EC plays a crucial role in the success of relationships for young children. Developing the ability to convey and understand emotional messages is essential for navigating interpersonal interactions, forming relationships, and sustaining curiosity and enthusiasm for the world. Successful mastery of these skills leads to more satisfying peer relationships, particularly in new social environments.
EC is linked to early academic success in young children. Given the prevalence of emotions in early childhood classrooms, children must harness their emotional understanding, regulation, and expression to facilitate effective learning. The interplay of these emotional abilities acts as a catalyst for a positive and successful school experience.
How do parents contribute to the development of children’s EC? Parents play a crucial role by modeling various emotions. Moderately expressive parents provide children with valuable information about the nature of emotions, including their expression, likely eliciting situations, and personalized causes. Living in a specific “affective climate” within the family environment influences children’s experiences, expression, and regulation of specific emotions. A positive affective climate fosters positive emotional outcomes, while families displaying more negative emotions may negatively impact children’s interactions with peers. Parents’ reactions to their children’s emotions and direct instruction about emotions are vital tools for socialization that support the development of EC.
What additional strategies can be employed to promote children’s EC? Opportunities for enhancing young children’s EC exist within childcare and early childhood education settings. For instance, programs like the Preschool PATHS program teach children about emotion expression, knowledge, and regulation.16 Specifically designed programs for Head Start classrooms aim to help young children effectively utilize EC. Parental programming also offers avenues for promoting children’s emotional competence.
- Help your child understand feelings.
Encourage your child to talk about how they feel during challenges. Ask them to say the emotion, like “angry” or “sad.” Then, ask why they feel that way. Do the same when they have a good experience, like finishing all their homework for a week. Ask, “How does that make you feel? Why?”
Practice figuring out others’ feelings.
Watch TV with your child and turn off the sound. Guess how characters feel and talk about the clues in their body language and face.
Think about how your child acted before.
Look at past situations and talk about how your child acted. Give praise if they reacted in a good way. For example, if they were frustrated with math homework and asked for help, that’s good. If they did something not so good, like throwing the math book, talk about other ways they could have reacted.
Come up with new ways to handle tough situations.
Use problems as chances to learn. Discuss what your child can do when they feel a certain way or face a challenge. For example, instead of yelling at a sibling for playing loud music, what else could your child do?
Help others together.
Doing things for others can make your child more understanding. Join a volunteer group or take your child with you to give a care package to a sick relative or friend. Maybe think about getting a pet. Walking a dog in bad weather can remind your child that their needs aren’t always first.
Check out options at school and other places.
See if the school has programs to help your child with emotions, like social and emotional learning (SEL) classes. Maybe there’s a “lunch buddy” program your child could join. Look into getting outside help too. Going to therapy can teach kids about emotions and how to control them. Some therapists also have groups to help with social skills.