Your introduction to the next level in your child’s development

As parents, who of us haven’t spent hours upon hours Googling and paging through the What to Expect… books, soaking up every piece of advice that we can from parents’ meetings to online forums, trying to find out what exactly we need to do to raise the best child we can? Now, these late-night research excursions are a necessary part of being a parent, that yearning to be better, but how often do people discuss social and emotional skills?

Wait! Don’t press that “x” in the corner of the browser tab yet. I know, when the words “social” and “skills” raise their heads we often sit back and say, “No, thank you – above my pay grade.” But it’s more important (and simpler) than you may realise in the development of your child.

As adults, we enter a great expanse filled with friends, colleagues and strangers each day; we face situations daily that fall outside of our comfort zones. As adults, though, we’ve learned to cope with it, to face the music and work through whatever stands in our way. Whether you’re a master of improv when things go “off-script”, or whether you’re more the put-your-head-between-you-knees-and-remember-to-breathe type, calling “Line, please” when you don’t know what to do next (I find myself in this category quite often), we all want our children to excel no matter what comes across their paths.

Understanding their own emotions, as well as those of the people who surround them, will mean more for your child than knowing when someone needs a hug and when they should be left alone. Emotional skills (how we observe and identify them, and then react accordingly) are at the heart of every person’s social being. It will everything, from how your child treats their friends, how he/she communicates with their parents, how they perform at school, and most importantly how well they understand themselves.

Emotional skills also help children move through the transitions of life - from home to kindergarten to school to university and beyond. Just as we go new places physically, our emotions also go where they may never have gone before and even when we recognise the emotion, it may come around next time in shape and form that is new to us. Understanding your emotions from a young age will help a child recognise and deal with their emotions correctly, no matter what shape they come in.

Putting a name to a feeling and understanding why they’re feeling it will give your child control over their emotional life.

This is what Soetlief is all about – social and emotional skills development. Our interactive program allows you and your child to learn more about the emotions we experience daily and how to deal with them.

Want to know more? Read on. Join the Soetlief family and find out how to make the most of every day!