Social Skills Resources
Effective Encouragement
The students who need encouragement the most are often the least likely to receive it. This article presents the attitudes, language, and strategies necessary for effective encouragement, a key to success for motivating low-achieving or discouraged students. www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0205-encouragement.html
Learning from Mistakes
An interesting research study that identified that children under 12 years of age learn primarily from positive feedback, with little learning from negative feedback. Children over 12 through to adults can use negative feedback and learn from their mistakes.
Social Skills and ADHD
An interesting article for parents of all children, and particularly but not exclusively those whose children have ADHD. It talks about explicit teaching of social skills and has some practical straight forward tips for parents and teachers.
Social Skills and gifted Children
This Article by Louise Porter highlights the difficulties some gifted children have in developing friendships, due to their differences. The often find it difficulty to find true peers. She points out the importance of spending at least some time with intellectual peers. The article details some of the difficulties gifted children can have and also some strategies for parents to support their child/ren.
Play Partner – Sure Shelter
This article my Miraca U M Gross looks at levels of friendships and the asynchronous development of gifted children’s friendship expectations. They are often looking for more mature types of friendships, before their age peers are ready for them.
Encouragement -v- Praise
This article looks at the difference between encouragement and praise and how by choosing the words we use with children we can create better long term outcomes for them.
Praise and Encouragement
Research by Carol Dweck, Ph.D. a professor at Columbia University, has now proven what Adler taught years ago. Praise is not good for children. Praise can create “approval junkies” instead of children with enhanced self- esteem. Dweck has also found that praise can hamper risk taking. Children who were praised for being smart when they accomplished a task chose easier tasks in the future. They didn’t want to risk making mistakes. On the other hand, children who were “encouraged” for their efforts were willing to choose more challenging tasks when given a choice.
As the tree grows
this article by R S Sloat,M L Hayes and L G Morton, looks at child development and gifted child development and likens it to the growth of a tree. it considers aspects of giftedness, creativity and talent.
Are you a gifted parent?
A short checklist for you to reflect on how you interact and nurture your gifted child.
Learning to cope with anxious feelings
An article by Maureen Niehart, looking at the place of anxiety in talent development and strategies to manage anxious feelings.
Learning to set SMART goals
An article by Maureen Niehart detailing the importance of setting SMART goals and offering a practical example of how a smart goal can be developed.
Mental Rehersal
An article by Maureen Neihart explaining the power of using mental rehearsal to enhance performance. It uses imagery to mentally practice a particular task. This article explains how to teach mental rehersal.
S’cool Moves
this article by Susan R. Johnson is particularly useful for parents you younger children. It identifies the early childhood development that is crutial for successful learning. It details a list of skills and activities a child needs to be able to do before literacy learning. she highlights the importance of physical activites in the early years for this development to happen.
Too Tired, Energy and wellness i 2e children
This article by Marlo P Thurman looks at the relationship between intelligence, sensory stimulation and energy. It ocnsiders the impact these factors have on learning, social and emotional development and mental and physical health.
Working at the Edge of Competence
This article by Maureen Niehart highlights the important of facing challenges in our learning from an early age. If things come too easily some students will develop no resilience and once faced with challenge will give up. They haven’t learned that hard work is part of learning.
Working Together
Collaboration, the ability to work with others, is a vital skill in the 21st Century. This article has some tips to being a good team member and some youtube links about team work to achieve goals.
Mindset Intro for Parents
This article is about Dr Carol Dweck’s work on Mindset, it describes what it is any why it is important and how you can support it.