Benefits of Helping Kindergarten Children Understand Their Emotions
Terrible two years, adolescent three years, catastrophic four years leri Tantrums and crying crises that marked these ages are also a concrete indication that young children have not yet learned how to regulate their emotions. However, instead of waiting for these days to go away and to grow as soon as possible, teachers and parents can use this period to teach children “emotional literacy” skills, which provide great benefits both for the moment and in the long run.
Numerous research studies confirm how effective it is to give children a clear and explicit education in emotional intelligence from an early age. Different research says that kindergarten children who participate in social and emotional skills programs exhibit less anger and anxiety and become better social problem solvers. These results create a more peaceful and peaceful classroom environment, while the benefits gained have much longer-term effects than kindergarten years. There is a strong link between positive social behavior in early childhood and future academic achievement and mental health. In other words, when children learn to calm themselves, use words to express their feelings, and behave kindly and well to others, they also lay the foundation for their future success and mental health.
Even without a specific curriculum, parents and early childhood educators can do many things to improve the emotional literacy of young children.
1. Name Emotions
The basis of effective counseling is ”reflecting” listening. The therapists listen to their clients and then reflect on what they have heard as a way of strengthening the client's understanding. Very young children and kindergarten children have limited ability to express themselves in language. However, parents and teachers can “listen” to children's behavior - shouting, pushing, crying or retreating - and then reflecting on them to help them to name what they feel.
“You're so angry! He tore the picture of your little brother and you were very angry. ”
" You are very sad. Your grandmother's gone and you didn't want her to go. You feel very sad. ”
"You are very happy! You have a huge balloon and you jump because you are so happy! ”
As children mature, you can use the same method to introduce them to various nuances to improve their emotional vocabulary: gib You seem to be disappointed. Your tower collapsed and you worked hard to do it! It's very depressing. ”Or,“ You look confused. The lightning was really loud and surprised you. ”
2. Normalize Emotions
Emotions should not be classified as good or bad. Nevertheless, strong emotions can frighten or exhaust children. Therefore, normalizing their response to stimuli - helping everyone see that they sometimes feel angry, sad, or scared - can relax them and improve their ability to look from others' perspective.
Once the child has calmed down, return to the topic and briefly summarize what is happening, including how the child feels. Then remind him that everyone, including you, can sometimes feel like this. For example, “You felt very sad after your grandmother left this morning. You kicked around and cried. You wanted your grandma to stay and play with you. Everybody feels sad sometimes. I felt bad when Granny left. I love talking to her and watching her read you books. It's sad that people say “goodbye git. Do you want to call her tomorrow or draw her a picture? ”
3. Develop Strategies
At some point, almost everyone learns that it is not a wise decision to have a physical anger crisis in the middle of an endless pay line. But that doesn't mean we don't feel bad when we're late for where we're going, because we're in a slow-moving order. We can't always control our feelings, but we can control how we express our feelings.
Sometimes even a simple song can help children cope with emotional stress. You can change the lyrics of a child's favorite song and say:: I can't hit my brother when I get angry, but I can hit the floor with my foot. G
4. Resim Read Pictures Resim
Research says that reading books - stories, novels - improves empathy. Picture books are powerful tools to teach young children emotional literacy. Illustrations are worth a visual text and contain very important clues. When a story is happy, scary or sad, stop and look at the picture together. Bak Look at that little girl, how do you think she feels right now? Birlikte Examine the characters' facial expressions, how they stand and what they do together. Use the same method when watching cartoons or movies together.
5. Make Awareness Studies
Meditation and breathing exercises were discovered by doctors a long time ago. Now it's time for teachers and parents. These studies are one of the ways to promote mental health and improve emotional regulation. You can do the simplest meditation practice: Close your eyes, feel calm and focus your senses without moving where you are sitting. The surrounding sounds, smells, the places your body touches, the images that come to your eyes… Sit quietly with your child or students for 60 seconds. Then share what you see and hear with each other. Walk around the park listening to your work. Share small moments that make you happy before sleep or at the end of a school day.
As a result, emotional literacy is as essential as learning the alphabet. As psychologist Daniel Goleman says, yoksa If you don't have emotional skills, if you can't manage your stressful feelings, if you lack empathy and can't build effective relationships, then no matter how clever you are, you can't go too far in life. ”
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