Your Child's Social and Emotional Well-Being

Your Child's Social and Emotional Well-Being provides a practical guide full of proven strategies for promoting social and emotional learning (SEL) skills in children aged 4-16.

• A practical guide designed to support parents and education professionals in developing social and emotional skills in children, a form of learning that can be neglected in formal education
• Demonstrates how to foster social and emotional learning (SEL) at home and in the classroom, and shows how parents and professionals can work together for success
• Includes a wealth of exercises for promoting social and emotional wellbeing, along with tips, tools, and coverage of new developments such as computer-assisted instruction
• Written by authors with a wealth of practical and writing experience

Acknowledgments ix

About the Companion Website x

1 All Children Need Social and Emotional Well-being 1

Part I Self-awareness 11

2 Building Character 13

3 Practicing Mindfulness 37

Part II Self-management 53

4 Resiliency: Calming Fears and Anxiety 55

5 Independent Thinking 71

6 Self-regulating 87

Part III Social Awareness 107

7 Competing and Cooperating 109

8 Neither Being Bullied nor Being a Bully 123

Part IV Relationship Skills 135

9 Building Successful Friendships 137

10 Demonstrating Leadership 153

Part V Responsible Decision-making 169

11 Thinking Creatively 171

12 Thinking Critically and Wisely 189

Part VI Achieving Your Goals Even More Effectively 205

13 Getting Help with Your Efforts 207

14 The Future of SEL 221

References 229

Index 239

John S. Dacey teaches courses in creativity and human development at the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA. He also runs a practice as a licensed psychotherapist. He is the author of 14 books on the subjects of anxiety, creativity and human development, including Your Anxious Child (Wiley 2000).

Lisa B. Fiore is Professor and Dean of Faculty in the Graduate School of Education, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. She is an expert on social and emotional learning, giving workshops and conference presentations, as well as a licensed Early Childhood teacher.

Steven Brion-Meisels (1949-2014) worked in schools for over 40 years teaching and writing about social and emotional development, peace-making, and building democratic classrooms. Among other accomplishments, Steven was a founding and long-time member of the Peaceable Schools and Communities Project and a founding member of the Social-Emotional Alliance of Massachusetts.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is the development of a set of skills based on self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making. When implemented, SEL can reduce problems such as bullying and promote young people’s wellbeing – yet, despite research clearly revealing that children achieve greater success when their SEL needs are met, it is not an area of focus in most current education systems.

Developing Social and Emotional Wellbeing in Children helps parents and education professionals to foster SEL in homes and classrooms, and to collaborate where appropriate. The authors offer simple strategies and easy-to-follow exercises that can be adapted for the needs and abilities of children aged 4-16. The text includes an explanation of how each strategy works, a list of common materials needed and a suggested script. The authors also introduce innovative ways to teach SEL, such as computer-assisted instruction, and provide a list of recommended resources such as books, articles, games and online sites.

Together, these resources offer a complete guide for anyone interested in helping children develop positive attitudes to education and each other, and placing learning in a context of supportive, meaningful relationships.