It’s an important question, and one we understand completely.

Over the past several years, the term Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) has meant different things to different people. While some have come to associate the acronym with broader educational or political debates, the core skills that SEL was originally intended to develop remain remarkably consistent—and widely supported. Skills like kindness, empathy, responsibility, perseverance, self-control, honesty, problem-solving, and respectful communication are qualities that parents, teachers, and employers across the political spectrum want children to develop.

That is where Sunnyside Roadshow chooses to focus.

Our founders, Gerard and Sharon, spent more than sixty years teaching in elementary classrooms. Long before anyone was using the term “SEL,” they were helping children navigate friendships, work through disappointment, resolve conflicts, celebrate one another’s successes, and become caring members of their classroom communities. Those timeless lessons—not politics—are the foundation of everything we create.

Our goal isn’t to tell children what to think. It’s to help them develop the character, confidence, and interpersonal skills that allow them to become thoughtful learners, respectful classmates, and responsible citizens. We believe those are values that transcend politics and belong in every elementary classroom.

Schools should never have to choose between strong academics and helping students become kind, resilient, and emotionally healthy young people. We believe the best classrooms do both. That’s why every Sunnyside Roadshow lesson is designed to support teachers in creating positive classroom communities while respecting the diversity of families, schools, and communities they serve.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is described with several overlapping terms. Some are close substitutes, while others emphasize one part of SEL.

Close alternatives

• Social and emotional learning

• Social-emotional development

• Social and emotional development

• Social-emotional education

• Social-emotional competence

• Social-emotional skills

• Personal and social development

• Personal, social, and emotional development

• Social, emotional, and academic development (SEAD)

• Social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL)

Terms commonly used for SEL-related skills

• Emotional intelligence

• Emotional literacy

• Emotional regulation

• Self-awareness

• Self-management

• Self-regulation

• Social awareness

• Relationship skills

• Interpersonal skills

• Intrapersonal skills

• Communication and collaboration skills

• Conflict-resolution skills

• Responsible decision-making

• Empathy development

• Resilience

• Coping skills

Broader educational terms that may include SEL

• Whole-child education

• Character education

• Life-skills education

• Positive youth development

• Well-being education

• Mental health and well-being

• Student wellness

• Personal development

• Citizenship education

• Values education

• Human development

• Holistic education

• 21st-century skills

• College, career, and life readiness

• Employability skills

• Workplace-readiness skills

Older or research-oriented terminology

• Noncognitive skills

• Nonacademic skills

• Soft skills

• Behavioral skills

• Psychosocial skills

• Personal and social competencies

• Social-emotional competencies

• Prosocial skills

• Social competence

• Emotional competence

• Executive-function and self-regulation skills

“Noncognitive skills” and “soft skills” are still used, but they can be misleading because SEL involves substantial thinking, judgment, and learning. In formal writing, social-emotional competencies, personal and social competencies, or social, emotional, and academic development are often more precise.

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is the intentional practice of helping students develop the life skills they need to succeed—not just in school, but in life. It focuses on teaching children how to recognize and manage their emotions, build healthy relationships, make responsible decisions, solve problems, and show empathy toward others. Think of it this way: reading teaches children how to understand books; SEL teaches them how to understand themselves and the people around them.

Most experts describe SEL through five core competencies. Self-awareness helps students recognize their feelings, strengths, and challenges. Self-management gives them tools to handle frustration, stay focused, and persevere when things get difficult. Social awareness helps children understand the feelings and perspectives of others. Relationship skills include listening, communicating, cooperating, and resolving conflicts respectfully. Finally, Responsible decision-making encourages students to think before they act, consider consequences, and make choices that benefit both themselves and those around them.

The good news? SEL isn’t another subject you have to squeeze into an already packed school day. It happens naturally during morning meetings, read-alouds, science projects, recess, partner work, and even those “teachable moments” that seem to appear at the least convenient times. Every time you help a student work through disappointment after losing a game, encourage classmates to include someone who is sitting alone, or guide two children toward solving a disagreement instead of solving it for them, you’re teaching SEL. In fact, many experienced teachers discover they’re already doing far more SEL than they realized.

Research continues to show that classrooms with strong social-emotional learning are often calmer, kinder, and more productive places to learn. Students who develop these skills tend to build stronger friendships, demonstrate greater resilience, stay more engaged academically, and become better problem-solvers. That doesn’t mean every day will be smooth sailing—this is elementary school, after all. There will still be forgotten homework, hurt feelings, dramatic playground negotiations, and the occasional declaration that someone “looked at me funny.” But students who regularly practice SEL develop a growing toolbox for handling those moments with increasing confidence and independence.

