When KAS rolled out its School-wide Action Plan in the Spring of 2020, it featured a new domain – social/emotional learning (SEL) and wellness. What is SEL, and how will it help our students?
SEL guides our learners towards healthy identities and attitudes about managing emotions, setting personal and collective goals, and expressing empathy to maintain supportive relationships. Students thrive in a caring environment and build trust among each other.
At KAS, we’re proud to be among the first schools in Taiwan to adopt Second Step® as our SEL curriculum for elementary years. Second Step is a leading program in US elementary schools. This research-based offering, developed by the non-profit group Committee for Children, has been shown to foster a kinder classroom and school-wide mood. A sense of connectedness is related to a child’s sense of academic competence. It’s no wonder students participating in SEL programs demonstrated an 11 percentile-point gain in academic performance.
Talk to your child’s teacher to learn more about the Second Step lessons being offered in their classrooms.