Welcome to Social & Emotional Development

School readiness cannot be simply focused on cognitive, content-based competencies such as letter recognition and counting.

Healthy social and emotional development is the foundation for life-long learning. Research indicates that relationships with primary caregivers and a child's environment can have significant impact on neural development and consequently school performance and social competence. This process begins in infancy as babies form their first relationships with caregivers and learn to regulate their responses to the environment. A child’s developing identity and self-esteem are reflected in their ability to form and maintain relationships and to demonstrate self-regulation, both vital skills needed to support cognitive development and school success.

The Early Learning Outreach Program website is a virtual resource center that provides information and resources for parents and educators aimed at adding to their understanding of child development and promoting quality early learning environments for children. The website will also feature training opportunities related to social-emotional development.

Check this website often for new information, resources and updates on social emotional development. Special effort has been made to incorporate information and examples that draw upon current research and practice relating to brain development, multiple intelligences, supporting English language learners, cultural competence and home-school connections.