THE SEVEN ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS EVERY CHILD NEEDS

Below is a list of the Seven Essential Life Skills and the selected books, by age group, that connect to each Skill. - See more at: http://www.fbmarketplace.org/mitm#sthash.jDsaxJXe.dpuf



FOCUS & SELF-CONTROL

Children need this skill in order to achieve their goals, especially in a world that is filled with distraction and information overload. It involves paying attention, remembering the rules, thinking flexibly and exercising self-control.

AGES 0 TO 2: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and Elmo Says…
AGES 3 TO 5: The Carrot Seed and Whistle for Willie
AGES 6 TO 8: The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza and The Art Lesson

PERSPECTIVE TAKING

Perspective goes far beyond empathy: it involves figuring out what others think and feel, and forms the basis of children understanding their parents’, teachers’, and friends’ intentions. Children who can take others’ perspectives are also much less likely to get involved in conflicts.

AGES 0 TO 2: Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? (Coming soon!) and Five Little Ducks
AGES 3 TO 5: Fish is Fish and Are You Ready to Play Outside? (Coming soon!)
AGES 6 TO 8: Freedom Summer and Actual Size

COMMUNICATING

Communicating is much more than understanding language, speaking, reading and writing – it is the skill of determining what one wants to communicate and realizing how our communications will be understood by others. It is the skill that teachers and employers feel is most lacking today.

AGES 0 TO 2: Baby! Talk! and Moo, Baa, La La La!
AGES 3 TO 5: The Cow That Went Oink and The Lion and the Mouse
AGES 6 TO 8: Martin's Big Words and The Storyteller’s Candle

MAKING CONNECTIONS

Making connections is at the heart of learning—figuring out what’s the same, what’s different and sorting these things into categories. Making unusual connections is at the core of creativity. In a world where people can Google for information, it is the people who can see the connections who can go beyond knowing information to using this information well.

AGES 0 TO 2: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes and The Very Hungry Caterpillar (bilingual)
AGES 3 TO 5: Caps for Sale and Harold and the Purple Crayon
AGES 6 TO 8: I Am Different! Can you Find Me? and On the Same Day in March: A Tour of the World's Weather

CRITICAL THINKING

Critical thinking is the ongoing search for valid and reliable knowledge to guide beliefs, decisions, and actions.

AGES 0 TO 2: Blue Hat Green Hat and The Runaway Bunny
AGES 3 TO 5: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and Are You My Mother? (Coming soon!)
AGES 6 TO 8: Grace for President and Nate the Great

TAKING ON CHALLENGES

Life is full of stresses and challenges. Children who are willing to take on challenges (instead of avoiding them or simply coping with them) do better in school and in life.

AGES 0 TO 2: Llama, Llama Red Pajama and My Truck is Stuck
AGES 3 TO 5: Owen and The Little Engine that Could
AGES 6 TO 8: Knuffle Bunny and Horton Hears a Who

SELF-DIRECTED, ENGAGED LEARNING

It is through learning that we can realize our potential. As the world changes, so can we, for as long as we live—as long as we learn.

AGES 0 TO 2: From Head to Toe and Where's Spot?
AGES 3 TO 5: My Five Senses and The Snowy Day
AGES 6 TO 8: Lemonade in Winter and Dinosaurs Before Dark

- See more at: http://www.fbmarketplace.org/mitm#sthash.jDsaxJXe.dpuf