TOPIC 1

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN

WHAT IS SOCIOEMOTIONAL?

• The child's expression and management of emotions and the ability to get along and interact with others (Cohen and others 2005). It is also described as:
• • intrapersonal, i.e. how a child feels (sad, happy, angry) - EMOTIONAL
• • interpersonal, i.e. how the child gets along with others - SOCIAL

SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Sense of SELF

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• Emotional Development

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• Social Development

SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• SENSE OF SELF: Children’s developing the capacity to feel positive about themselves and their capabilities.
• SOCIAL SKILLS: Children’s developing the capacity to interact successfully with others.
• EMOTIONAL SKILLS: Children’s developing the capacity to recognise, express and regulate feelings.

SENSE OF SELF-SELF ESTEEM

For example, a child may say,

• “I don’t like my hair”
• “I am not good in mathematics”
• “I wish I was taller”
• “I don’t like my eyes”

• Self-concept actually refers to how someone believes about oneself which includes her attributes and what she thinks of herself. There are actually two sides of self-concept which are self-esteem and self-image.
• Self-esteem reflects how someone feels about themselves and how you place value and worth on yourself
• Self-image is how you see yourself visually such as skin colour, height and weight.

• It is very important for children’s strengths and efforts to be recognised in order to support the development of a positive self-esteem and to motivate children to be positively engaged in learning and in their relationships.
• Poor self-esteem can be a significant contributing factor to children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties.

FACTORS INFLUENCING SELF-ESTEEM

Life Changes

Academic Performance

Physical Appearance

Peer Approval

Emotional Support

Teacher’s Behavior

TEACHER’S BEHAVIOUR – �SELF-ESTEEM

• do not embarrass children when they make mistakes
• make themselves approachable
• gain trust and who trust • are respectful of the children’s differences
• show understanding of the challenges school may bring
• listen to children when they express concerns or ideas

EMOTIONAL SKILLS

Basic Emotions

Complex Emotions

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EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS IN CHILDREN

FUNCTION OF EMOTIONS

SOCIAL SKILLS: A. TEMPERAMENT

SOCIAL SKILLS: B. ATTACHMENT

CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS

TOPIC 2

WHAT IS BEHAVIOUR?

• Behaviours are our actions and responses to feelings, emotions and needs.
• All behaviour has meaning and is closely connected to how we feel and what we think

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Normal Vs Abnormal Behaviour

CHILDREN ASKING FOR THINGS

Children ask for things all the time –

• ‘Can I play on my iPad?’,
• ‘Can we have pizza for dinner?’,
• ‘Can I go to the park?’,
• ‘Can I have that toy?

WHEN YOU NEED TO SAY ‘NO’, JUST SAY NO

• Give your reason first.
• ‘No’ means ‘no’, not maybe.
• Stick with your decision.
• Offer something else.
• Give your child constructive feedback

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CHILDREN PESTERING ADULTS

• Pestering is when children keep asking for things they can’t have. They do not take ‘no’ for an answer. If they get what they want it is called ‘pester power’ and it can be hard to handle

CHILDREN SHOWING TANTRUMS

• They can involve spectacular explosions of anger, frustration and disorganised behaviour – when the child ‘loses it’.
• You might see crying, screaming, stiffening limbs, an arched back, kicking, falling down, flailing about or running away.
• In some cases, children hold their breath, vomit, break things or get aggressive as part of a tantrum.

WHY TANTRUMS HAPPEN?

• Temperament
• Stress, hunger, tiredness and overstimulation
• Situations that children just can’t cope with
• Strong emotions

WHAT TO DO ABOUT TANTRUMS?

CHILDREN TELLING LIES

Encouraging Children to

Tell the Truth

CHILDREN SWEARING

WHY:

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They’re exploring language..

Frustration. Or they might simply be saying the word because it sounds funny or gets a reaction.

Imitating others when they swear.

CHILDREN HOLDING THEIR BREATH

Breath-holding usually happens when babies or children:

• are crying
• are frightened or upset
• have had a minor accident and have gone into shock.

YOU SHOULD ALSO CONSULT A DOCTOR IF YOUR CHILD: �

• is younger than six months
• has frequent attacks (more than once a week). In this case, it’s worth asking whether anaemia might be a cause – if it is, ask about the possibility of using iron supplements
• looks confused or drowsy after the breath-holding
• has shaking and stiffness lasting for much longer than a minute, and takes a while to recover. This might not be simple breath-holding.

PREVENTING BREATH-HOLDING

• Before children start to get upset, try to distract them.
• Reassure children after they’ve had a fright or a shock.
• Give children plenty of warning if you need to make a change to a different activity or situation.
• Learn more about managing tantrums

CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS – OVERSTIMULATION, HABITS, SHYNESS, CRYING AND BULLYING

TOPIC 3

WHAT IS OVERSTIMULATION?

• Overstimulation happens when a child is swamped by more experiences, sensations, noise and activity than she can cope with

SIGNS OF OVERSTIMULATION : TODDLER OR PRESCHOOLER

• seem tired, cranky and upset
• cry and not be able to use words to describe his feelings
• throw himself on the floor in tears or anger
• tell you that he doesn’t want to do a particular activity anymore • refuse to do simple things like putting on a seatbelt.

BALANCING ACTIVITY TIME AND QUIET TIME

CHILDREN AND HABITS

Some common habits in children are:

• sucking a finger, thumb or doll
• biting or picking at nails • twirling and pulling hair
• picking their nose or sores • picking at their lips or the insides of their cheeks
• chewing objects like pencils and clothing
• grinding teeth.

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WHY DO HABITS START?

comfort

bored

practice

BREAKING HABITS

SHYNESS

TIPS to overcome:

• Encourage playdates, either at your house or a friend’s house
• Practise show-and-tell or class presentations with your child at home
• Encourage your child to do some extracurricular activities
• Coach your child through social interactions
• Avoid negative comparisons with more confident siblings or friends

CHILDREN CRYING

Prevent Shaken Baby

Shaken Baby Syndrome

TIPS AND SOME HELPFUL STRATEGIES FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN CRYING: � �

• Give your child a chance to calm down, then ask him what has made him so upset
• Offer your child some other ways to deal with the situation
• Make sure your child understands that sometimes it’s OK to cry

BULLYING

• Make a time to speak privately with the teacher.
• Calmly present your concerns as a joint issue for you both to deal with.
• Discuss the problem with the teacher. Ask for the teacher’s views.
• Be assertive, not angry or accusatory.
• End the meeting with a plan for how the situation will be managed.
• Keep in touch with the teacher.

WHAT YOUR CHILD CAN DO TO COPE WITH PRESCHOOL BULLYING

• Tell the bully to stop:
• Stay around other people:
• Ask other children for help: ‘
• Tell the teacher

BULLYING: THE BASICS

• teasing other children over and over again
• ignoring other children or leaving them out of games or activities
• saying mean things or calling other children names
• spreading nasty stories about other children
• hitting and pushing other children
• taking other children’s things.