By Melissa Aase, CEO, University Settlement
Life comes at you fast, and change can be daunting for all of us – and particularly for young children.
This means that September is always a busy and emotional time at our Early Childhood Centers, as our children transition from summer to fall, and our youngest ones experience their first days of school ever, which come with many stressors, including parting from caregivers for the first time and entering a new shared space with their peers.
Like many life-long-practices, developing the social-emotional resources necessary to navigate change is a process that benefits from significant early investment.
This insight is fundamental to University Settlement’s approach to early childhood, where it has led us to integrate assessments of our young learners’ social-emotional wellness, led by our Butterflies early childhood mental health program, into all our center-based programs.
In the school year ending in 2023, we assessed 80% of the children in our programs in this way. This process helps our teachers and clinicians provide comprehensive social-emotional learning supports, and sets us apart from other NYC early childhood providers.
Our Butterflies clinicians also lead programming that empowers our teachers to partner with caregivers to support our young learners’ social-emotional development more effectively: “This can mean anything from helping teachers think through the ways their lessons are engaging children’s emotions, to caregiver workshops, to consulting with families about behaviors they’re noticing at home,” said Alice James, who leads Creative Steps Early Childhood Center, located in the heart of Greenwich Village. “We can engage families on these sensitive questions of development with a light touch, and that can be a great way to open the door to additional services if families are interested.”
Christine Sneve, our Butterflies clinician embedded at Creative Steps, added:
In the first weeks of school, we’re navigating our children missing their parents and caregivers. So in August we convened a caregiver workshop to talk through strategies for helping children adjust. These workshops are a touchstone for guardians so they can start thinking about what to do before situations even start.
While their kid might not cry on day one, on day three it might feel like a disaster! Helping families understand what to expect can have a massive impact on how they say goodbye to their little ones for the first time, while also helping us build trusting partnerships early in the school year.
As we work through separation feelings, we also print family pictures and display them on classroom walls. Even though their grown-ups aren’t here, our children can see their pictures on the wall, or hold them in their hands. And these pictures also become a way for the young ones to connect with their peers.
It’s all about support – every child and every family will benefit from some level of support!
Creative Steps is still enrolling children aged 12 months – 5 years on a rolling basis for this school year. I invite you to please share our inquiry form with any families who might be interested.