Boston Globe Talks Emotional Intelligence for Kids!

Child Development Experts Finding Consensus on Social and Emotional Learning

Apr 06, 2009
bubble 2 comments
Submitted by: Ginny Deerin

 The New York Times and the Boston Globe had big stories about teaching social and emotional skills to kids.  

Excerpt:  While some people - Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one, Ronald Reagan another - seem born with a gift for emotional perception, the rest of us muddle through as we can. School is set up for one kind of learning, but when it comes to emotional matters, the assumption has always been that these are instincts we have to develop for ourselves.

Today, however, a number of educators and psychologists are arguing that, actually, we don't. What they call "social and emotional knowledge" - the ability to read other people, manage our own emotions, and thereby master social situations - doesn't have to be imparted solely through the cut and thrust of lived life. It can be taught...Read the whole article here.

Learn more about Wings for kids.

 

The Critics Surprise Me

On April 8th, 2009 Nicole Lovecchio says:
As someone who has been around the concept of Emotional Intelligence for quite some time, I find it confusing that EI has so many critics. I am a firm believer that every ounce of social and emotional education helps a person of any age become a better, more well rounded person. I have seen this first hand, in kids and adults (one of whom is me). I was drawn to the comments made by others at the end of the article. Many people seem to think that EI is a burden and hassle to teachers. That the parents of kids should have sole responsibility for teaching their kids these things. I totally disagree! How ignorant to think that EI is a burden or that it is one person's job to teach. These social skills are what makes the world go round. A lack of social and emotional intelligence leads to a lack of responsible decisions being made, a lack of awareness of the people and things around us and a lack of building nurturing, positive relationships. I would much rather a world that was filled with these types of people instead of one that was filled with people who can find the square root of 7 million. At WINGS we teach these skills in fun engaging ways. We do it as a team, not as individuals. We all celebrate the success of our participants and use our own social and emotional intelligence to help those who are struggling. Nicole Lovecchio Program Director WINGS @ Chicora Elementary

Great to see

On April 7th, 2009 Bridget Laird says:

It is great to see that social and emotional education is gettng more and more attention in th media. As an SEL advocate, this makes me feel hopeful. This article was very interesting. When I read the line "Supporters of the programs dismiss these concerns as unfounded - the best programs, they argue, are about perceiving and managing emotions, not stifling them." When we teach our WINGSLeaders how to implemnt our social skills activities, they often have a hard time grasping this concept. We are not teaching kids it is bad to feel angry or frustrated. We are teaching kids how to deal with those feelings.

 

Bridget Laird