and show empathy and respect to peers, elders, and teachers equally.
3. Responsible decision-making: Making thought-through decisions based on problem-solving skills.
4. Self-management: The ability to manage emotions and impulses, manage stress, and set personal goals.
5. Relationship skills: Knowing how to collaborate and communicate effectively in a group setting, and build and maintain strong relationships.
How SEL Influences Academic and Career Success?
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. Research shows that SEL activities can indeed improve students' academic success and even influence future career success. A meta-analysis of 213 schools with over 270,000 students across the United States concluded that students enrolled in the SEL program demonstrated a significant improvement in academic performance, reflecting an 11-percentile-point gain in achievement.
Social and emotional learning plays a critical role in improving children's academic performance and lifelong learning, as it helps develop essential skills such as focus, persistence, and self-discipline. It could also lead to forming a greater attachment and commitment to the school, resulting in better academic performance. Additionally, it can assist your child in discovering their true sense of self and purpose, equipping them to make informed decisions about their life's direction. This not only enhances their preparedness for the future but also significantly contributes to their success in both academic and career endeavours.
How Can Parents Help Teach SEL to Their Kids?
Parents are their child's first teachers, and how SEL is modeled and practiced at home affects the development of social and emotional competencies. These SEL activities discussed below can be incorporated into your child's daily schedule and will help them socially, behaviorally, and academically, while also preparing them for middle school and beyond.
SEL Activities Guide for Parents
Journalling
A great way to stay in touch with one's feelings, thoughts, and emotions, daily journaling is a habit that can be incorporated into the everyday routine to help your child improve social-emotional skills on a day-to-day basis.
Parents can help by giving daily prompts for the child to reflect upon. The prompts could be as simple as "What are you grateful for today?" or "When was the last time you felt nervous?" Additionally, parents could monitor the activity and offer help anytime the child is facing difficulty in coping with their emotions on their own. Setting aside thirty minutes at the end of the day for journaling can help your child become self-aware and capable of managing difficult emotions, stress, anxiety, etc.
Daily Check in
These check-ins need not be scheduled in the daily planner or recorded on the calendar. Instead, parents could simply check up on their child during dinner table conversations or during the drive back from school. These check-ins involve sharing details about the highs and lows of their day. Moreover, parents could make an added effort to monitor their child's emotions or sudden changes in behavior to understand how the child is doing mentally and emotionally.
Art Activities:
Being creative through drawing, painting, etc., can help children express emotions and build the skill of self-expression. Art activities can also be instrumental in relieving and managing stress.
By the time your child is in middle school, they are likely to develop a natural inclination towards one or more forms of art. It could be music, theater, dance, creative writing, sketching, etc. Getting them actively involved in pursuing these arts, such as taking up classes, performing, or showcasing their talent, can greatly support their journey of self-expression.
Assigning Responsibilities
Giving age-appropriate tasks helps children develop accountability and a sense of responsibility, which is one of the most effective ways to foster a feeling of belonging and build self-worth. Some age-appropriate chores may include feeding a pet, setting the table, and helping out in the kitchen.
By giving children complete autonomy over the tasks they are assigned, they also become more independent in decision-making and problem-solving, as they learn to arrive at the best way to complete the tasks on their own.
Problem solving
Handing out solutions to a problem may not be the best way to teach problem-solving or decision-making skills. As parents, you may feel compelled to provide solutions and answers to the problems that your child approaches you with. Instead, encourage them to think about how they could solve the problem on their own. Oftentimes, they will be capable of arriving at a solution when they spend time and energy thinking about it. Offer to help if the struggle continues. At this time, you can direct their thinking process by asking relevant questions rather than providing direct answers.
Goal setting
Setting goals can help your child develop skills like determination and self-management. You can assist your child with SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound) goals. Help them write down academic and personal goals, both short-term and long-term. Check in on the progress periodically and assess if the strategies are working. Goal setting, apart from defining ambitions, also helps your child develop a growth mindset.
Reading
Choosing books with social-emotional themes allows opportunities for discussion, which enhances emotional understanding of self and others and is effective in teaching empathy to your child. Parents may choose to read the books along with their child to have more effective discussions. Asking reflective questions will allow you to understand how your child has perceived the characters, their emotions, and so on.
Conclusion
Social-emotional learning is an important part of development that not only helps your child navigate their emotions and social interactions but also contributes to achieving academic and career success in the future.
At Crimson Rise, we offer specialized programs where we work 1:1 with our students to help them achieve holistic growth. Our academic experts guide students in building skills across multiple domains. They support academic and cognitive development through personalized guidance. Experts also assist students in pursuing extracurricular interests, hobbies and passion projects. This helps develop foundational skills while cultivating well-rounded experiences outside the classroom.
Is your kid facing roadblocks on their academic journey? Book a free session with one of our academic advisors to discuss your child's unique goals and challenges.
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