Social and Emotional Learning

Context

After combining two separate classes from the previous year to form one new class, the teachers explored ways to bring the classes together while also pursuing a social emotional curriculum. 

November 15, 2014

This journal will give a window into another area of development that is woven through and explored every day in the Little Garden classroom – social and emotional learning. The children of the Little Garden are actively exploring what it means to be part of a community, both emotionally and physically. They are, through their actions and interactions, showing us their questions about what it means to be close to someone, to have space, to show an expression of anger, frustration, joy. We are supporting them to explore these questions in their play, both informally and in more structured ways. The two examples below will give a more in depth look into how we are engaging the children in social and emotional learning as they develop their identity as individuals and as part of important home and school communities. 

Family Photo Puzzles

This journal will give a window into another area of development that is woven through and explored every day in the Little Garden classroom – social and emotional learning. The children of the Little Garden are actively exploring what it means to be part of a community, both emotionally and physically. They are, through their actions and interactions, showing us their questions about what it means to be close to someone, to have space, to show an expression of anger, frustration, joy. We are supporting them to explore these questions in their play, both informally and in more structured ways. The two examples below will give a more in depth look into how we are engaging the children in social and emotional learning as they develop their identity as individuals and as part of important home and school communities. 

It has been an interesting progression to see the children develop relationships with new peers and grownups these past two months. A number of parents have commented after their teaching day, either in person or in the Parent Reflection Journal, how the children have become a cohesive community so quickly. Some have noted how they children are comfortable with them as teaching parents (when they are relatively new to each other) and are able to seek them out as a source of support. This feedback resonates with Tim and I as well. We have been blown away by how quickly the group came together…It is still our intention, however, to provide the children with contexts in which to deepen their understanding of their peer group. This is also an important point in children's development in which exposing them to the range of experiences and backgrounds that our group comes with. 

Supporting children to think, feel, and speak positively about not only themselves and their family but the families of their peers and encouraging them to notice and embrace the differences and similarities between themselves and their peers are learning goals of ours in the Little Garden. This connects to the first and second of the four goals of Anti-Bias Curriculum as Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edwards outlined in their 2010 book Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves - 

1. Each child will demonstrate self-awareness, confidence, family pride, and positive social identities.
2. Each child will express comfort and joy with human diversity; accurate language for human difference; and deep, caring human connections.

Photographs are a tool we often use for promoting memory and dialogue with the children. We decided to use the children's family photos in a new way - a family "puzzle" game where the children can find and put together the members of their families and those of their classmates. 

In the above video the children are exploring the photos of their own families and those of their classmates. Many of the children focused on putting their own family together first before branching on to another child's family. You can hear the excitement and pride in their voices when they discover a parent, sibling, or peer. The puzzles offer a lovely natural avenue for discussing who is in one another's families, what we have done with them, or what is special about them… A beautiful thing happened as well when the children started noticing each other's families. They became engaged in talking and playing about each other's families, and we look forward to what other layers we can build on this foundation of acceptance and celebration of their own selves and those around them.