Social & Emotional Learning

Speaking With Your Child About Coronavirus

With our daily routines disrupted and many elements of our work and personal lives currently unknown, it is understandable that there will be heightened stress and anxiety. In times of communal stress it can sometimes be hard to know what to say or how to react. During this time, keeping our daily routines, connecting with others (even from afar), and caring for ourselves will help offer a sense of security and help children know what to expect.

Children are likely hearing about the virus. Feel free to talk with them about it. Not talking about it may actually make them more nervous. Invite your child to share what they know about the coronavirus and how they are feeling.
Find out what your child already knows before beginning the conversation. Ask questions geared to your child's age level. For younger children, you could say, "Have you heard grownups talking about a new sickness (germ) that's going around?" This gives you a chance to learn how much kids know — and to find out if they're hearing the wrong information.
Follow your child's lead. Some kids may want to spend time talking or even drawing about what they know. But if your kids don't seem interested or don't ask a lot of questions, that's OK. They may need time to think about it and come back to you later with their questions.
Answer your child’s questions about the virus in a straightforward and factual manner.
If your child asks about something and you don't know the answer, it’s okay to say, “I’m not sure.” Use the question as a chance to find out together, or let the child know you’ll check into it and come back to them later.
Remember that emotions are contagious. Your attitude about the coronavirus will impact how your child feels about it. If you remain calm, your child is more likely to remain calm as well.
Empower your child with information about staying safe. You might say, “We can be germ-busters! Germ busters keep germs away by washing hands and keeping hands to ourselves and away from faces.” Let children know there are a lot of helpers who are working to keep the germs away too, like doctors and nurses.

Give kids space to share their fears. It's natural for kids to worry, "Could I be next? Could that happen to me?" Let them know they can always come to you for answers or to talk about what scares them.

Below is a social story for speaking with young children about school closure. Feel free to change or adapt this social story to better reflect your child's needs!

My School Is Closed Today

Social and Emotional Development In Pre-K

Social and emotional development is essential to the success of the four year-old during the preschool year. It promotes a child’s sense of self, enhances his or her ability to make friends, and creates an openness to learning. Here are some hallmarks of a preschooler’s development:

Quest for independence: Children are seeking independence. Provide firm but loving limits. Firmness shows respect for the situation while loving shows respect for the child. It is when we allow children to make mistakes that they have the opportunity to learn from them! It is important to give preschoolers lots of opportunities to do for themselves.
Strong emotions: Children can express strong feelings. The goal in dealing with children’s anger towards adults is to not take the anger personally and give feelings words by acknowledging the anger behind the words. The goal with helping children with anger towards peers is to help give children the language to express feelings without hurting another child either physically or verbally.
Children are beginning to identify feelings in others and solve social problems using their words, they continue to demonstrate egocentricity. They are also continuing to work on the nuances of problem solving, and we frequently hear them use phrases such as “you are not my friend,” or “you’re not invited to my birthday party” (often when their birthday party is not even on the horizon!) It is important to continue to provide language that focuses on communicating the behavior they don’t like, not the child! Some phrases we use are: “Please stop ____,” “I don’t like when you ___,” or “Please _____.”
The peer group is beginning to be important in children’s lives. Playdates are highly recommended for all preschoolers! It is through play that children have the opportunity to practice their negotiation and social problem solving skills.

RULER

Tools For Understanding And Expressing Our Emotions

Mood Meter

RULER Activities

To Do At Home

Use materials in your home to make your own mood meter!
As you read stories as a family, discuss how characters may feel and where they may be on the mood meter.
Sort family photos or pictures from magazines! Look closely at faces in photos and see if they are in the red, blue, yellow, or green.
Tell stories about times when you felt in the red, blue, green, or yellow. If you had to shift your mood, how did you do it?
Make a list of strategies that your family likes to use to shift your moods. Do you take a deep breath? Do yoga? Write it down!

Below, you will find three helpful articles about helping your child cope with difficult emotions from The National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI).

The goals of NCPMI are to assist states and programs in their implementation of sustainable systems for the implementation of the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children (Pyramid Model) within early intervention and early education programs with a focus on promoting the social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes of young children birth to five.

The Backpack Connection Series was created by the Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children (TACSEI) to provide a way for teachers and parents/caregivers to work together to help young children develop social emotional skills and reduce challenging behavior.

bkpk_anger.pdf

Recognizing and Understanding Anger

bkpk_frustration.pdf

Recognizing and Understanding Frustration

bkpk_recognize_sadness.pdf

Recognizing and Understanding Sadness

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