2. The Roots

Research shows that children have considerable potential to develop social and emotional skills throughout life by their environment (Srivastava et al., 2003). Most proximal environment as family, teachers and schools have numerous opportunities to provide learning environments where skills can be developed, enhanced, and reinforced through practice and daily experiences. Parents shape the child’s first values, familiarize them with societal rules and norms of behavior, communication skills, and the world of feelings.

As Goleman argues (Goleman, 1996) family life is the first gym where children play and develop social-emotional skills. He asserts that here children learn how to know their feelings and what to do with them, as well as how other people will react to others’ feelings and choices people make in expressing their feelings. Children come to school with different experiences and different levels of social and emotional skills development. Therefore, for some children it is easier to adapt to the new environment, to meet different requirements, to communicate with peers and to learn, and for other children it is more difficult. Thus, to enhance the development of social and emotional skills, parents should be involved in the educational process.

Researchers have been revealing the importance of parental involvement in children’s learning, children showing relevant forms of social behavior (i.e., prosocial behavior refrain from forms of disruptive and antisocial behavior) are positively related to acceptance by peers, motivation to achievement and academic success (Wentzel, 2009) and the lack of these skills often hinders the educational process of students (Sheridan, Kim, Beretvas & Park, 2019)

We can teach the student how to manage anger, how to listen to another person, or how to express what you do not like. However, if the child does not have someone to share these skills with when he or she returns home and no one will support or encourage him or her, he or she will use old and not necessarily appropriate methods.