I Am Socially and Emotionally Made: A Social Emotional Camp for Early Learners

In this camp, we will cover a variety of basic, age appropriate social skills, such as following directions, waiting our turn, being aware of and sensitive to others, getting along with and playing well with others. We will also learn about emotions: the role they play in our life, how we can recognize them in ourselves and in others, how we can calm ourselves down when we are feeling big emotions, and how we can help others who are feeling big emotions. Details of what we will discuss in each class are listed below.

Session 1
Following Directions
Learning Patience/Waiting my Turn

Materials Needed: 10-12 Small Treats such as Fruit Snacks, Goldfish, M&Ms, Skittles or any small treat type item.*

Session 2
Feelings are Okay
Recognizing Feelings
Naming Feelings

Materials: One (1) Piece of white paper (approximately 8 1/2"" x 11); One (1) piece each of red, yellow, blue, and green paper (at least 5"x5"); Glue or glue stick; child safe scissors

Session 3
Managing Strong Feelings
Flipping Your Lid
Calming Techniques

Materials Needed: Modeling dough, Clay, Kinetic sand or Slime; 1 piece of white paper (8 1/2" x 11"); crayons or markers

Session 4
Mixed up Feelings
Sorting Through Mixed up Feelings

Materials Needed: 5 Clear Cups; Food Coloring; Water

Session 5
Recognizing Strong Feelings in Others; Empathy
Playing Well with Others; Sharing

Materials Needed: Plain Piece of Paper (approximately 8 1/2" x 11"); Crayons or Markers

Session 6
Handling Arguments
Bullying

Materials: Plain Piece of Paper (approximately 8 1/2" x 11") Crayons or Markers; Handheld mirror

I begin each of my classes with a greeting. During the greeting, each child will introduce themselves to the others in the class, by saying, "My name is ......" They will also be asked to share something, such as their favorite color. Then, the rest of the class will greet them, by saying "Welcome ......." This is a very important part of my classes because it immediately makes every child know that they are an important part of the class. It also sets the foundation for trust and respect within the class. We will do this each day, but with a different prompt.

After our greeting, we will jump in with a mixture of teaching, discussion, singing and hands on activities. I incorporate a great deal of student interaction in my class and prefer having the children unmuted so that they are free to share and interact with other students and me, without the lag of waiting for learners to unmute themselves. So, please feel free to have your child unmuted, unless you have a lot of background noise in your home.  If there is a lot of background noise, or if a child becomes extremely disruptive to our class discussions, I will mute  and then unmute them when they want to share. I prefer physical hand raising, since most children at this age have a hard time using the Zoom hand. 

I prefer learners keep their cameras on, due to the nature of this class. However, I also understand that there are many reasons why your child may not feel comfortable being on camera. If there is some reason why your child does not want to be on camera, please let me know. I certainly do not want any child to not take this class because of camera issues.
No prior knowledge is necessary to take this class.