Author and Speaker Jennifer Miller on "Building Connections with Parents and Educators"

Welcome back to the “Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast” this is Andrea Samadi. This interview will be broadcast on YouTube as well as on the regular podcast channel. Today we are speaking with Jennifer Miller, she’s an author and illustrator of the blog Confident Parents, Confident Kids[i] with over 22,000 followers. She has her master’s degree in Instructional Leadership with a focus on social and emotional development, and has a new book coming out just shortly after the SEL Exchange[ii] this October called Confident Parents, Confident Kids: Raising Emotional Intelligence in Ourselves and Our Kids — From Toddlers to Teenagers.[iii]

Welcome Jennifer, it’s great to meet you after following your work for the past few years. I was excited to see you as a speaker at Casel’s SEL Exchange this coming October where you will be showcasing your research with educators nationally and internationally. This is very exciting!

Q1: Can you give us a sneak peak of the insights you will be sharing at Casel’s pre-conference institute this fall?

Q2: I know we’ve both heard this question many times, and it’s often the question kicked around in many different settings. I hope that this interview can shed some light on some solutions to bridge the gap that exists with the question. The question is….“Whose job is it to educate our kids?” Of course, we know the role of our schools to educate students, but teachers can’t be the only solution. With the fact that students are with their teachers around 6 hours/day, about 180 days/year, [iv] we can’t rely on only the school because there’s a lot of time they are not in school, bringing us to you, for your expertise. Whose job is it?

Q3: What can/should parents be doing at home to support their child’s social and emotional learning? What does SEL look like integrated into family life? (examples for young children-teens)

Q4: How do parents access and translate the robust knowledge base from schools to support them in raising confident, responsible children? What should parents be doing more of to support this new and emergent field?

Q5: How can schools who prioritize social and emotional learning authentically partner with families to maximize success with our children?

Q6: What would be your top 5 tips for a parent to improve their role to support their local school/educator?

Q7: Would be your top 5 tips for teachers to improve their role to support/connect better with parents?

Q8: I’m looking forward to the release of your book Confident Parents, Confident Kids: Raising Emotional Intelligence in Ourselves and Our Kids — and look will do all I can to promote your book to help more families. Can you give us some background on why you wrote this book, and the support it will provide for parents?

Q9: Thank you Jennifer for taking the time out of your day today. Is there anything you think we have missed, any final thoughts for parents/educators who either watch the video on YouTube, or hear the podcast, to learn more about supporting the home/school connection with social and emotional learning?

[i] https://confidentparentsconfidentkids.org/

[ii] https://selexchange.casel.org/

[iii] Pre-order Jennifer Miller’s Book on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Confident-Parents-Kids-Emotional-Intelligence/dp/1592339042/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=jennifer+miller+parenting&qid=1563316995&s=gateway&sr=8-2

[iv] Leading Education Podcast with Jeff Rose https://www.leadingedsolutions.com/about