As the new school year approaches, many families are busy preparing the essential school supplies for their children. While notebooks, pencils, and book bags are commonly on the shopping list, there’s a set of supplies that are often overlooked. This unique school supply list focuses on supporting the social-emotional development of students and enhancing their executive functioning skills. Let’s explore the important items that contribute to the holistic growth and academic success of scholars.
Social development refers to a child’s ability to create and sustain meaningful relationships with adults and other children. Emotional development is a child’s ability to express, recognize, and manage their emotions as well as respond appropriately to others’ emotions. Both social and emotional development are important for children’s mental health.
Executive function is a term used by neurologists to describe the brain processes that drive a person’s ability to focus, solve problems, organize work, remember information, learn from mistakes, and manage impulses, all of which help students learn efficiently and develop important social skills (Causes and Cures in the Classroom; Getting to the Rood of academic and behavior problems by Margaret Searle, 2013).
So please make sure your scholars have the following supplies each and every day this school year:
- Please help your scholar maintain a healthy diet. If assistance is needed with providing daily nourishment, please contact your scholars’ school or schools’ guidance counselors, psychologists, or nurses to help point you in the right direction to obtain assistance.
- Establish a consistent daily routine. If your scholar has already started school, then begin a daily routine now. A daily routine is simply a schedule created that outlines what things happen during which times. For example, what time will dinner be served? Or what time will your scholar go to bed? Make a plan for each 30 minute or 1 hour block of time to make sure that there is enough time for important tasks, like homework and family time.
- Have Daily Discourse with Your Scholars. Have discussions with your scholars about their day at school, about their classwork, and homework. Ask open-ended questions that require them to give detailed responses and not just “no” and “yes” responses. Also, communicate your expectations about their behavior while in their in school with their teachers and friends. Believe it or not, parents and families have a very strong influence on a child’s social and emotional development, it all begins with positive discourse with an adult at home.
- Help your scholar maintain an healthy hygiene. Hygiene is a very difficult topic, for teachers and school administrators, to discuss with scholars and their families but it is a very important area that needs to be addressed. Healthy hygiene is essential to maintaining good health, from brushing teeth to washing the body, healthy hygiene is essential to a successful school year. Scholars should take a bath or shower once a day, or at least wash up with soap and water; this will help to cut body odor, which will reduce the chances of your scholar being picked on by their peers; young people can be mean to one another. Specifically, during adolescence is when the bodies of young teens’ begin changing and smelling. Body odor can negatively impact a scholar’s social and emotional development if the body odor becomes extremely noticeable. If you need help with securing hygiene products, such as soap, contact your child’s guidance counselor or nurse; they can some times provide samples of different products.
In conclusion, as we gear up for the new school year, it’s important to remember that supporting our scholars’ social-emotional development and executive functioning skills is crucial for their overall well-being and success. By ensuring they have the necessary supplies such as a healthy diet, consistent routines, open communication, and good hygiene, we can set them up for a positive and fulfilling academic journey. Let’s work together to create an environment where our scholars can thrive not only academically, but also emotionally and socially.