Many social-emotional qualities—such as ________________; self-confidence as a learner; self-control of attention, thinking, and impulses; and initiative in developing new ideas—are essential to learning at any age.

When learning occurs in groups, such as in preschool classrooms or family child care programs, the social environment significantly _____________________ how learning occurs. When young children enjoy interacting with adults and other children, they are more enthusiastic about activities and participate more.

Children who have been reported as having the greatest difficulties in learning are hindered by the lack of social-emotional qualities more than academic concepts.

Support children's social-emotional development with intentionality and ample opportunities to____________________ skills.

Create a program environment and daily routines that offer children opportunities for responsible and ____________________ roles in the classroom or family child care community.

Narrate for children what they are observed doing and expressing, providing ____________ to describe their thoughts and feelings and to clarify others’ feelings

Provide specific ___________ to children about their efforts, reinforcing their choices that support learning and linking their actions to outcomes.

Encourage children’s___________, initiative, and contributions to shared activities.

Help children to understand social cues (facial expressions, body language, tone of voice). This can be fostered by simply allowing the children to freely play with their peers (learning through experience), or by _______________ your own thought processes by thinking out loud (“I wonder what it means when Hayden is crying?”)

The physical environment provides young children with expectations for behavior. When educators are ___________________of the aesthetics, organization, and function of each area in the space, challenging behavior is likely to decrease while constructive, cooperative behavior increases.

A program’s meal plan and philosophy of care dictate how an environment is designed.

High-quality learning environments set the stage for social-emotional _______________and growth.

Preparing a variety of learning areas with open-ended materials encourages each child to participate in meaningful ________________experiences that match their individual temperaments and abilities.

Just as the physical environment helps young children successfully meet the social-emotional demands of the curri­cu­lum so, too, does the design of the ____________ ___________________.

Most preschool children approach learning opportunities with enthusiasm and self-confidence, excited by the prospect of new ____________.

A thoughtfully-designed preschool curriculum that supports social-emotional development devotes very little attention to the direct and indirect ways that children’s classroom experiences shape the development of self.

Teachers can support children’s development of the Self with the following:

ο ________________ individual children attentively during a variety of activities

ο Give specific _____________ to children about their efforts

ο Provide a consistent but ____________________daily routine.

Early childhood is a period of rapid growth in social and emotional understanding in which the children’s capacity for __________________ and caring is also developing.

The foundations for Self include those for self-awareness, self-regulation, social and emotional understanding, empathy and caring, and initiative in learning: