Self-awareness is the ability to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one’s strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose.

Ways to practice self-awareness at home:

• Learn to identify emotions and how they influence behavior

• Build up emotional vocabulary. Click here for a list of emotion words

• Come up with a list identifying personal, social, and cultural strengths

• Model honesty & integrity at home

• Practice linking feelings, thoughts, and actions

• Examine prejudices and biases 

• Develop a growth mindset

Self management refers to the ability to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation and agency to accomplish personal and collective goals.

Ways to practice self-management at home:

• Practice identifying and using stress-management strategies

• Model and discuss self-discipline and impulse control

• Practice setting and achieving personal goals (ideally SMART goals!)

• Try using planning and organizational skills

Social awareness is the ability to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.

Ways to practice social awareness at home:

• Practice looking at issues from others’ perspectives

• Practice identifying and recognizing strengths in others

• Model and demonstrate empathy and compassion

• Show concern for the feelings of others

• Understanding and expressing gratitude 

• Identifying and talking about diverse social norms, including unjust ones

Relationship Skills are the abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.

Ways to practice relationship skills at home:

• Communicating! Set time aside to have conversations about daily life and current events

• Developing positive relationships

• Practicing teamwork and collaborative problem-solving

• Discussing how to resolve conflicts constructively

• Discussing how to resist negative social pressure

• Discuss how to effectively stand up for the rights of others

Responsible decision-making are the abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.

Ways to practice responsible decision-making:

• Teach students to see both sides of an issue to foster open-mindedness

• Foster curiosity and encourage discovery-based learning

• Discuss how to make a reasoned judgment after analyzing information, data, and facts

• Help your student work through solutions for personal and social problems instead of giving them the answers

• Practice anticipating and evaluating consequences for actions

• Recognizing how critical thinking skills are useful both inside and outside of school

• Reflecting on one’s role to promote personal, family, and community well-being