All About Me!

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No matter what kind of work you do, social interactions are part of everyone's daily lives. Our first week of preschool jumps right into fostering social interaction by getting to know your children, helping them get to know each other, and working on building a classroom community. An "All About Me" theme also helps kids recognize and appreciate their own, unique qualities and strengths, as well as to help them begin to learn to respect and appreciate differences among others.  

Social and emotional skills are an important part of your child's development and we will be working on these skills every day. Social and emotional abilities include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. While you're child is working on these important life skills at school, they are probably getting a good deal of practice with these skills at home too. Be sure to capitalize on these everyday activities at home to boost your child's social/emotional learning: 


Establish Routines


Routines help kids feel secure and grounded, and help everyone function better. While you don't want to live your life as a slave to routines, some daily routines make life easier for everyone. A morning and evening routine help kids start and end their day on a positive note. If your child is struggling with returning to school, a morning routine will help them integrate their school experience into their daily routine and make transitions easier. Preschool programs follow a predictable routine each day, with novel experiences added to keep enthusiasm and interest high.

Avoid Overscheduling

Kids learn the most through play. Within your routines, be sure to have plenty of unstructured play time for your child. Extracurricular activities are important and have a place, but like adults, your kids need time to relax and engage in imaginative play and downtime. 


Family Dinner

Sit down to a family dinner as often as possible and as schedules allow. This is a great time for conversation, though you may need to ask some questions to get things going. Find out who your child played with, what they did in school, and anything else that relates to your child's life. Be sure to also talk about age-appropriate aspects of your day too. Social interaction is give and take, so making sure everyone is included will teach your child a lot about how conversations work.  

Playing Games

Board games teach kids about taking turns, following directions, and being able to win AND lose graciously. It's ok to modify a game to meet a child's needs but try not to rig it so they always win. It is much better to foster a healthy attitude towards games and focus on the fun of playing the game rather than the competitive aspect and need to win. There will be plenty of opportunities for your kids to be competitive in life. For now, help them learn to take winning and losing in stride.

Encourage Self-Care

We all need to find ways to increase our self awareness and self management skills and your kids are no different. Taking care of ourselves helps build strong, positive self esteem, which supports self-management skills.  Help your child identify things they enjoy that make them feel calm, grounded and secure, and encourage them to turn to those things when they are having a bad day, or just as a regular activity to keep themselves feeling mentally and emotionally happy. A half hour of a favorite TV program, a bike ride around the neighborhood, or coloring a picture can be as effective for your child as a trip to the gym, reading a book, or meeting a friend for coffee is for you.

Let Them Help Out

Even very young children can be given small jobs around the house. The more your child can do for herself, the better off she will be in the long run and responsibility boosts kids feelings of self-sufficiency and self-esteem. Make your child responsible for putting away toys and keeping their room clean. Add small jobs like setting the table, clearing their place at dinner, or feeding a family pet, as they are able.






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