
Thursday February 1, 2024
Helping Early Learners Build Social Competencies Using the We Thinkers! Curriculum Series
ages 4 - 7
This strategy filled conference day delves into crucial aspects of building social competencies in preschool and early elementary-age students (ages 4-7). Explore how flexible thinking, social language, self-regulation, and social and emotional development are vital for developing collaborative interactions in group settings, both on the playground and in the classroom. Gain insights from a research perspective on the impact of executive functioning, social attention, and social problem solving through the lens of our award-winning We Thinkers! curriculum series. Walk away with practical strategies and examples to seamlessly integrate social learning concepts into your existing teaching methods.Course Content Disclosure: While this course includes information about other products and the work of other authors, it primarily focuses on the content included in the We Thinkers! Volume 1: Social Explorers and We Thinkers! Volume 2: Social Problem Solvers curriculum guide and storybooks to teach this information with fidelity. This course, while a new offering, is a combination of two previously offered courses focusing on the We Thinkers! Series.
Educational standards highlight the importance of collaboration, group learning, cooperation, and building relationships young children. This strategy filled conference day focuses on the fundamental aspects of how to facilitate social learning in preschool and early elementary-age students (ages 4-7+), including flexible thinking, social language, self-regulation, and executive functioning for group learning experiences, both on the playground and in the classroom. You will learn how research on early social competencies can translate into best practices in the classroom through implementing our award winning We Thinkers! curricula. We will also explore the Social Thinking - Group Collaboration, Play, and Problem Solving (GPS) Scale to understand and support different levels of problem solving and play in the classroom. Attendees will leave with practical strategies and examples to integrate social, academic, and emotional concepts into existing teaching methods.
We will share key strategies and innovative practices for helping early learners who have average to strong language understanding and use develop critical social competencies, including:
- A research perspective on executive functioning and self-regulation and their impact on social communication.
- Social Thinking Vocabulary concepts that have been adapted for social learners ages 4-7 including: group plan, thinking with your eyes, flexible thinking and recognizing the size of the problem.
- Implementing with fidelity our award-winning curriculum, storybooks, and music collection when using We Thinkers! Volume 1: Social Explorers and We Thinkers! Volume 2: Social Problem Solvers
- Exploring concepts such as the role of play and working as part of a group in the development of self-regulation, social problem solving, and executive functioning.
- Using the Social Thinking - Group Collaboration, Play and Problem Solving (GPS) Scale, to understand and support different levels of play and how they relate to classroom
Throughout the conference day, you will learn not just the “why” behind the concepts we teach but the “how” with practical strategies and examples that you can start infusing into the things you already do and say.
At this conference, earn continuing education units/credits/clock hours at no additional cost! Each course offers 5.5 hours of instruction and each attendee will be given a certificate of attendance and a course agenda for their records.
We are proud to be a continuing education provider for Speech-Language Pathologists, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Certified Counselors, such as Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors, and others.
We offer continuing education units/credits/clock hours through:
- ASHA: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
- NBCC: National Board for Certified Counselors
- And more!