We Think the We Thinkers! Curriculum is Exactly What our Children Need!
At JCC Chicago, we are committed to meeting the unique needs of the children in our programs and ensuring that every child has the resources they need to be successful. As educators, we know that social-emotional competence is one of the most important predictors of children’s academic performance in elementary school. But what is social-emotional competence, and does it need to be taught?
By definition, social-emotional competence consists of “the ability to evaluate social situations and determine what is expected or required; to recognize the feelings and intentions of others; and to select social behaviors that are most appropriate for that given context.” (APA Dictionary of Psychology). According to Social Thinking methodology, “Our social mind is designed to actively process social information to figure out how the social world works. We use this social process whenever we interact or share space with others. We also do this to understand how and why someone is feeling and/or thinking a certain way, and to help us decipher meaning and the hidden social rules associated with the situation.” (socialthinking.com).
While many families enroll their children in daycare and preschool for socialization benefits, collaborative play and navigating peer relationships are quite nuanced and complex. Just as we teach children to swim, just as we teach children to ride a bike, and just as we teach children to read, children also need to be taught how to play and manage their social world. Sharing, taking turns, understanding another person’s perspective, and resolving conflict are not innate behaviors for our littlest learners. In fact, it’s quite the opposite; after all, toddlers are by nature egocentric, evidenced by some of their most common first words: “No!” “Me,” “Mine,” and “I want.”
That is why JCC Chicago is excited to share that the Jewish United Fund and our partners at REACH (Resources for Educational Achievement Collaboration and Health) have invited us to collaborate on a grant to pilot the We Thinkers! Social Thinking curriculum in four Junior-Kindergarten classrooms across our seven JCC Chicago preschools this year!
Many programs focus on teaching discrete social skills like how to behave in certain situations, how to share and take turns, and how to make social conversation, to name a few. Yet, these approaches skip over the fact that we first need to be able to notice and interpret lots of nonverbal social information prior to producing any sort of social response. The We Thinkers! Social Thinking curriculum takes complicated foundational social learning processes and breaks them down into smaller chunks to teach in a more concrete manner.
The award-winning We Thinkers! Social Thinking curriculum is evidence-based and has been proven effective at helping young learners develop the thinking and skills they need to be social observers, flexible social thinkers, and social problem solvers. The curriculum is divided into ten units, each one beginning with an interactive storybook that introduces a core thinking concept, such as: Thinking thoughts and feeling feelings, Understanding the group plan, and Thinking with your eyes, to name a few. These concepts are then elaborated upon through hands-on practice activities and using the vocabulary in everyday classroom routines and interactions. Teaching teams from pilot classrooms will be receiving monthly coaching from one of the authors of the curriculum. To enhance the home-school connection, parents in those classes will also receive regular communication that explains each concept as it is introduced, so they can extend and elaborate on their child’s learning at home.
JCC Chicago early childhood staff are incredibly excited to be able to expand our work within the SEL realm, and we cannot wait to see where this leads! To learn more about the Social Thinking methodology and approach, visit https://www.socialthinking.com/social-thinking-methodology.
Written by Rachel Schwartz, LCSW, Director of Social Services, JCC Chicago