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A site for parents and caregivers actively supporting kids' development
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Tag: Social awareness
Posted on October 11, 2018 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
Preparing Children to Stand Up for Themselves and Others
It seems impossible to get through voluntary playground duty without witnessing a child running with tears streaming down his or her face at recess time. This day was typical with one glaring exception. Walking up alongside the teary-eyed child, I spotted an upstander taking action. A second-grade girl was beginning to cry in a group …
Posted on September 6, 2018 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
The Magic and Mishaps of Tweens: Understanding the Era of Social Awareness and Social Anxiety
“I had a dream that I told the girl I have a crush on that I liked her and seconds later, I watched as the whole world exploded,” my ten-almost-eleven-year-old told me as he was getting ready for bed last night. This morning, I noticed him spending time fixing his hair in the mirror, an …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: Compassion, Empathy, kids and social anxiety, social and emotional learning in middle school, Social awareness, tweens, tweens and social anxiety, tweens and social awareness, understanding middle childhood, understanding middle school students, understanding tweens
Posted on February 13, 2018 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
The Language of Love for Our Children
The coming of Valentine’s Day seems an ideal time to write about one of the greatest, most enduring loves. No, I am not writing about romantic love. This is about our love for our children and how we express it. There are moments in our lives when we feel like bursting with love for our …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: Clean Language, Expressing love to our children, learning about child development, love language for parents, love language with kids, parenting with love, parents and child development, parents and patience, Responsible decision-making, Self awareness, Showing children love, Social awareness, Unconditional love
A Family Primer on World Holidays…
Give the Gift of Global Awareness this Holiday Season Because of the numerous holidays celebrated through the fall and winter months, it is an ideal time to discuss how people celebrate around the world – both the uniqueness of traditions and also the many commonalities. I was struck by the number of similar themes and …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: Boxing Day, Chinese New Year, Christmas, Cultural appreciation, Diversity appreciation, Diwali, Eid al-Fitr, Hannukah, Holiday season, Kwanzaa, La Posada, Omisoka, Ramadan, Social awareness, St. Lucia Day, teaching kids about world holidays, teaching kids social awareness, world culture posters, World holidays
Posted on November 9, 2017 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
A New Children’s Book Series
For Promoting Social and Emotional Skills in the Home or Classroom Mandy is having a tough day because each friend or relative she meets can’t play. But the narrator of this story asks good questions of Mandy to learn more. It turns out her friend got in trouble and wasn’t allowed to play. Another friend …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: "The Grit Up Series", Abbie Kelley, Care to repair, Empathy, negative self-talk, Relationship skills, Responsible decision-making, Self awareness, Self-management, Social and Emotional Learning, Social and emotional skill building, Social awareness
Posted on October 26, 2017 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
Halloween Party Cooperative Games for Home or Classroom
Perhaps you volunteer in your child’s classroom as I do and are helping plan the annual Halloween party. Maybe you are a teacher looking for ways to both entertain, celebrate, and build skills on the holiday. Or you could be planning a costume party for family and friends. Whatever your role or goal, the following …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: Active listening, classroom cooperative games, Collaboration, Collaborative games, Creative thinking, Empathy, halloween cooperative games, halloween games, halloween party, Negotiation, Nonverbal communication, Perspective taking, Problem solving, Social awareness
Posted on September 21, 2017 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
Safety and Caring First; Inclusion and Equity Plus Kindness Equals Learning
When ethnographer Angela Valenzuela spoke with immigrants in Texas – Mexican-American parents and students – and dug into the meaning of the Spanish word “educacion,” (in English: education) they understood it to mean “caring before learning.” 1 And that interpretation makes practical sense for any and all school communities. Children not only need to feel …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: @ChildTrends, @MakingCaring Common, caring school communities, caring schools, CASEL, Child Trends, Equity, immigrant families, immigrant students, immigrants, Inclusion, Kindness, Making Caring Common, respect, safe school communities, safe schools, school communities, schools and safety, Social awareness, Teaching kids inclusion
Posted on August 23, 2017 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
Facilitating the Transition Back to School with Social and Emotional Intelligence
I’m gonna hold onto this couch and never let go! – E. Miller, Age 6 It’s the morning after our summer vacation at the lake. E awoke and said he had had a nightmare. “My school became a haunted village. A ghost dragged me around the grounds. And all of my school friends were at …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: Back to School anxiety, Back to school stress, back to school transition, beginning of school, confidence with back to school, first contacts with teachers, kids back to school, parenting with social awareness, parents and back to school, smooth morning routine, social and emotional skills in first weeks of school, social anxiety, Social awareness
Posted on July 20, 2017 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
The Courageous Act of Making New Friends
“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’” – C.S. Lewis The need and desire to make new friends can arise in children’s lives anytime whether your child is new to a camp or school, a close friend moved away, or …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: building healthy relationships, children introducing each other, children learning names, children's friendships, children's social skills, confidence to make friends, helping kids make friends, making friends, making introductions, social anxiety, Social awareness, social awkwardness, starting friendships
Posted on June 15, 2017 by confidentparentsconfidentkids
A Storied Childhood – The Role of Stories in Children’s Social and Emotional Development
Oh, the places you’ll go! The worlds you will visit! The friends you will know! – Dr. Seuss1 “What are you guys up to?” I say to the three six-year-old friends in my living room. “We’re sharing our books!” one says with an “Isn’t it obvious?” tone. Reading is a top priority in the early …
Category: Building a Positive Family Environment Tags: children learning to read, Creative thinking, emotional, Empathy, how children learn to read, Moral development, parents reading with children, Perspective taking, promoting reading, Reading, Responsible decision-making, role of reading with families, Social, Social awareness, Stories and social and emotional development, teaching reading
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