SEL Facilitator, Bridget Manley, supports the Elementary programs with social-emotional (SEL) lessons from the Second Step curriculum. Second Step® programs empower students of all ages with human skills to help build lifelong success.
SEL Corner: Lower Elementary
Lower Elementary students recently completed Unit 2 of Second Step, the Social-Emotional Learning program used at Princeton Montessori School. This unit focused on Emotion Management. Students learned how to use clues, like looking at a person’s face and body and what’s going on, to guess how someone is feeling. They learned words to describe more complex emotions, such as “worry,” “calm,” “frustrated,” “proud,” and “disappointed.” Towards the end of the Unit, they practiced two ways to feel calm when experiencing strong emotions: asking for help and slow counting. We also discussed how thinking of things that make them smile, like a favorite pet, or saying nice things to themselves like “I’ve got this,” can help when they feel worried or disappointed.
At home, parents can support their child’s emotion management by first noticing when their child feels calm without help from an adult. Parents can say, “When you were upset, I noticed you got calm all by yourself. Good job!” Also, parents can recognize and praise when their child identifies and labels how someone else is feeling. Parents can also ask their child, “When did you feel frustrated or worried today? What did you do to get calm?” Feeling identification and emotion management are foundations for self-regulation, better behavior, stronger relationships, and academic success!
SEL Corner: Upper Elementary
Upper Elementary students recently completed Unit 2 of the social-emotional learning program, Second Step. This unit focused on Emotion Management and allowed students to see emotions as helpful information about what’s happening in our daily lives. Students practiced labeling different levels of emotion, such as “content,” “happy,” and “excited,” along with “annoyed”, “angry,” and “furious.” Learning how to take a break to help calm their strong emotions was also taught and practiced. Students discussed a variety of ways strong emotions can influence their thoughts and actions, and how “rethinking” situations can help them gain perspective and stay calm.
At home, parents can notice and praise when their children can change how they feel about a challenging situation by thinking about it in a new way. Having your child verbalize what they learned from a situation that helped them change their perspective is also a positive way to reinforce their social-emotional development. Notice and praise your children when they choose to take a break for themselves by saying something simple and positive to them, such as, “Good job taking a break when you needed it!”
