Social and Emotional Learning for Students & Children

Given the extraordinary levels of emotional stress and turmoil that today’s students face, helping them build emotional flexibility and resilience has never been more important. 

For almost all students, there are direct links between their social and emotional resilience and the quality of their relationships and their ability to learn and perform academically. 

Students who build a foundation of social and emotional intelligence become more confident about their learning abilities and more able to motivate themselves, set goals, organize their approach to work, try harder and perform better. They also are better able to build mutually beneficial networks of collaborative relationships with peers and teachers that will support, motivate, and reinforce their efforts and achievements. 

HeartMath has developed a set of scientifically validated, age-appropriate, emotion self-regulation tools and techniques. These heart-based solutions are being used by people around the world in all walks of life who wish to find mental, emotional and physical balance. Research related to our techniques has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as American Journal of Cardiology, and Stress Medicine. Rather than repressing or venting emotions, students and teachers using the tools and techniques learn to harness the power of their emotions for positive performance and success in life. 

Benefits of Social and Emotional Learning 
​Researchers have identified the following benefits for students who experience social and emotional learning: 

School Performance:
  • Improved math, literacy, and social studies skills
  • Higher achievement test scores and grades, and no decreases in standardized test scores
  • Improved learning-to-learn skills
  • Better problem-solving and planning ability
  • Use of higher-level reasoning strategies
  • Improvements in reading comprehension
School Behaviors:
  • Participate in class more
  • Demonstrate more pro-social behavior
  • Have fewer absences and improved attendance
  • Show reductions in aggression and disruptions
  • Stay on track to graduate and are less likely to drop out
  • Students more likely to work out their own way of learning
School Attitudes:
  • Stronger sense of community
  • Higher academic motivation and educational aspirations
  • Better understanding of consequences of behavior
  • Better ability to cope with school stressors
  • More positive attitudes toward school and learning

Related Programs

TestEdge Classroom Program
Inside Story
​HeartSmarts