With a holistic approach to learning and growth, it’s often important to support the emotional needs of children as they go through different ages and stages of life. At Futuro Verde we emphasize character education, social emotional learning, and access to counseling as ways to support the unique needs of every student. This allows every student to acquire emotional intelligence in addition to academic skills. As a result of this approach, students become self-aware individuals able to make responsible decisions, resolve conflicts, and manage their emotions.
Sometimes, as problems arise, children may need additional support as they tackle some of life’s challenges. This is where counseling can be very beneficial. Building a rapport with a neutral counselor, can allow children to open up about what’s troubling them. Through conversation and activities, this can help them identify and express emotions as they broaden their perspective through confiding in a counselor. This is very helpful in reducing stress, increasing self esteem, and building healthy relationships.
There are also ways for parents to support social emotional learning and growth at home. Being a good listener, for example, is an easy way to build this core competency in our children. This helps them become good listeners themselves, especially when it is modeled for them. Modeling is an excellent way to support emotional development because our choices and actions have a huge impact on our children. Be conscious about what values you hold as a family and carefully making choices aligned with those values is an excellent way to reinforce learning. Nurturing self esteem, giving age appropriate choices, and showing appreciation are also excellent ways to develop character at home.
Whether at home, through character education and social emotional learning our with the help of a counselor, it takes a village as we support every child as they learn and develop. Challenges are inevitable but with healthy coping skills, self esteem, and additional support when needed, our students are becoming self-aware, resilient individuals as they continue to learn how to engage with those around them in meaningful ways.