Character Essentials®: We Have Feelings

In October, the theme for our Character Essentials^® curriculum is We Have Feelings. Teaching children to identify, describe, and appropriately express feelings at a young age helps them develop a sense of empathy toward others. It also helps them learn self-awareness and self-regulation, traits that can help them develop positive relationships with others later in life.

Here are some tips from our friends at PBS Kids for Parents on how you can incorporate these important lessons at home:

Starting in the earliest months, tune in to babies’ cues—their sounds, facial expressions and gestures—and respond with sensitivity to let them know their feelings are recognized and important.
Help toddlers cope with their feelings by labeling them. Emotions like anger, sadness, frustration, and disappointment can be overwhelming for young children. Naming them gives them the opportunity to properly identify them and gives them reassurance that what they’re feeling is normal.
Avoid minimizing or talking children out of their feelings. While it’s natural to just want the feelings to go away, they need to be expressed in one way or another. Acknowledging a child’s strong emotions opens the door to them learning how to cope.
Teach tools for coping. If your preschooler is angry that playtime is over, guide them to stomp their feet or draw how angry they feel with a red crayon. Help a two-year-old who is frustrated by not being able to get the ball into the basket find other ways to solve the problem. Take a three-year-old who is fearful about starting a new school to visit their classroom beforehand to meet the teachers and play on the playground.

Some books you can read with your child about learning to recognize, express, and manage feelings include: