Potentially more than any other aspect of early childhood education, researchers agree on the importance of a child’s social emotional development, or social emotional learning (SEL). This is because social emotional competence is associated with so many factors related to leading a productive, fulfilling life, including:
According to the Institute of Education Sciences, social emotional learning is the process by which children and adults learn to understand and manage emotions, maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions.
Helping children through the process of social emotional learning and setting them on the path to social emotional competence is an important role of the adults involved in their lives. The guidance of these caring adults – in the home, in the classroom and in the wider world – is provided through direct instruction and ongoing modeling.
Our new Early Childhood: Social Emotional Learning course is designed to help teachers and others who work with young children understand the importance of social emotional learning and learn techniques that can help children achieve social emotional competence.
After completion of this course, educators will be able to:
Lisa Combs spent her teaching career in early childhood and elementary settings and also served as a Pupil Services Director. In this role she was responsible for the direction of early childhood grants and public and special education preschool programs. Lisa is now an instructor in the graduate certificate program for Early Childhood Intervention Specialists at Wright State University. She’s also the author of the Best Friends Book Club Social Emotional Learning Program, as well as the related children’s literature series, both published through Best Friend Books, LLC. In addition, Lisa is an instructional and behavior consultant, specializing in autism spectrum disorders and is the author of “Push to Open: A Teacher’s Quick Guide to Universal Design for Teaching Students with Autism in the General Education Classroom” and “Gear Up for Success: A Three Tiered Planning Model for Supporting Learners on the Autism Spectrum.
