2012 social emotional_booklet_military

Supporting Children & Youth with Social-Emotional Needs

Supporting Social-Emotional Needs 1

Support ing Children & Youth with Social-Emotional Needs

Table of Contents

Understanding Social-Emotional Needs . . . . . . . 2

Exploring Emotions and the Brain . . . . . . . . . . 4

Modeling Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Program Supports & Accommodations . . . . . . . 10

Resources for Program Personnel . . . . . . . . . . 12

Recommended Book List for Children . . . . . . . . 14

Recommended Book List for Teens . . . . . . . . . 15

List of References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15


Understanding Social-Emotional Needs

Social-emotional development begins at a very young age, and continues throughout our lifetime. It impacts how we communicate, solve problems, control our be-havior, interact with others and develop relationships.

Early childhood experiences shape social-emotional development. During development, children and youth learn to recognize and gain control of their feelings and actions.

Children will enter your program at all levels of social-emotional ability.

It is estimated that as many as 1 in 5 children are impacted by a mental, emotional or behavioral disorder. Social-emotional challenges can range from someone who

has trouble controlling their behavior in a group setting to a person with a diagnosis from a medical professional. Diagnosis examples include anxiety or attachment disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and more.

Child and youth professionals who support social-emotional development make a difference in the lives of those they care for.

Many children and youth develop social-emotional skills naturally, and some need to be taught these skills by caring and patient adults. You may need to provide support in the following areas:

• Controlling behavior during activities

• Coping with anger and negative emotions

• Handling mood, thoughts and energy levels

• Interacting with peers

• Solving problems and conflicts


Exploring Emotions and the Brain

Steps to explore emotions

1 . Label the emotion

2 . Practice a coping technique

3 . Identify the cause

4 . Plan a course of action for next time

Practicing these steps will enable a child or youth to have greater control over their behavior and emotions. Support will lead to greater success for them in their re-lationships and interactions with others, as well as the ability to make better decisions during stressful times.

When a child or youth has needs that are not met, the result can often be an emotional reaction. As child and youth personnel, it is important to understand (and help children and youth understand) that their brain will react according to their emotions.

When a person is angry or frustrated, the brain responds by going into “survival mode,” or “fight or flight.” As the brain is busy responding to the emotion, the person can have trouble thinking rationally and solving problems.

As adults, we often try to talk with children and youth when they are angry or upset and ask them to think about what they could do differently. This may not yield the results we are looking for.

Children and youth must learn to calm down and regain control before they are able to solve prob-lems or make decisions. The first step to helping them calm down is to teach ways to identify when they feel “out of control”.

Supporting Social-Emotional Needs

Teaching skills

We learn best when we are enjoying ourselves, so It is important to make learning skills as fun as possible. Here are some ideas to help create awareness of emotions for specific age groups.

Preschoolers

Point out the body language of characters that may be frustrated or angry in picture books. Ask the chil-dren to explain how they can tell what the character is feeling. Take turns saying an emotion and making the appropriate expression and body language.

Take pictures of the children making various emotional expressions with their faces. Post the pictures and talk about what it feels like when you are experiencing those emotions.

School-age children

Tell a story about a character getting frustrated and “freeze” the story so the children can come up with ways for the character to regain control.

Children can also create a collage with pictures of people relaxing. Designate a calm/relaxing space that is available for children to use.

Teenagers

Encourage teens to write scripts about conflicts that focus on ways for people to relax and stay in control of their actions.

Show a popular teen show or movie that demonstrates characters dealing with anger or frustration. Lead a discussion about whether their coping strategies were positive or negative.

7

Emotions and the Brain Continued…

Children and youth have many demands placed on them beginning at a young age. Some of these expec-tations include following directions, understanding social cues and communicating effectively with others.

These demands can require a great deal of self-regula-tion, or control. Self-regulation is the ability to regu-late emotions, behavior, and social interactions, as well as control cognitive processes (such as attention).

