Your Social Emotional Child: A Community Approach to Growing Hearts & Minds
- lina@mindfulmontessori
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
Mindful Montessori of Old Tappan – Parent Workshop Reflection
At Mindful Montessori of Old Tappan, we believe that educating a child begins with a shared understanding: children flourish best when schools and families grow alongside one another. This month’s parent workshop, “Your Social Emotional Child,” led by our own Simona Sanan, offered a warm, insightful, and practical conversation around how children develop socially and emotionally—and how we can support them together.
The evening highlighted something fundamental about our school community: we do not simply talk about whole-child development; we actively practice it every day.
Understanding Social Development: How Children Learn to Belong
Children’s social growth unfolds in phases, and each stage tells an important story about how they see themselves within a community.
According to the workshop, children gradually move from parallel play to truly joining peers in cooperative, imaginative experiences. They begin forming friendships, recognizing peers by name, and showing unprompted affection—powerful early signs of emerging social intelligence. They also learn to take turns, follow classroom rules, and express empathy, such as comforting a friend who is upset.
At Mindful Montessori, these skills are nurtured intentionally through mixed-age classrooms, peaceful conflict-resolution practices, and an environment that encourages cooperation over competition.
Understanding Emotional Development: Naming, Feeling & Regulating
As children gain language and independence, their emotional world expands too. They feel happiness, sadness, frustration, pride, and worry—sometimes all in one morning! The workshop outlined how children begin to recognize and label emotions, manage their impulses, and regulate themselves during moments of change or challenge.
A cornerstone of the Montessori classroom is emotional literacy. Teachers consistently model calm responses, name emotions aloud, and guide children through self-regulation tools such as breathing, “peace corners,” and sensory grounding. This is not added curriculum—it is woven into the fabric of everyday routines.
Development Stages: What Parents Often Notice at Each Age
The workshop beautifully illustrated the natural progression of social-emotional abilities across the early childhood years:
Infants: communicate through emotional signals and form strong attachments.
Two-Year-Olds: engage in pretend play, show early empathy, and often explore parallel play.
Three-Year-Olds: begin truly interacting with peers despite still being self-focused.
Four-Year-Olds: create social plans, negotiate roles in play, and deepen friendships.
Five-Year-Olds: often form “best friends” and become highly motivated by relationships.
Mindful Montessori classrooms are intentionally designed to meet each child exactly where they are developmentally—gently challenging them, while ensuring they feel safe and understood.
Practical Tools for Home: Extending the Partnership
One of the most valuable aspects of this workshop was the emphasis on simple practices parents can use at home, reinforcing the same approaches children experience at school.
Encourage Play
Provide open-ended opportunities for pretend play and cooperative activities.
Use Emotion-Rich Conversations
Talk about feelings in everyday moments, ask questions that deepen reflection, and validate emotions.
Model & Reinforce Skills
Demonstrate calm emotional expression and acknowledge your child when they use positive social strategies.
Foster Connection
Create predictable routines, nurturing relationships, and shared experiences that make children feel secure.
Support Self-Regulation
Help children name their feelings.
Remind them that all feelings are okay.
Create a peaceful space at home where they can calm their bodies and minds.
These strategies not only build confidence and resilience—they show children that home and school speak the same language.
Collaboration in Action: Conflict Resolution Through Connection
One highlight of the workshop was a simple yet powerful 60-second conflict-resolution technique Montessori classrooms use daily:
Child 1: “I didn’t like it when you…”
Child 2: “Are you okay? How can I help you feel better?”
Child 1: Offers a solution (“Give me a tissue.” or “I need a hug.”)
Child 2: Follows through.
This method teaches children to use their voices, listen with their eyes and hearts, and repair relationships with empathy—not force. These are lifelong skills that begin in small moments.
A Partnership That Makes All the Difference
The workshop served as a meaningful reminder: your child’s journey is not walked alone.
At Mindful Montessori of Old Tappan, we deeply value parents as collaborators, co-guides, and co-nurturers. Our commitment goes beyond the classroom walls—we show up, we teach, we listen, and we continue learning alongside you. Workshops like this are part of our ongoing promise to build a strong, informed, and connected community around every child.
When parents and educators share knowledge, language, and intention, children flourish. They feel supported, understood, and grounded in the consistent message that their emotions matter, their friendships matter, and they matter.
Thank you to all the families who joined us. Together, we are raising confident, compassionate, emotionally intelligent children—one mindful moment at a time.