What are hidden rules (or hidden expectations) and why do we teach about this? We use the words “hidden rules” to explain that there are social expectations that teachers, parents, and peers don't talk about, but that we are all expected to follow based on what's happening around us (the situation/context).

We make a smart guess when we take what we observe and combine what we know.  Students are normally expected to figure out what they should be doing and, often, how they should do it. Social problem solving requires making smart guesses, about what to do. 

A LITTLE EXTRA PRACTICE:

The social world is complex; it shifts and changes constantly.  Therefore the expectation is that we shift and change with it.  We are constantly learning how to be flexible, even throughout our adult life.

In this video, we see Julia and her family try to go to the park but find that it’s too crowded. Together they practice flexibility when they think of other ways they can have fun together on their walk home. Watch the video together with children.

Before watching: Talk about the word flexibility. Ask: What does it mean to be flexible? Can you think of things that are flexible? Did you know that our brains can be flexible, too?

While you watch: Notice what Julia’s parents say and do to help children through feelings of disappointment. Point out the ways they work together to think of a solution.

After watching: Ask children what happened in the video. Talk about times when you’ve needed to be flexible too. What problem did we face? What did we do?

The goal of this unit is to increase our children’s awareness of the following concepts, which ultimately contribute to them learning better self-regulation:

⦁ Problems come in different sizes

⦁ Emotions and reactions come in different sizes

⦁ Reactions come from emotions

⦁ It’s expected that the size of the emotion and related reaction matches the size of the problem

A shared imagination is the ability to imagine what another person is thinking, feeling, and/or pretending.