At the Elementary level, Oregon City School District uses the Second Steps curriculum as a way to explicitly teach social emotional learning (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, collaboration, and responsible decision-making). Oregon’s Transformative Social Emotional Learning (TSEL) framework, implemented in July of 2024, goes beyond explicit teaching to modeling and naming the five TSEL standards throughout the school day. Oregon’s TSEL is grounded in the national research organization Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).

Social Emotional Learning is about building skills that are needed in any career, and create a foundation for healthy growth and academic success at the elementary level. If you would like to reinforce and explore this learning at home, consult your student’s school team. You can also check out the following resources:

• For a foundation of emotional literacy, ask your student to describe what certain feelings look like and what they feel like. Most schools in OCSD use Zones of Regulation. You can watch the short video and use common language at home.

• For a visual to easily explore Oregon’s TSEL, consult the following graphic. Try to consider how you can model and name these standards during interactions with your student

• And finally, conflict is part of growing up. Supporting youth in collaboratively solving problems is a process as they grow and we as adults can support students in seeing conflict as opportunities to see a differing perspective. Check out this video from ThinkKids, an organization out of Massachusetts General, that provides a framework for conflict resolution that avoids power struggles and encourages youth to see adult perspective (and vice versa).