4 Practical Tips to Support Children’s Social and Emotional Development

November 27, 2020

Our preschool teachers have seen firsthand how the pandemic and other life circumstances can affect students’ social and emotional development.

Whether you’re a teacher adjusting to life back in the classroom with your students, or a parent of a student doing online learning, these 4 tips from our experts will help the young children in your life grow and thrive no matter what:

• Set small challenges. The best way for children to learn to deal with difficult tasks and emotions is constant exposure to them. Start off by giving them small challenges, such as climbing a jungle gym, drawing a shape or connecting dots. If your child gets stuck and gets frustrated, don’t jump right in and help them finish the task. Use words of encouragement, like “You can do it!” and show them that you believe in them. This will ultimately help them learn to believe in themselves, which is a big part of development.

• Set clear rules. When children get into a new situation, they can get overwhelmed if they don’t know from the beginning what’s expected of them. Before transitioning to a new activity, make sure to set clear rules before beginning in order to ease anxiety. For example, if you’re about to start playing a board game, you can say, “Remember, we don’t always win, but we have to learn to be happy for the other player and try again next time instead of getting angry.” You are your child’s role model, and a big part of that is communicating your expectations with them.

• Read books and watch videos about feelings together. Reading a book or watching a video where they see another child have feelings and deal with them accordingly is a great first step for your child’s development. Ask them if they recognize the emotions the character is feeling and how they think they dealt with them. This can be a great learning tool for future life situations.

• Employ other children as role models. Not only can children learn how to behave and deal with feelings from books and other educational materials, but they can also learn it from other children. In the classroom, if your student is not behaving or processing emotions in the proper way, find another student who is and have them model the proper behavior to help development. At home, you can utilize older siblings for this task.

At Les Enfants, we model appropriate behavior and help our students grow and develop in a healthy way. Contact us today at 201-592-6695 to ask about enrollment!