Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs recognize that there's more to a child's personal, academic, and adult-life success than pure academics. Self-awareness, self-respect, self-control, and interpersonal skills can go a long way to helping a child become a happy, effective student and citizen (watch theEdutopia introductory video on SEL).

If you'd like to deepen your understanding of SEL and how to apply it as an educator or parent, here are resources to get you started. The following are the combined recommendations of the Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky, which are pursuing a district-wide program in social and emotional learning, and the Chicago-based nonprofit Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).

General Introductions to SEL

Emotional Intelligence (10th Anniversary Edition), by Daniel Goleman
Excerpt available at CASEL.org.

Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14, by Chip Wood

CASEL'S SEL Parent Packet: Ideas and Tools for Working with Parents and Families. (Also available in Spanish.) Full packet includes: 

* Background information on the role of families in teaching SEL, and how families and teachers can work together to promote SEL

* Parent handouts "10 Things You Can Do at Home," "10 Things You Can Do with Your School," "Tips for Parents," and "Books for Parents"

* Parents' views on SEL programs being used at their children's schools based on a series of interviews with parents

* Books, organizations, and programs emphasizing SEL

Bright Futures: What to Expect and When to Seek Help: Developmental Tools for Families and Providers from Georgetown University
Tools (English and Spanish versions) designed to help families and service providers support the healthy social and emotional development of children and adolescents. Four stages of childhood are described in these downloadable developmental tools: infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence.

Books for Educators

Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators, by Maurice J. Elias and others

The Caring Teacher's Guide for Discipline: Helping Students Learn S..., by Marilyn Gootman

The Power of Our Words: Teacher Language That Helps Children Learn, by Paula Denton

The Classroom of Choice: Giving Students What They Need and Getting..., by Jonathan C. Erwin

Recognition Without Rewards, by Caren Cameron, Betty Tate, Daphne MacNaughton, and Colleen Politano

Books for Parents

Thinking Parent, Thinking Child, by Myrna B. Shure
Thinking Parent, Thinking Child shows how to apply 'I Can Problem Solve' techniques to the top concerns of parents and children from preschoolers through those in their preteen years. Not only will children learn to think about their own and others' feelings, they'll also learn to appreciate that you have feelings, too.

Emotionally Intelligent Parenting: How to Raise a Self-Disciplined,..., by Maurice J. Elias and others
The authors provide emotionally intelligent parenting strategies for addressing everyday issues with children. The book includes exercises for raising the family "humor quotient," becoming aware of feelings, praising and prioritizing, and coaching your child in responsible action.

Building Emotional Intelligence: Techniques to Cultivate Inner Stre..., by Linda Lantieri and Daniel Goleman

Practical Tools for the Classroom

Morning Meeting Messages: 180 Sample Charts from Three Classrooms, by Rosalea Fisher, Eric Henry, Deborah Porter

99 Activities and Greetings, by Melissa Correa-Connolly

Energizers! 88 Quick Movement Activities That Refresh and Refocus, by Susan Lattanzi Roser

The Morning Meeting Book, by Roxann Kriete

The Advisory Book, by Linda Crawford