Social and emotional skills are the skills and strategies your child has for managing emotions, navigating relationships, working effectively with others, solving difficult problems, and making responsible decisions. Creekside's Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Guide outlines our building-wide and classroom practices for coaching kids up on their social and emotional skills. This Google Site includes a curated list of resources, videos, and tools to support families in fostering skills like kindness, empathy, resilience, perseverence and focus in children.

Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose to what is happening right now without judgement. Mindfulness is present-time awareness and equanimity. The scripts and videos below can support at-home mindfulness practice.

Families are spending more time with one another than ever before, and even siblings who are the best of friends can still get on each other’s nerves. These restorative questions for family conflict can be an opportunity for kids to practice social skills and support families in negotiating the peace. Learning to healthily navigate conflicts at home can teach kids about things like taking turns, sharing, body autonomy, when to turn to an adult, and using words to solve problems.

Creekside Coyotes receive instruction in the Zones of Regulation, an approach to teaching self-regulation by categorizing all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four colored Zones. The Zones framework provides strategies to teach and practice controlling emotions and impulses, managing sensory needs, and improving ability to problem solve conflicts. Check out the video and visuals below to support your child in using Zones language and strategies at home.

Creekside Coyotes receive explicit Social Emotional Learning instruction through the Second Step curriculum, providing students with tools in the areas of emotion management, situational awareness, and skills for learning/academic achievement.

In a world where emotional intelligence is critical for lifelong happiness, successful careers, and healthier relationships, social emotional learning is the process through which children and adults can better understand, manage, and express emotions and empathy, develop positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.

The visuals below are used in classroom spaces and across the building. Consider using this common language to support your child in gaining confidence, setting and achieving positive goals, collaborating well, and navigating the world more effectively.

What is Welcoming Schools? Using an intersectional approach, Welcoming Schools supports the academic and social emotional growth of our students. We are committed to creating an anti-racist, non-discriminatory environment where all identities are seen, valued and respected.

Why Welcoming Schools? It’s our JOB to create SAFE and INCLUSIVE learning environments.

• We are talking about FAMILY. Families are children’s first point of reference in elementary school.

• We are talking about RESPECT. “Gay” is widely used as a put-down (often to mean something is "stupid"), & educators must address disrespectful language.

• ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT is linked to acceptance of self and others.

• We are talking about SAFETY.

• The role of schools is not to get everyone to agree, but to foster a climate of RESPECT for diversity of beliefs & families & identities within the community.

FAMILIES, NAME-CALLING, and CURRENT EVENTS all include gender & LGBTQ+ topics with our students. It’s already here.

Ways to Support Learning at Home:

• Educate Yourself – check out the MMSD Welcoming Schools Website tab “For Families” for links, videos, definitions, book recommendations and much more

• Talk to Your Child – Talk with your child about the many parts of their identity (e.g., race, religion, gender, ability, roles within society, roles within your family)

• Read Together – Check out the Welcoming Schools book list for recommendations or check out books that they have read at school and talk about what they are learning

• Model How to Challenge Stereotypes – While watching tv commercials or shopping at stores, point out and challenge stereotypes that you see

When a child is experiencing a big emotion, it is important to co-regulate. This can be achieved through not focusing on the child’s behavior but instead staying in the moment with them, empathizing with facial gestures, calmly mirroring what they feel and accepting the expression of their feelings.

Starting 3/20, Playworks is coming to you live 3x a day, 5 days a week, with opportunities for kids to engage in fun and interactive PLAY!

Learn more at playworks.org/get-involved/play-at-home/

Kids worry more when they're kept in the dark. News of the coronavirus COVID-19 is everywhere, from the front page of all the papers to the playground at school. Many parents are wondering how to bring up the epidemic in a way that will be reassuring and not make kids more worried than they already may be. Here is some advice from the experts at the Child Mind Institute.

https://childmind.org/article/talking-to-kids-about-the-coronavirus/

During this global pandemic, everyone is facing questions and uncertainty, including children and adolescents. Sifting through all of the available information and resources to navigate these conversations in effective and age-appropriate ways can feel overwhelming for caregivers and teachers who are facing so many shifting responsibilities.

A team of students at Harvard Medical School wanted students of all ages to have access to accurate, engaging, and developmentally-appropriate information about COVID-19 and how it is impacting their lives, as well as resources to help them effectively cope with the stress and anxiety they are likely facing. They synthesized available information about Coronavirus to develop resources for elementary, middle, and high school students in formats that are uniquely tailored to each age group’s needs and abilities.

Link: https://kids.covidstudentresponse.org/