Social and Emotional Benefit At the same time young children are developing important early literacy skills, they are also developing social and emotional skills that will power their success in school and in life (Bierman, Greenberg, & Avenavoli, 2017). All of these skills can be modeled and discussed in read-aloud stories and practiced in related follow-up activities: • Self-Awareness involves learning about oneself, taking pride in one’s accomplishments, appreciating personal differences and preferences, and showing curiosity about the new and unfamiliar. • Emotional Development begins with identifying and naming one’s own emotions, and can progress to managing those emotions during times of transition or challenge. • Social Development includes engaging with others (both adults and peers) in increasingly complex ways, building and maintaining relationships, sharing, and other forms of conflict resolution and problem solving. Supporting the Whole Child All of these social and emotional and early literacy skills are intertwined and are developing simultaneously. For example, vocabulary development helps children feel more confident in their abilities, express their feelings, and communicate with others. As children develop their early literacy skills, they develop their social and emotional skills, and vice versa. Cozy Corner understands this interdependence and purposely builds opportunities for literacy development and social and emotional growth into every storytime. You can see the specific connections in the Scope and Sequence included
in this Program Guide as well as in the Skills Focus listed on the front of each Storytime Plan. Great books, along with interactive discussion prompts and extension activities, can build literacy skills and personal connections at the same time. Harper says,“when comprehension and vocabulary strategies are taught in conjunction with reading high-quality children’s literature, children make meaningful connections to the global messages of emotions” (2017). More than just a traditional read-aloud, Cozy Corner interactive storytime engages and empowers the whole child!
More to Explore Read “What Effective Pre-K Literacy Instruction Looks Like” from the International Literacy Association (2018) to learn more about the importance of shared reading experiences. Visit www.literacyworldwide.org/get-resources/ position-statements . To learn about the impact of social and emotional learning, visit https://casel.org/impact/ .
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