By Mary Getzke, Licensed School Counselor, Park Elementary
Education is about providing learning opportunities to develop the whole child. Academics are important but so are the soft skills, such as cooperating with others and having a good work ethic. The Hutchinson school district uses a curriculum called Second Step. These lessons provide our children with opportunities to learn and practice their social and emotional skills.
For the past month at Park Elementary, students have been learning how to handle their strong emotions along with addressing recurring situations that cause them stress. Students learned that the emotional and logical part of our brain needs to be balanced to make positive decisions. When we are too overwhelmed, our feelings can influence our thoughts, which leads to how we act. When we struggle to self regulate our emotions, it can prevent us from making positive choices. We may say or do things that make other people uncomfortable around us or hurt our relationships with them.
In our Second Step Lessons, we discuss what stress and strong emotions may look like in others. This helps students learn to have patience and potentially get help for someone who is feeling they have more than they can handle. We also worked on learning to recognize our own body’s warning signs when we are feeling overwhelmed with strong emotions. When we recognize our body’s warning signs, it can be a signal to us to use some strategies to calm ourselves down before making potentially poor decisions.
In the past few years, we have all had to deal with some social isolation. For our children, this period of time may have them lagging in social skills and working well with others. As a community, we can help our children by giving them good eye contact when we talk to them. Show them good listening skills by leaning in and really concentrate on what they are trying to express. We can support them to understand the importance of controlling their impulsive behaviors and be more aware of how their actions may affect others around them. When we see children choosing good social skills such as patience, being respectful, kind, and responsible, let’s all make the effort to tell them we appreciate the good decision they made. Giving our children encouraging affirmation will motivate them to continue to make positive behavior choices.
It has been a pleasure to have this opportunity to teach these important social and emotional lessons to our students. When children learn to regulate their emotions this helps them to become better problem solvers, develop better self confidence, and build stronger relationships with others. Holidays, along with long winter days, can be stressful for all of us. Often we do not know what someone else is going through or feeling. Remember to be kind to others and yourself, take a deep breath, and do something that brings you happiness. You are worth it!
