DISCOVERING “PUNTO & VIRGOLA”. ANALYSIS OF A PEDAGOGICAL PATH FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF EMOTIONS AND BEHAVIORAL CONTROL WITH CHILDREN AGED 8 TO 11.

In the developmental process of children a fundamental role is assumed by emotional skills. Meta emotional knowledge and attitudes (Goleman, 2005) and the use of self-regulation strategies can be promoted through specific educational programs (Fedeli, 2013, 2008). This study describes an educational project aimed at learning emotional skills through games and targeted activities. The pedagogical intervention protocol envisages the intersection of the operational principles of Mindfulness (Saltzman, 2014, Dal Zovo, 2020), of the ABC path of emotions (Di Pietro, 2014) based on the Rational Emotional Behavioral Therapy model (Ellis, 1998). The contribution will present the project structure, the areas of pedagogical intervention and the efficacy study on the preliminary pre/post intervention data with an initial exploratory sample of five students with special educational needs, as well as the critical issues and possible areas for improvement