Why You Should Include Social and Emotional Learning in Your Homeschool Plans

Not sure how to approach social and emotional learning in your homeschool? Here’s what you need to know about SEL with HeyKiddo Huddle.

* This is a sponsored post. I received free access to HeyKiddo™ Huddle for review purposes and have been compensated for my time. As always, all opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. You can read my full disclosure for additional information.*

To be completely transparent, social and emotional learning wasn’t on my homeschool radar at all for years. Going through a global pandemic changed that. 

Despite our best efforts to keep things as normal as possible at home, we found ourselves with a kiddo who began to struggle with anxiety, negativity, and overwhelm. Can you relate?

She’s come a long way since 2020 and things are pretty much back to normal for her, but it didn’t happen overnight. Through it all, we learned the value of equipping our kids with tools that promote social and emotional wellness. That’s why I’m excited to tell you about HeyKiddo™ Huddle.

Social and Emotional Learning for Homeschoolers

Before we jump into the specifics on HeyKiddo, let’s dig into social and emotional learning and why it should be a priority in your homeschool.

Why You Should Include Social and Emotional Learning in Your Homeschool

Most of us don’t think twice about incorporating life skills along with academic subjects in our homeschool lineups, but what about life skills that go beyond chores, financial tasks, and similar aspects of adulting? Academics and adulting both are obviously important, but it’s equally important to give our kids skills that will help them build positive habits, develop self-esteem, and promote emotional resilience. 

That’s where social-emotional learning (SEL) comes into the picture. If you’re not currently including SEL in your homeschool plans, here are some points to consider.  

1. educating the whole child

First and foremost, we should make room social and emotional learning because we care about the whole child. In many ways, it provides a foundation for all the academics and other life skills we tend to prioritize.

“We have to study the child’s needs as a person, and we consider what is fully human, balanced, and whole. We need to juggle complicated pieces of a puzzle…”

Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, For the Children’s Sake

We remember that children are born persons when we provide them with all the tools needed for this life. This includes the tools that help with self-esteem, empathy, and resilience.

2. Moving to the future with SEL

While there are some educational areas that don’t experience fast and furious change (language arts, math, and fine arts, for example), education is still a living, breathing thing that ebbs and flows with the times. Because of that, it’s on us to make sure our homeschools reflect that in the appropriate areas.

I recently came across an interesting comparison between highly valued work skills in 1950s and 2020 while reading Diane Tavenner’s Prepared. Here were the top three skills referenced from the 1950s: the ability to work rapidly and for long periods of time, memory for details and directions, and arithmetic computation.

The most valued skills in 2020 were quite different: complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management, coordinating with others, and emotional intelligence.

“What worked even fifty years ago will not work today, and what fulfills our needs today will not serve fifty years hence; there is no last word to be said upon education; it evolves with the evolution of the race.”

Charlotte Mason, School Education

These words from Charlotte Mason still ring true today. Education continues to evolve and social and emotional learning is at the front and center.

3. The anti laissez-faire approach

We can’t keep throwing our kids into the deep end of the pool and thinking they’ll learn how to swim instinctively. Generation after generation, that approach to social and emotional development has left us broken and overwhelmed.

“In this matter of conscience, for instance, the laissez-faire habit of his parents is the cause of real wrong and injury to many a child.”

“We take a great deal too much upon ourselves when we suppose that we are the authors and intenders of the thoughts we think. The most we can do is to give direction to these trains of thought in the comparatively few moments when we are regulating the thoughts of our hearts.”

Charlotte Mason, Home Education

In other words, we can’t control or prevent everything that happens in our lives, but we can control how we respond and react. Ultimately, we do our children no favors when we leave them unequipped to face challenges, engage with other perspectives, accept responsibility, or develop empathy.

SEL EdUcation with HeyKiddo™ Huddle

Now that you know why social and emotional learning is so important for our children, here’s how HeyKiddo can help you make it happen.

HeyKiddo™ Huddle is an open-and-go digital subscription service that comes alongside parents and teachers as they work to help their children build key social and emotional skills.

Also worth noting, HeyKiddo™ Huddle is centered around CASEL’s social-emotional learning competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

The curriculum itself is divided into themed modules that span over several weeks. Within those modules, you’ll find weekly lessons that include a short introduction video, creative activity, and lots of great conversation starters that discuss a specific SEL component.

I seriously appreciate that open-and-go really does mean open-and-go with HeyKiddo. Even down to the creative activity each week, there’s no prep needed. So far, all the activities we’ve worked through only required standard school supplies like construction paper and markers. :)

HeyKiddo also sends a weekly email featuring an introduction to the week’s lesson and fun extras like snack ideas to incorporate into the HeyKiddo lessons.

We like to have our HeyKiddo Huddle time on Fridays, so I LOVE getting this email at the beginning of the week. Even with an open-and-go curriculum like this, it’s nice to know what’s coming so that I can decide whether or not to include those extras for the week.

Also, the email helps me watch for relevant events or conversations throughout the week to reference in our Huddle time.

Here are a few other things to know about HeyKiddo™ Huddle:

• The curriculum is flexible. You can work through it a little at a time throughout the week or roll it all into one day like we do. 
• The dashboard allows you to track student progress. This is especially helpful if you’re working with more than one kiddo. 
• The weekly lesson can be viewed infographic-style or through Google Slides. Choose the format that works best for you. 

All of this works together to make it super easy to bring social and emotional learning to your homeschool!

Get Connected with HeyKiddo!

Ready to get started with HeyKiddo™ Huddle? Head to HeyKiddo to learn more and subscribe for your family. Better yet, be sure to use the promo code HKIHN when you sign up. That means you’ll save 20% on an annual subscription or 10% on a monthly subscription.

In closing, I happily recommend HeyKiddo and their resources for any family with elementary aged kiddos. This curriculum makes it super easy to include social and emotional learning in your homeschool routine, which means you’re no longer on your own when it comes to social, mental, and emotional wellness for your kids. What a gift that is!