Parents and teachers in the age of COVID have a lot on their individual and collective plates. With “school” taking place in the classroom and in the home, both have a large charge in structuring learning environments that support review of lessons learned, opportunities for new instruction, and best use of time and resources. In addition to pursuing these undertakings for academic staples – language, math, science, history – our children must also learn social skills that benefit them in any and every setting.
Social and Emotional Learning is defined as the process of acquiring the knowledge and skills to engage, interact, and build relationships with other people. These skills include communication, cooperation, emotion regulation, impulse control, empathy, and social initiation. Students who are competent in these areas do better in school and are generally better prepared for college and careers. As Muslims, we understand that these skills are also the building blocks of strong families and communities.
What Are Social and Emotional Skills?
Age-appropriate activities to enhance social and emotional skills have been a focus for children through elementary, middle, and high school. These lessons are typically used in a classroom or small group setting and provide children with crucial opportunities to build relationships with peers and caring adults. As a good many children will be distance learning this fall (and who knows for how much longer into the future), parents must gear up and lean in to assist in this area. The first step is understanding what each skill entails.
Communication
We can all generally understand the need to get along with others. Beyond acquiring verbal and written forms of communication we must push further to learn to actively listen and understand nonverbal cues. To be socially competent in this area, a child should learn to:
- Follow instructions and stay on task
- Use effective listening skills
- Understand and respect personal space
- Give detailed instructions to others
- Stay on topic when speaking and take turns in a conversation
- Recognize the importance of tone of voice, body posture, facial expression, and body language
- Be able to use nonverbal communications skills to convey a message
- Give and receive appropriate and constructive feedback
- Acknowledge the feelings of others
Cooperation
Cooperation skills are necessary in every type of human interaction. They help us work toward solutions and effectively negotiate our preferences, as well as compromise to get along with others. To be socially competent in this area, a child should learn to:
- Be capable of working alone and with a partner
- Demonstrate effective teamwork
- Effectively advocate for personal preferences and listen to preferences of others
- Act as a leader
- Troubleshoot to find the best solution
- Share resources and the workload to accomplish a common goal
Emotion Regulation
Emotion regulation is the ability to identify one’s own feelings and manage them appropriately. To be socially competent in this area, a child should learn to:
- Identify feelings and their origins
- Engage in positive self-talk
- Practice resiliency in the face of rejection
- Identify causes of anxiety
- Resist jumping to conclusions
- Resist peer pressure
Impulse Control
While emotion regulation involves managing feelings, impulse control is managing behavior and actions. To be socially competent in this area, a child should learn to:
- Think ahead to possible positive and negative consequences of choices
- Understand how behavior can have a short- and long-term impact
- Stay on task using time management and organization skills
- Exhibit self-control despite distractions
- Pay attention to social cues
- Follow directions
- Weigh the pros and cons of a situation
- Recognize what is within and outside of personal control
Empathy
Empathy is the ability to identify and understand another person’s feelings – to be able to walk in their shoes. To be socially competent in this area, a child should learn to:
- Identify words, actions, and facial expressions that are associated with different emotions
- Gather information to identify the feelings of others
- Be generally kind and compassionate
- Learn how to choose the best way to help someone feel better
- Resist making fun of others
- Help others in need
Social Initiation
Making and keeping personal relationships involves initiating conversations with family members, friends, and even acquaintances and strangers. To be socially competent in this area, a child should learn to:
- Understand the importance of making and keeping friends
- Find friends who have similar interests
- Learn how to best initiate working with a partner
- Be positive and appropriate when asking questions
- Learn how to join a game if it is already in progress
- Be flexible when the rules of a game change
These social and emotional skills are enhanced by attention to Islamic guidance as well. And these details are at the core of Sound Vision’s mission in all of its children’s initiatives – to raise better Muslims, better neighbors, and better citizens. We can help children learn how to be self-aware, to be responsible decision makers, to self-regulate, and build relationships. We can also teach them about why these are all important and relate to our purpose in this life. Let’s team up to reinforce these lessons together.
These are Sound Vision’s daily programs for children are available online:
Adam’s World Club (target age 4 to 7 years)
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtcu2pqT8oH90sIZQ4s59LXjCVSzdNOtk8?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=f6cb49f9-1094-4f80-821a-a9176d968f94&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=687e966b-3d3c-4f6f-9b20-c9da166ac253
Colors of Islam Club (target age 8 to 12 years)
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtc--rrjkpGdUVD23RmeOUAcEGy8rXfhr-?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=f6cb49f9-1094-4f80-821a-a9176d968f94&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=687e966b-3d3c-4f6f-9b20-c9da166ac253
Adam’s World App (learn with popular puppets Adam and Aneesah)
https://watch.adamsworldapp.com/checkout/subscribe/purchase?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=687e966b-3d3c-4f6f-9b20-c9da166ac253
Zahirah Lynn Eppard is Sound Vision’s Director of Religious Education
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