Your day is full of responsibilities, from managing your personal to-do list at work to keeping up with homework and after-school activities. Navigating an unpredictable world can make it hard to find time for anything outside of your usual routine. Despite this, there are still opportunities to help your kids grow socially and emotionally through everyday teachable moments.

You may have heard the term social emotional learning (SEL) before. It’s a set of skills that helps children become responsible, productive, caring, and engaged citizens by developing empathy, problem-solving abilities, and conflict resolution skills. As their biggest cheerleader and supporter, your role in their development is crucial. The first step toward helping them succeed starts with you.

Here’s some great news: you don’t need to be an expert to promote social and emotional development. In fact, you’re likely fostering these skills every day without even realizing it, simply by being present and using teachable moments that happen organically.

How Families Support Social Emotional Learning

SEL in the home means that families can use moments that happen organically to grow students’ skills. Trips to the grocery store, playing a board game, or interactions at the playground are rife with opportunities for social emotional learning growth. Learning these essential skills doesn’t have to feel like a lesson from a textbook. Instead, parents and caregivers can weave it into teachable moments that happen daily.

“Where there is an emotionally skilled parent, there are children who have a greater ability to identify and regulate their emotions.” – Marc Brackett, Ph.D., Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence

When you practice and build your skills in self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship building, and responsible decision-making, you are better equipped to navigate stressors, anxieties, and challenges. You can solve problems and work with others to function at a higher level—in the classroom, at work, and at home. Regular practice is key, just as it is for any other skill like playing an instrument or riding a bike. The best part? Putting in a little extra effort to boost these skills means happier, more confident, and well-adjusted kids. Here’s some food for thought as you practice at home.

Encourage Emotional Expression

Sometimes, your first instinct when a child is having a negative reaction to a situation might be to tell them “stop” or “calm down.” But when you talk through their reaction and identify which emotions they might be feeling, they are better equipped to recognize and manage them when they experience them in the future. Tip: Our Emotional Alphabet is a great tool for identifying and labeling feelings.

Connect Social Emotional Skills Through Books

Relatable stories help children make connections between their own life and a story character who is experiencing a similar situation. When that character reaches a positive resolution, it demonstrates effective ways to deal with their own similar issue and teaches them specific skills without it feeling like a structured lesson. There are so many great books for kids that focus on social emotional skills, you’re sure to find one that appeals to your child.

Let Children Make Choices

Giving children choices helps them feel like they have some power and control over what they do. It’s a step in growing up and it helps them feel like they aren’t always being “bossed around.” Making good choices is a skill that children will use for the rest of their lives. The key to giving children choices is to first decide what choices you will allow them to make. Be sure to give choices you can agree to.

Positive Behavior Management

Clear expectations and firm, yet fair rules give children a sense of security because they know what is expected of them. Constantly pointing out what they did wrong doesn’t always yield the best results. Taking the time to acknowledge when your child makes an effort to do the right thing lets them know that you’re paying attention and their efforts weren’t wasted. They’ll be more likely to make those choices again.

Supporting SEL in Your Family

It’s easy to feel exhausted at the end of the day. We’ve all been there! By weaving a few of these tips into a dinner or bedtime routine is possible—every choice, every interaction, and every story becomes an opportunity to have a conversation that touches on social emotional skills. Be present with your children, listen to what they have to say, and model the behavior you want them to display.