Emotional and Social Development (ESD

Goal ESD-1: Children demonstrate a positive self-identity and selfawareness. Goal ESD-2: Children express positive feelings about themselves and confidence in what they can do.

Strategy

I/T and Preschool Curriculum promotes planning experiences based on children's current observed needs, abilities and interests. Provides instruction on taking anecdotal/observation notes.

Curriculum promotes giving children choices as opposed to recommendations promoting center rotation or lists of children assigned to centers. Curriculum provides suggestions for family involvement. As noted above in APL-3 and APL-4, Volume 1, Introduction to the Curriculum provides specific guidance for child-led activities and/or centers which are designed for children to explore and interact with their peers as they discover and learn new concepts through exploration and play (Vol. 1, p. 41). The activities can be in a center, at a table, or on the carpet or another designated section of the classroom. Teacher may choose centers to complement skills areas in specific lessons during a given week or to support students who may need to build skills identified within Observation Checklists. Child-led activities help children develop preferences and confidence as they explore and develop essential skills. (Individual student manipulative kits are available to send home with students or to use in the classroom and meet CDC Guidelines.) Suggestions include: • Roll–A–Dough - Look and Find small beads to develop fine motor skills; Play and Create with dough and random objects (Vol. 1, p. 68) • A-B-C Touch & Flip Cards – Letter Hunt, explore the room for letters on classroom objects (Vol. 1, p. 70) • 1-2-3 Touch & Flip Cards – independent exploration of counting, matching and sequencing (Vol. 1, p. 83) • Mix & Make Shapes – create shapes and designs, make pictures, build patterns (Vol. 1, p. 85) • Tag Bags – toss, sort, arrange and design using key words such as color names (Vol. 1, p. 89)

Emotional and Social Development (ESD)

Developing a Sense of Self With Others

Goal ESD-3: Children form relationships and interact positively with familiar adults who are consistent and responsive to their needs.

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Goal ESD-4: Children form relationships and interact positively with other children. Goal ESD-5: Children demonstrate the social and behavioral skills needed to successfully participate in groups.

Strategy

Preschool Curriculum provides positive behavior management strategies. The Get Set for School activities help children to develop self-concept, self-regulation, personal initiative, emotional understanding, and relationships with adults and peers. We want them to have positive self-esteem, learn to engage in classroom activities, transition appropriately, take initiative, understand feelings, and take turns sharing and playing with their friends.

Unit 1 focuses on behavior and skills children need to be successful at school with friends. This includes, but is not limited to: greetings, identifying friends, friendly behavior, similarities and differences between people, learning how to look and listen, polite and rude behavior, manners and respect, sharing with others, taking turns, waiting for turn or in line, etc. Lesson examples include: • Ask and respond to simple questions (Vol. 2, Language & Literacy, p. 12) • Learn how to greet people (Vol. 2, Readiness & Writing, pp 12) • Shake hands (Oral Language, p. 13; Readiness & Writing, p. 16) • Recognizing their own name and friends’ names (Vol. 2, Language & Literacy, p. 52) • Take turns and follow directions, (Vol. 2, Oral Language, pp. 45, 69) Throughout all lessons and read-alouds, we ensure that children have ample opportunities to talk with both adults and peers and provide ongoing feedback and encouragement. Teachers are prompted to observe and ask children questions as they work in groups and independently. Throughout Oral Language lessons, Squawker a puppet parrot asks children questions. For example: • “What is your name? People have names. What else can have a name? Our Helper’s name is ________. Do you know anyone else with that name?” (Vol. 2, p. 21) • “We pass out snacks or papers. What else do we pass? We share to let people know we enjoy what we have. What else can we share?” (Vol. 2, p. 37) • “We can point to pictures in a book. What else can we point to? We can say words in a loud voice or soft voice. What other ways can you say words?” (Vol. 2, p. 73)

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Learning About Feelings

Goal ESD-6: Children identify, manage, and express their feelings. Goal ESD-7: Children recognize and respond to the needs and feelings of others.

Strategy

Infants/Toddlers Provides examples of using supportive language to teachers to accept toddler mistakes as a natural process of learning and exploring.

Strategy

Preschool Provides examples of phrases for teachers to use to encourage children to express their feelings, take appropriate action and notice the feelings of other children (e.g., Words for conflict resolution). Get Set for School helps children identify and manage their feelings throughout the curriculum. Identifying feelings is taught directly with the support of read-alouds and resources such as Feeling Face Cutouts (PreKITT Resources). Children learn to understand and use language to express their feelings, thoughts, and observations. Lesson examples and prompts include: • Remembering: “Can you remember a time when you were happy?” (Vol. 2, Oral Language, p. 111) • Identifying emotions in a story: “How do you feel when you’re eating? How does Miss Muffet feel?” (Vol. 2, Language & Literacy, p. 118) • Making personal connections: “How do you feel on your birthday (happy, excited, etc.)? How do you think Isabel feels?” (Vol. 2, Language & Literacy, p. 142) • Exploring real and pretend animals: “Have children discuss how pretending to care for a pet made them feel.” (Vol. 2, Science, p. 191) • Listening to lively and sad music: “Lively songs make you want to dance. What makes you feel lively? You feel sad when you lose your favorite toy. What else makes you feel sad?” (Vol. 2, Oral Language, p. 213) • Describing a problem and a solution: “What was Miss Muffet's problem? How did she fix it?” (Vol. 2, Language & Literacy, p. 316)

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