Social-Emotional Curriculum
Dr. Susan Elswick, Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Memphis School of Social Work, recently received a $2,500.00 book grant from Gump Trip and the Golden Coral Foundation (ChildTrust) through First Book-Mid-South. The grant awarded 1, 000 free books to 190 preschool children that attend the Memphis City Schools/ Head Start program at Ridgeway Early Learning Center (RELC).
In conjunction with the generous book donation, Dr. Elswick provided her time and expertise to create a social-emotional educational curriculum specific to each donated book. The book themed curriculum includes both teacher and parent activities aimed at improving social skills and empathy. The classroom based activities will be used to enhance emotional learning and improve social outcomes for the children in the school. The parent curriculum is aimed at encouraging parents to read to their children, discuss feelings and emotions, and encourage healthy emotional outcomes through daily parent-child activities. The curriculum will be made available to the teachers and parents at the RELC program, but will also be made available to the public via MCS, Shelby County Head Start, and University of Memphis websites.
Dr. Elswick has continued her work and development of Social Emotional Learning Bibliotherapy and activity based curriculum for teachers and caregivers. Since 2012, she has developed numerous curriculum with the support of graduate and undergraduate students, community partners, and colleagues. There are many provided here FREE to the community.
Most recently, Dr. Elswick and the University of Memphis collaborated with LeBonheur Children's Hospital/ Pediatrics program to develop a number of Social-Emotional Curriculum for parents that were based on the current Reach-Out and Read books being dispersed. Through funds made possible by a Project LAUNCH grant, and the support of LeBonheur Children's Hospital, The Early Success Coalition, and the direct support of a local pediatrician- Dr. Jason Yaun, The University of Memphis School of Social Work assisted with developing the first pediatric Integrated Behavioral Health model in the Mid-South region. As part of this collaboration, we wanted to provide the community and caregiver's resources that would assist in developing healthy serve and return interactions within the home environment. During the 2017-2018 year and launch of the pediatric integrated behavioral health clinic, eleven additional curriculum were developed and distributed in the pediatrics clinic. The focus of this intervention is to assist caregivers with enhancing the parent-child bond while also addressing literacy and pre-literacy skills of infants and toddlers. Future collaborations to continue this important work are underway. Check back often for more materials and resources.
To view or download the curriculum please follow the links below:
Resources
Teachers
- My Many Colored Days - Teacher's Edition
- The Grouchy Ladybug - Teacher's Edition
- Elizabeti's Doll - Teacher's Edition
- I Was So Mad - Teacher's Edition
- First Day Jitters - Teacher's Edition
- Five Little Monkeys - Teacher's Edition
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day - Teacher's Edition
- Bunny Cakes - Teacher's Edition
- Big Red Barn - Teacher's Edition
- Baby Faces: Peekaboo! - Teacher's Edition
- Curious George - Teacher's Edition
- Goodnight Moon - Teacher's Edition (PreK)
- Goodnight Moon - Teacher's Edition
- Rain Feet - Teacher's Edition
- Read, Read, Baby! - Teacher's Edition
- The Snowy Day - Teacher's Edition
- You Are My Sunshine - Teacher's Edition
Parents
- My Many Colored Days - Parent's Edition
- The Grouchy Ladybug - Parent's Edition
- Elizabeti's Doll - Parent's Edition
- I Was So Mad - Parent's Edition
- First Day Jitters - Parent's Edition
- Five Little Monkeys - Parent's Edition
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day - Parent's Edition
- Bunny Cakes - Parent's Edition
- Big Red Barn - Parent's Edition
- Baby Faces: Peekaboo! - Parent's Edition
- Curious George - Parent's Edition
- Goodnight Moon - Parent's Edition
- Rain Feet - Parent's Edition
- Read, Read, Baby! - Parent's Edition
- The Snowy Day - Parent's Edition