Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is defined as the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions.  As parents, our goal is to help develop this in our children.

In preschool classrooms, we work on emotional intelligence daily.  Learning how to regulate emotions is an ongoing process for children as they learn and grow.  

Here are five suggestions to assist you in navigating this topic.

*Understand the power of silence – we all need space to process feelings.  As a parent, you might just sit with your child and offer comfort just by your presence.

*Work on naming emotions for your child so they have words to express themselves.  They need to be able to speak what they are feeling.  This is part of emotional awareness.

*Apologize to your child.  Mistakes happen and are part of life.  Take responsibility if you are wrong and speak it out loud.  This builds trust with your child.

*Don’t dismiss small worries.  Validate their feelings whether good or bad.  Emotions matter.  

*Don’t always offer solutions.  You can ask your child—what do you think you should do about this situation?  Foster critical thinking skills—this builds confidence and intelligence.  We cannot fix everything for our child and shouldn’t.

*Help them learn to be comfortable with stillness.  This builds creativity, self-regulation, and problem-solving skills.  The need to appreciate joy in simple moments.