Staff Practices
What and how child care providers teach children about emotions, problem-solving, and emotional regulation builds children's foundation for social emotional growth.
The best practices (per GO NAPSACC) and the related resources in this section focus on caregiver practices that guide children's positive social emotion learning and development. They also focus on how caregivers can assist children in times of need and affirm children’s various identities. Strengthening child care providers’ toolboxes can include providing them with professional development opportunities and lesson plan support.
Best Practices
The resources in this category are the same for the following eight GO NAPSACC best practices:
- “Educators plan and lead lessons/activities on social emotional topics one time per week or more.”
- “Education for children on social emotional development covers a variety of topics about emotions, identity, and interactions.”
- “Educators use a variety of strategies, such as class lessons, scripted stories, and structured activities to teach social emotional skills to toddlers and preschoolers.”
- “Educators and staff model social emotional skills, such as sharing, expressing emotions, and problem-solving throughout the day.”
- “Educators and staff use a variety of individualized, safe, and appropriate methods for calming and/or comforting an upset child.”
- “Educators and staff assist children to use previously taught emotional regulation strategies when needed.”
- “Educators and staff support children in problem-solving as needed.”
- "Educators are knowledgeable of the individual development and needs of each child and, when applicable, partner with the family and the child’s identified service providers to implement recommended strategies in the program.”
Resources
Anti-Bias Resources
Summary: Information on culturally responsive strategies, anti-bias practice, and equity in early childhood caregiving.
Source: National Association for the Education of Young Children
Behavior Interventions and Positive Behavior Support
Summary: Guides, tools, training materials, and more regarding appropriately addressing challenging behaviors in young children in partnership with families.
Source: National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations
Behavioral Expectations and Positive Guidance
Summary: Age-appropriate positive guidance from birth to age 12.
Source: Utah Department of Health and Human Services
Building Your Classroom Bookshelf
Summary: Book recommendations for toddlers and preschoolers related to building core social emotional skills such as relationship building with oneself and others, as well as self-regulation. Each category includes multiple books, and each book comes with read-aloud versions and lesson plans.
Source: ECE Resource Hub by the University of Virginia
Classroom Strategies
Summary: Resource library on building core social emotional skills, including relationship building, self-regulation, and communication. Resources under each strategy may include videos, podcasts, and brief downloadable/printable guides.
Source: ECE Resource Hub by the University of Virginia
Five Anti-Bias Education Strategies for Early Childhood Classrooms
Summary: Strategies include incorporating activities that share and celebrate differences, using diverse books and stories, preventing and addressing microaggressions, exploring real-life stories about social justice, and providing children with opportunities to discuss bias.
Source: Public Broadcasting System Southern California
Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (NAPSACC) Bilingual Self-Assessments
Summary: Free for providers. Contacting a consultant and completing the online version of the social emotional assessment opens a suite of planning, learning, professional development, and implementation tools to understand further what the best practices are and how to make them happen in your child care.
Source: Go Nutritional and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAPSACC)
Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children’s Books
Summary: Nine tips for screening books for age-appropriate, anti-bias education. The article includes additional resources at the end, including a link to an early childhood anti-bias book list.
Source: Social Justice Books
Practical Strategies for Teachers and Caregivers
Summary: Toddler and preschool-appropriate downloadable resources that include social emotional skill reinforcement materials, scripted stories for different social situations, relationship building tools for caregivers, a book list, activity guides around popular children’s books that provide hands-on ways to embed social emotional skill building activities into everyday routines, and more.
Source: Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
Social Problem Solving - Preschoolers
Summary: Tools for teaching problem solving in advance, as well as supporting it in the moment of conflict. Scroll down for video lessons, or further still for printable resources such as a child care provider guide (linked to visual cue cards and other teaching tools) and a family guide (English and Spanish).
Source: ECE Resource Hub by the University of Virginia
Teaching Social-Emotional Skills Classroom Strategies
Summary: Practical printable and video tools outlining strategies for both providers and parents to help young children build specific social emotional skills (such as problem solving, friendship building, and behavior regulation). Also find resources specific to infant-toddler classrooms and family home providers. Find scripted stories and “book nook” lesson plans under “Practical Strategies,” as well as recommended books under the “Children’s Books” section.
Source: National Center for Pyramid Model Interventions
Teaching Tools for Young Children: Using Function-Informed Support to Address Challenging Behavior within Routines
Summary: This resource provides practitioners and coaches with practical, step-by-step strategies to help children who struggle with challenging behaviors during routines and activities in order to support their successful engagement.
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