The Emotion, the Tree and Me

Social and emotional learning (SEL) enhances our youth's capacity to connect with others (interpersonal skills), develop a healthy relationship with themselves (intrapersonal skills), and accurately perceive the world so they can manage behaviors and deal effectively and ethically with daily tasks and challenges (self-control). This book is designed to increase social-emotional functioning through developing knowledge of one's culture, one's family and ultimately one's self as it is the belief of the author that you cannot truly achieve wellness without a firm understanding of yourself. Further, you cannot truly know yourself until you know the ones who are closest to you. Through this book, we will share a common story and develop common emotional language so that we create a multigenerational conversation regarding mental health, wellness, and emotional intelligence. There are five core competencies that will be explored through this book as it is imperative that our children are exposed to and reach social-emotional milestones related to Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Responsible decision making. Through this book, you and your student(s) can utilize the story and its accompanying informational guide to learn and answer questions that will teach and promote growth in the five critical anchors standards for social-emotional learning. This book is designed to provide a head start for parents, caring adults and teachers who seek to increase the social and emotional competence of the children and youth in their lives.