At its heart, SEL isn’t about adding something new to great teaching—it’s about shining a light on something that has always mattered. Children don’t become compassionate, resilient, or responsible by accident. Just as they need practice to become fluent readers or confident mathematicians, they need opportunities to practice kindness, perseverance, empathy, and self-control. Every encouraging conversation, every thoughtful classroom discussion, and every chance to reflect on a choice helps build those skills. And while students may not remember every worksheet they complete, they’ll almost certainly remember the teacher who helped them believe in themselves, understand others, and discover that they could handle life’s challenges one small step at a time.

Let’s acknowledge something that many teachers are probably thinking: “Is SEL just another educational buzzword?”Fair question. After all, education has never been short on acronyms or “the next big thing.” Every few years, it seems there’s a new initiative, a new binder, or a new professional development session promising to transform teaching forever. (Veteran teachers have earned the right to smile knowingly at that.)

Here’s the difference. Between them, Sunnyside Roadshow founders Gerard and Sharon have spent more than six decades in elementary classrooms. Long before anyone called it “SEL,” they were helping children navigate friendships, calm big feelings, solve playground disagreements, celebrate successes, and learn that mistakes are simply part of growing up. They weren’t following a trend—they were doing what great elementary teachers have always done.

In many ways, SEL doesn’t ask teachers to become someone different. It simply gives a name to practices that caring educators have used for generations, while adding decades of research showing why those practices matter. Rather than replacing strong academics, SEL helps create the classroom environment where academic learning can flourish. That’s why, unlike many educational initiatives that have come and gone over the years, SEL has become woven into teacher preparation programs, state standards, and educational research because it focuses on something timeless: helping children become not only better students, but kinder classmates, more confident learners, and thoughtful human beings.

For many school leaders, the first challenge isn’t deciding whether to teach social-emotional learning—it’s deciding which program to trust. In many states and districts, SEL has become an expectation, which naturally leads schools to begin searching for a curriculum. Unfortunately, the easiest program to purchase isn’t always the easiest program to implement.

When evaluating an SEL program, one question rises above almost everything else: Will teachers actually use it? The most beautifully designed curriculum in the world won’t benefit students if it spends the year collecting dust on a bookshelf.

In our experience, successful SEL programs have several things in common. First, they respect teachers’ time. Elementary educators are already balancing reading groups, math instruction, assessments, parent communication, intervention plans, IEPs, field trips, assemblies, and about fifty other things before lunch. Asking them to spend another 30 or 45 minutes every evening preparing tomorrow’s SEL lesson simply isn’t realistic. The best programs arrive classroom-ready, requiring little or no preparation so teachers can focus on students instead of paperwork.

Second, look for materials that have been created with teachers, by teachers. Some curricula sound wonderful in theory but don’t quite fit the rhythm of a real elementary classroom. After more than sixty combined years teaching children, Sunnyside Roadshow’s founders, Gerard and Sharon, understand that the best lessons are flexible enough to adapt when the fire drill happens, the class is unusually energetic, or a meaningful discussion unexpectedly takes off. Great teachers need resources that support them—not scripts that constrain them.

Finally, the strongest SEL programs don’t treat social-emotional learning as a stand-alone lesson that begins at 10:00 and ends at 10:20. Children learn these skills best when they’re reinforced throughout the day. That’s why every Sunnyside Roadshow Daily Teacher Guide extends beyond the video itself. Each guide highlights simple opportunities to revisit the day’s SEL concept during reading, transitions, partner work, recess, or classroom discussions, helping teachers weave the learning naturally into everyday classroom life rather than adding one more item to the schedule.

Just as importantly, the Daily Teacher Guide recognizes that every classroom is different. Some days, a teacher may watch the video, reinforce the key idea once or twice, and move on. Other days, an experienced teacher knows instinctively, “My class needs more of this.” That’s why each guide also includes optional extension ideas and discussion prompts that allow teachers to explore a concept more deeply whenever they believe their students would benefit. The program provides the roadmap, but teachers remain the experts on their own classrooms.

Ultimately, the best SEL program isn’t the one with the most binders, the thickest teacher manual, or the longest list of supplemental materials. It’s the one that teachers look forward to using because it fits naturally into their day, supports their professional judgment, and helps students build meaningful skills—one conversation, one classroom moment, and one relationship at a time.

We steam the show just like Disney or Netflix. There is no app or program to install anywhere, just open any web browser, any kind of computer, and go.

A teacher guide accompanies each daily program. Those take the form of universal PDF documents, and can be viewed, downloaded, or printed.

In the very rare event there is an issue, we offer phone and e-mail support for anyone needing a hand.

Sunnyside Roadshow has one price that covers all classrooms (K-5) in an entire school building, $3995 per year.

We are happy to work with districts that comprise numerious buildings to establish a pricing model that makes sense.

If your school district could benifit from a grant, get in touch and we’ll help you navigate that process, or share alternative funding methods some of our schools have used.

If you has found us mid-year, there is no need to wait till next August or September. We have several ‘on-ramps’ throughout the year to introduce your students to the charcters and show. And prorating pricing is applied.