Studies show that children with strong SEL skills have more confidence and perform better in school. See how QuaverPre-K integrates the 5 CASEL core competencies in our curriculum.
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As we prepare children for kindergarten, we have an amazing opportunity to help develop social and emotional (SEL) skills. How do we approach this in Quaver Pre-K? In many ways!
Prekindergarten is an easy entry point and most programs integrate SEL in some way. What makes Quaver Pre-K unique are the SEL-focused songs and interactive activities we offer.
Let’s take a look at the CASEL core competencies and how we incorporate them every day into Quaver Pre-K resources. Below we’ve selected a few activities that support each competency.
Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is defined by CASEL as the ability to accurately assess one’s strengths and limitations, with a well-grounded sense of confidence, optimism, and a “growth mindset”. A song that helps young learners recognize strengths in themselves is “If You’re Really Good at Something”. This song mentions a few different things they may be good at such as art, music, basketball, soccer, writing, or math.
The activity, “Emotion Soundboard” is also a great tool to help children identify and discuss their feelings. You could have the children discuss what feelings/ emotions they see in each emoji and ask them what might make them feel happy, sad, or angry.
Self-Management
CASEL defines self-management as the ability to accurately recognize one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior.
The song “I Can Control” shows the children in your class different ways to use and control their bodies and voices. An activity that also reinforces this concept is “Self-Control Simon”. This is our version of Simon Says, so Simon will give different directions for the children to follow, and is also a great way to incorporate some movement into the lesson as well.
Social Awareness
Self-awareness is defined by CASEL as the ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, including those from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
“How Are They Feeling?” is a great activity that allows children to recognize and discuss emotion by observing body language. There are a few ways to use this interactive screen. You could ask children to imitate the body position and discuss what might have made the character feel this way. You can also show the context of the scene by toggling the button at the bottom left of the screen to provide the rest of the image.
The story “The Sun, the Star, and the Window” is about friends and how they make each other feel special.
Relationship Skills
Defined by CASEL, relationship skills are the ability to communicate clearly, listen well, cooperate with others, resist inappropriate social pressure, negotiate conflict constructively, and seek and offer help when needed.
“How can we share?” is an activity that helps develop the concept of sharing and taking turns. Children are shown a series of conflicts that can be solved by sharing or taking turns. You can invite children to share their suggestions on which option is appropriate given the situation.
In the song “We Should Be Friends,” the characters find commonalities with each other as well as differences showing that healthy friendships can be formed with both present.
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Responsible Decision-Making
Responsible decision-making is defined by CASEL as the ability to make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on ethical standards, safety concerns, and social norms.
“I Don’t Talk to Strangers” is a great song for helping students understand which strangers are safe to talk to, and which ones are not. “Respect for my Family” is a song that offers several examples of how children can show respect for members of their family. Both are great for showing the importance of decisions they make and their effect on themselves and others.
Quaver Pre-K offers a variety of independent, small, and large group activities that provide multiple opportunities to learn and practice essential SEL skills each day!
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We are very interested to hear what you’d like to read about in our upcoming blog posts! Share your ideas or feel free to ask us any questions at Info@QuaverEd.com or make a post on our QuaverPrek Teachers Facebook Group!
