Social Emotional Development in Children

All children are born eager to explore their world and master their development.

From conception to a child’s first day of kindergarten, development proceeds at a pace exceeding any stage of life. Infants, toddlers and preschoolers rapidly develop capabilities in emotional regulation, relationships, cognition, motor development and language. These abilities form the foundation from which all future development builds.

Our job as educators it to help them build that foundation by providing a high quality environment that supports their needs. However, intentional activities that provide children with an ability to acquire and master their school readiness skills are crucial in a preschool setting. Some of these abilities include children’s social competence to succeed in a social situation.

Relationships enable young children to care about people by establishing the human connection between self and others. As a consequence of early relationships, young children seek to understand the feelings, thoughts and expectations of others, as well as the importance of cooperation and sharing. The young child’s identity is shaped by the interactions that they have with others who are significant in their lives – parents, educators, peers and other family members.

The beginning of a new school year provides you with the opportunity to shape social relationships in your classroom setting.  Environment is a crucial element in this process. Make sure that your classroom environment reflects your philosophy as an educator, but most importantly that it fits your children and families’ needs and cultural background.

Educational Links

Take advantage of research based activities, strategies and ideas.

Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, offers you a variety of resources to support children’s social emotional development including training modules, kits and videos on the following topics: transitions, managing behaviors, peer social interactions, etc.

http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/training_kits.html

Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for young children is a great resource for educators. You can download a variety of newsletters to keep you parent-teacher communication open. They address topics such as: ”How to help your child understand and recognize anger,” “transitions between places and activities” etc. 

http://www.challengingbehavior.org/communities/teachers.htm

This article was contributed by: MARIA TERESA RUIZ, a Child Development Consultant, and Vice President & Co-founder of Purpleiam (www.purpleiam.com).