Seven Skills For School Success

What do children need to learn first? Their ABCs? Their numbers? As it turns out, that what children need to develop is their social intelligence and emotional intelligence, the essential building blocks for all future learning. These include social intelligence skills, such as relating to and playing with others, as well as emotional intelligence skills, such as expressing feelings and understanding how others feel. These skills strengthen the foundation children need to become successful learners.
The seven key components for school readiness and success?confidence, curiosity, intentionality, self-control, relationships, cooperation, and communication?are expanded in their own chapters. Each chapter includes details on the social and emotional skills related to that component including vocabulary, brain research findings, and reflections.

Contents

Introduction
- What is social intelligence?
- What is emotional intelligence?
- The inter-relatedness of social and emotional intelligence
- Brain research findings related to social and emotional intelligence
- Wiring the foundation for lifelong skills
- The social and emotional brain
- Developmental timetables
- Spindle cells
- Mirror neurons
- Effects of stress
- Impact of television and computers
- Effect of sleep deprivation

Seven Key Components of School Success
- Teaching and learning
- Confidence?a key component of school
readiness
- Social and emotional skills related to
confidence
- Vocabulary related to confidence
- Overview
- Related brain research findings
- Model confidence
- Discuss confidence
- Practice confidence: confidence-building strategies and activities
- Acknowledge confidence
- Reflect on confidence

The above points are examined in relation to each of the following components:
Curiosity, Intentionality, Self-Control,
Relationships, Cooperation, Communication.

Appendix
- Social?emotional skills list by key elements
- Social?emotional checklist
- Songs that relate to social?emotional intelligence
- Conversation starter cards
- Problem solving chart

References and Resources
- References
- Resources
- Website
- Index