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Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
- Describe the kind of environment and teacher interaction patterns that support early learning standards for social and emotional development.
- Explain how teachers can help children acquire identity and self-esteem and develop socialization skills.
- Describe the importance of self-regulation and how teachers help children develop self-control and learn to solve problems and conflicts.
- Identify important concepts in the national standards for the social studies and resources, activities, and themes appropriate for young children.
Introduction
You know that in addition to meeting children’s physical needs and approaches to learning standards, a very important part of teaching young children is promoting and encouraging healthy social and emotional development. Some of the families of your class group are experiencing great stressat least one family in your class is struggling with unemployment and at risk of losing its home, another has a military parent deployed to a combat zone, and a third is providing in-home care for a grandparent who recently had a stroke. You wonder how these circumstances might affect the children’s emotional stability and behavior and how you can help all the children to become confident in their ability to deal with challenges and solve problems they experience at school.
You want the children to develop a strong sense of self and relate well to their teachers and peers. You also want to incorporate a developmentally appropriate approach to encourage them to regulate their own behavior and create a caring and vibrant classroom community. In this chapter, we explore important concepts and effective strategies for social and emotional development and a developmentally appropriate approach to social studies curriculum and standards.
From the Field
Critical Thinking Question
- Lucia explains how important it is to address social/emotional considerations as part of an integrated approach to teaching. Why is this so important?