Social-emotional development

Social-emotional tracking

Montessori education places equal weight on social-emotional development and academic progress. FutureNerds gives you dedicated tools to track this dimension of each child's growth.

Getting there

The school-wide page for notes, goals, and community agreements is Social-emotional development. It is not in the top bar (Today, Children, Rooms, Calendar), and it is not one of the Classroom Tools.

On a child's Learning tab you can still read social-emotional notes that already exist. New note, New goal, and New agreement live on the school-wide page. The heading there shows notes this week, active goals, and community agreements.

Social-emotional notes

Social-emotional notes are recorded through the observations system with the observation type set to "social-emotional." They capture moments like:

• A child resolving a conflict with a peer independently.
• A child showing empathy when another child is upset.
• Difficulty separating from a parent at drop-off.
• A breakthrough in self-regulation or focus.

Click New note. Pick Select classroom and Select child, choose a type (for example Grace & courtesy), write the note, and click Create. Notes are dated and linked to the child's profile. A child's Learning tab also shows social-emotional notes when any exist.

Growth goals

Growth goals are specific targets you set for individual children. Examples:

• "Practice using words to express frustration instead of hitting."
• "Greet classmates by name each morning."
• "Work independently for 15 minutes without seeking adult attention."

To create a goal:

1. Click New goal.
2. Select the child.
3. Write the goal description.
4. Save.

When the child achieves the goal, mark it as achieved. The goal moves from active to completed, and the date is recorded.

Community agreements

Community agreements are school-wide values or behavior expectations shared across classrooms. Examples: "We use gentle hands," "We take turns," "We clean up after ourselves."

Administrators or teachers can create agreements. They appear for everyone at the school.

Tips

• Record social-emotional notes as regularly as academic observations. Aim for at least one per child per month.
• Review growth goals during parent-teacher conferences.
• Involve children in creating community agreements at the start of the year.