Bay Farm’s stated mission is to “work together to cultivate a vibrant Montessori learning community where children are inspired to grow with joy, purpose, and compassion.” Having a mission statement is imperative for a community to understand and aspire towards a collective vision. However, we want to take this a step further and share our thoughtful, research-based Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum that will highlight just HOW we, as a community, can inspire “Joy, Purpose, and Compassion.”
At Bay Farm, not only are we committed to providing your child with a stimulating and strong academic curriculum, we are firm believers that social and emotional learning is an integral part of education and human development. Through this belief, we actively integrate social and emotional learning into all parts of our day; between lessons, during student transitions between tasks, within community activities such as lunch, our teachers are always helping to explicitly teach, model, and provide guidance on a student’s emotional responses along with their social interactions with others. For example, in all of our levels, teachers facilitate conflict resolution between students who’ve just had a disagreement, they offer guidance on how to advocate for one’s self or take part in a difficult conversation, and much more.
According to the CASEL Model, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is:
“the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.”
The five core competencies here are:
- Self-Awareness
- Self-Management
- Social Awareness
- Relationship Skills, and
- Responsible Decision-Making.
In light of research outlining the positive impacts of SEL, and due to the fact that “school is one of the primary places where students learn social and emotional skills’’, we believe that clarity in just how we work towards “joy, purpose, and compassion” is necessary, now more than ever. As stated in an article in Edutopia, adapted from the “Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning”, a curriculum such as this needs to incorporate the following (Durlak et al., 2016):
- Sequenced: connected and coordinated sets of activities to foster skills development
- Active: active forms of learning to help students master new skills
- Focused: emphasis on developing personal and social skills
- Explicit: targeting specific social and emotional skills
Additionally, this article highlights the short- and long-term benefits, stating that “students are more successful in school and daily life when they:”
- Know and can manage themselves
- Understand the perspectives of others and relate effectively with them
- Make sound choices about personal and social decisions
With the guidance of Brooke Tocci, our School Counselor, and assistance from Meredith Badders, our Middle School lead teacher, Bay Farm is happy to announce that our 2023-2034 school year will consist of the following Social-Emotional Learning Lessons, running from December – March for our Elementary I, Elementary II, and Middle School students.
- December Lessons: Compassion for Self and Others
- January Lessons: Growth-Mindset
- February Lessons: Peaceful Conflict-Resolution
- March Lessons (Middle School only): Boundaries with Technology
As outlined earlier, these lessons will be sequenced, active, focused, and explicit. Additionally, this will be a three-pronged approach: skills will be 1. explicitly taught through the lessons, 2. reinforced through classroom or academic activities, and 3. encouraged with connecting activities at home. Together, with this multi-faceted approach, we know that we will see more joy, purpose, and compassion in everything that we do here at Bay Farm. We look forward to partnering with you on this very important work!
This coming November, you will receive more information on how each of these lessons will be rolled out in your child’s classroom (ELI, ELII, MS) and how the lessons can be amplified at home with pre-packaged activities and information. In the meantime, please reach out to Brooke Tocci or Meredith Badders with any questions you may have.
