SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING 101

At My Kindness Calendar, our mission is simple. To make it fun for kids (who need constant, creative engagement) and easy for parents and teachers (whose most limited resource is often time) to focus on social-emotional learning, build emotional intelligence, and cultivate pro-social behaviours and skills that will help our kids succeed in all aspects of life with healthy hearts and minds. We do this with our turn-key, easy to use products. Here's why. 

The What: Social-Emotional Development

Social-emotional development happens as children start to understand who they are, what they are feeling, and what to expect when interacting with others. Learning to name, experience, express and manage emotions (our own and the emotions of others), form and sustain positive relationships, and explore and engage with the social environment that surrounds us is all part of the social-emotional development that literally begins from birth as little ones start to interact with their caregivers. Social-emotional learning happens when activities or curriculum intentionally focus on skills, behaviours or values which promote this development. But it also happens as we respond, react and role-model for our kids everyday. 

The Why: Building 21st-Century Skills

Kids with healthy social-emotional skills are proven to be more likely to succeed in school, work and life. As kids focus on social and emotional development, they learn to: 

• build and gain confidence
• make and keep friends and build healthy relationships 
• resolve conflict
• control impulse bevariour 
• manage stress and anxiety
• persevere through challenges 
• deal with conflict 
• learn social norms
• make appropriate decisions
• resist negative social pressure
• learn strengths and weaknesses
• gain awareness of what others are feeling
• act with empathy 

Who doesn’t want this for their children? We know we do! And so we aim to use fun, creative, hands-on ways - both through daily acts of kindness and daily affirmation statements - to intentionally enable this development in our kids. It’s about creating opportunities for connection, conversation, and role-modelling. 

The How: Our Core Competencies, Behaviours and Skills 

Our products are designed to focus on these core competencies, behaviours and skills which are key indicators of success and healthy hearts and minds.

• Empathy: Being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand their perspective and feelings, even when you’re not in the same situation. 
  
  
• Gratitude: Focusing on what's good in our lives and being thankful for the tangible and intangible things we have. Pausing to notice and thankfully appreciate the things that we often take for granted.
  
  
• Inclusion: Welcoming and embracing everyone as a person who belongs. Valuing and celebrating diversity and the ability of others.
  
  
• Resilience: The capacity to adapt to challenges and recover quickly from difficult circumstances. The strength to cope with stress and hardship. 
  
  
• Self-confidence: A belief in ourselves and a willingness to try new things. Confidence that we can rely on ourselves, our skills and abilities when things are challenging. 
  
  
• Growth Mindset: Approaching challenges, mistakes, difficulties and failures as an opportunity to help us grow and learn. Knowing that with practice, we can improve our abilities and intellect. 
  
  
• Global Citizenship: An awareness and understanding of the wider world and our place in it. Actively taking responsibility for the broader community by understanding our role in making the world more peaceful, sustainable and fair.