Social Emotional

Young Peoples Learning Center recognizes that in addition to academic skills, children must be able to regulate and understand their world with social-emotional knowledge and skills.  We teach positive behaviors rather than punishing negative ones.  At the same time we are teaching letter-recognition skills, we must teach emotion-recognition skills, and as we teach them to read using those letters, we must teach them to react appropriately to their emotions.

Our Philosophy: Young Peoples Learning Center was named after its philosophy was developed

“Young Peoples” was chosen to accentuate equality between children and adults.  The rights and desires of adults are comparable to those of children; the right to be respected, the right to express feelings and opinions, the right to be heard and responded to, the right to independence, the right to choose, etc.  As individuals touching children’s lives (this includes parents and teachers), we need to guarantee children their rights as people 

“Learning Center” was chosen because your child will learn and grow socially, emotionally, physically, and intellectually through the many activities and situations presented to him/her – dramatic play, books, manipulative toys, block play, cognitive learning games, large muscle exercise, creative art, craft projects, puppets, science experiments and displays, field trips, group time discussions, baking projects, social interactions, eating experiences, etc.  These various experiences will enable your child to become an independent and positive person ready to succeed in the life-long learning process.

The Research:

“The foundation of an effective early education program must be positive, supportive relationships between teachers and children as well as with families and other professionals (Bredekamp & Copple 1997; Joseph & Strain in press).  Good relationships are key to effective teaching and guidance in social, emotional, and behavioral development.  Simply put, there are two reasons why early childhood educators need to invest time and attention in getting to know children.  First, as adults build positive relationships with children, their potential influence on children’s behavior grows significantly—that is, children notice responsive, caring adults. Children pay particular attention to what such a teacher says and does, and they seek out ways to ensure even more positive attention from the teacher.  Second, in the context of supportive relationships, children develop positive self-concept, confidence, and a sense of safety that help reduce the occurrence of challenging behavior. As such, the time spent building a strong relationship is probably less than the time required to implement more elaborate and time consuming strategies.  Many children need explicit instruction to ensure they develop competence in emotional literacy, anger and impulse control, interpersonal problem solving, and friendship skills (Webster-Stratton 1999).  Key emotional literacy skills include being able to identify feelings in self and others and act upon feelings in appropriate ways.” -National Association of Young Children, article available online at:  http://www.challengingbehavior.org/do/resources/documents/yc_article_7_2003.pdf