As child and youth personnel, it is important to model how to handle difficult situations by “thinking out loud”. Our modeled behavior might not be apparent to chil-dren and youth; that is why it is beneficial to practice this technique so they will pick up on modeled behavior and the reasoning behind it.

For example, you might say, “What she just did makes me very angry. I am going to wait to talk to her later.” Adults can also model how they look at the outcome of a difficult situation by saying, “I am glad I waited to talk to her when I was calm. I was able to listen to her reason and understand why she acted the way she did.”

For younger children, personnel can be specific and intentional about pointing out the things they do to stay calm (“I take three deep breaths”), or laugh about themselves and the “hard times” (“Oh my! I forgot our favorite CD! I wish I had a reminder button inside my brain to help me remember”).

Modeling Control


happened and helping them solve the problem.

Ask for partial participation in certain activities

Many children have a hard time coping with stressful situations. Help them develop their social-emotional skills by having them partially participate in difficult activities/situations. Increase the amount of time required at the activity as their coping abilities grow.

Prepare for situations

Identify the times or situations when children or youth need social-emotional support.

If free play tends to dis-rupt them, prepare for it ahead of time. Talk about free time and help develop a plan

so they will be better prepared to deal with the

situation in the future.

There are supports and accommodations for children to help them successfully control their behavior. The following are some basic tips for supporting social-emotional needs in your program.

Follow a consistent routine and structure

Children and youth with social-emotional needs often experience instability in their mood, energy, thinking and behavior. It is important to have a predict-able environment to help them cope with the rise and fall in their mood and energy.

Offer comfort items and small fidgets

Fidgets can be a great way to help children focus on ac-tivities while providing an outlet for energy. Examples of fidgets include pieces of felt or a small ball.

Allow time after a negative experience

Wait until the child has recovered and has come into a positive state of mind before talking about what

Program Supports & Accommodations



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Resources for Program Personnel

Videos and other resources on supporting social-emotional needs

are available at kitonline.org.

While you’re there, sign in to KIT's online learning center -- the account is FREE!

The KIT Online Learning Center Includes:

Instructional Videos Webinars eLearning Modules Articles Booklets Support Center Links

Earn CEUs and Certificates of Completion!

ONLINE:

Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CEFEL), www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel. Printable tools and resources for teaching social-emotional skills for younger children.

National Institute of Mental Health, www.nimh.nih.gov. Educational resources for students and professionals, as well as news on related topics.

WINGS, www.wingsforkids.org/experience/hot-wings. Social and emotional development activities and resources.

BOOKS:

Me, You, Us: Social-Emotional Learning in Preschool by Ann Epstein (HighScope Educational Research Foundation, 2009).

Unsmiling Faces: How Preschools Can Heal by Leslie Koplow (Teachers College Press, 2007).


Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. J., Self-regulation as a key to school readiness: How early childhood teachers can promote this critical competency (2006).

McIntyre, T., Teaching social skills to kids who don’t yet have them . Learning Disabilities Online: ldonline.org (2003).

United States Department of Heath and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA), 2010.

Zaslow, M. & Martinez-Beck, I., Critical issues in early childhood professional development (pp. 203–224) Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

List of References

A Walk in the Rain with a Brain by Edward Hallowell (Harper Collins, 2004).

Making Friends by Janine Amos (Cherrytree Books, 2000).

Sometimes I Feel Silly by Jamie Lee Curtis (HarperCollins, 1998).

When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry (Scholastic Audio Books, 2007).

Recommended Book List for Children Recommended Book List for Teens

104 Activities That Build: Self-Esteem, Teamwork, Communication, Anger Management, Self-Discovery, Coping Skills

by Alana Jones (Rec Room Publishing, 1998).

Social Skills Picture Book for High School and Beyond by Jed Baker (Future Horizons, Inc., 2006).

The Social Success Workbook for Teens: Skill-Building Activities for Teens with Nonverbal Learning Disorder, Asperger's Dis-order, and Other Social-Skill Problems

by Barbara Cooper and Nancy Widdows (Raincoast Books, 2008).

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