Check out the latest article by Confident Parents, Confident Kids’ author, Jennifer Miller helping parents prepare their children for responsible decision making by practicing thinking before they act and reflecting afterward on choices made. It was written in partnership with Roger Weissberg of the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning. It can be read now on educational reformer Thomas Vander Ark’s Getting Smart site and will run in the Huffington Post Education section in the coming week. Here’s are the first few paragraphs…

Parenting with Social and Emotional Learning: Thinking Before and After Actions

Recently after I witnessed a child hitting another child in the face on a playground, I heard his first words afterward muttered through a steady stream of tears. “I just wasn’t thinking.”

“Think, think, think,” said Winnie the Pooh. And, that silly old bear might have been wiser than Christopher Robin imagined. Stopping to think may not seem a priority in our fast-paced lives but it just may be one key to raising socially and emotionally intelligent children. Sure there are numerous ways we can promote children’s self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making. We can model empathy as did the mother who regularly makes meals for sick friends and whose child replicated that lesson through her empathy for her friend who was in the hospital. We can coach our child when they are confused by a complex of emotions by offering expressive language and asking, “Is that the way you are feeling?” Or we can offer practice opportunities to help a child to learn to control his impulses. Instead of lashing out in anger, he’ll know how to express himself without harming others. Read the full article.