Social-Emotional Learning

Tool Kit For Success

Social-emotional curriculum is aimed at nurturing children to be self-aware, confident, adaptable, resilient, respectful, empathetic and responsible. Our goal is to help students establish a tool kit for success in a wide variety of situations and environments.

Whole Child Approach

Social Emotional Learning is the newest branch of the “Whole Child Approach” to education. It is built on a growing body of evidence that says non-academic skills are decisive for students’ academic success.

It’s important to know that “non-academic” is not the same thing as “non-cognitive.” SEL builds the foundation for life skill success to access the academic learning capabilities of every student. SEL provides scaffolding so that students can adapt, integrate, and apply skills learned into new and ever-changing environments that they find themselves in throughout their lifespan.

The RAND Corporation defines three domains of SEL in their research brief that helps guide best practice in the education setting.

Check out more SEL resources on the National Association for Gifted Children website.

NAGC

Owning Up

Ricks' students participate in Owning Up, a Social Emotional Learning curriculum that provides students with a safe school climate to learn self-awareness, decision-making, and social awareness skills.

Learn More about Owning Up Curriculum

Community Service

Gifted children have a strong sense of justice and often demonstrate empathy and compassion for others. Through community service, our students utilize these qualities and gain confidence as they realize their power to make a difference in their community and around the world.

As with other aspects of the curriculum, community service is woven into the unit of study and driven by student interest. For example, a class studying architecture learned about the Salvation Army's construction event. The class designed and built an American flag out of cans donated by students. Another class raised money for a wildlife sanctuary after learning about the plight of circus animals. Students studying natural disasters may gather materials to send to displaced children. Others may raise awareness of injustices in another country through role playing and skits.

See for Yourself

Discover firsthand why families choose Ricks

Visit Ricks