Young children are a study in differences. Some preschoolers have advanced large motor skills, while some kindergarten students struggle with large motor control. Other children have excellent spatial skills, and still others have the ability to understand emotions in a way that is beyond their years. However, even if they may be at different stages of social and emotional development, all young children can benefit from activities that explore emotions and increase social skills. How can you encourage your young homelearners to explore their emotions?
One of the simplest ways to study emotions is through discussion of a picture book. There are many different picture books that have a good story and show the character’s emotions. Read the story with your children. You might read it several times over the day. Talk about the character’s emotions, and ask the children why the character feels a certain way.
Another technique used to explore emotions is the observation and discussion of the emotional lives of others. Successful empathy programs such as Roots of Empathy use babies as the focus of classroom visits, encouraging children to understand their own emotions by exploring the baby’s feelings. If you have a baby in the family, talk with your young children about how the baby might be feeling about a particular activity. Encourage them to engage with the baby to see how the baby
When friends visit, talk about how the friends might feel about a particular event that occurs. When a friend cries or gets upset, discuss this with your child after the friend has gone home.
Understanding others’ emotions is an important social skill for young children, and it’s one that is probably easier to teach at home than in a classroom. Young children benefit from lots of one-on-one discussion about other peoples’ emotions and their own.
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