Social and Emotional Learning in PreK

Strategies and Research on SEL from Dr. Tracy Spinrad

While social and emotional learning is critical for every grade level, it’s particularly important to focus on during the formative, early years of of a child’s academic career. For PreK students, identifying and articulating emotions, then moving to manage those feelings, is key to learning how to interact in a classroom full of peers and teachers. Social and emotional skills will also empower PreK students to thrive in light of the inevitable challenges and academic obstacles that await them as life-long learners. To truly position students for success, it’s critical that we attend to every facet of their development and wellbeing.

To help you be purposeful and deliberate in implementing social and emotional learning strategies in your PreK classroom, we sat down to chat with Tracy Spinrad, professor of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University and social and emotional learning expert. She has some tips for creating a meaningful SEL experience for all of your PreK students:

Important SEL Skills in the PreK Classroom

Start by listening to Dr. Spinrad’s overview of key SEL skills in the PreK classroom. Here, she goes over emotion regulation, interactions with peers, and more. She also discusses how SEL can impact academics.

Effortful Control in PreK Success

This topic is a great example of how social and emotional learning can impact a child’s success in academics. Tracy Spinrad defines effortful control as the ability to focus attention, deliberately shift tasks, and plan for new tasks. Learn more in the video:

The Importance of Teacher-Child Relationships

As an educator, you are deeply aware of the impact your relationship with students has on their learning. In PreK classrooms, this relationship is particularly influential. Dedicating time to working on social and emotional learning with your students every day can make those relationships even more meaningful.

Positive and Negative Emotions & PreK Success

In this video, Dr. Spinrad discusses the research she’s been conducting, which examines student emotions in the classroom. She gives an overview of the results of this research, including the impact of positive and negative emotions on academic success.

Resiliency and Academic Success

According to Dr. Spinrad, resiliency is highly related to effortful control, and and both are important factors in academic success as well as empathy skills. Learn more in the video below:

For more on SEL from Dr. Spinrad, check out this research:

To explore PreK social and emotional solutions, click here.