Emotions often can be difficult to handle especially for children as they are often facing many things for the first time. Now more than ever it is important to demonstrate empathy and encourage social emotional health in the children in our lives. This can be a daunting task as this is something that is typically not widely taught.
As such, the CWJR SLP team has come up with three easy, concrete tips to help you encourage emotional health and skills in the children within your lives. Based on the present research in this area, here are three simple things you can do to help your children develop their social emotional skills.
1. Name the Emotion
You could say
- “I see you crying; you feel sad”
- “I see you smiling; you feel excited”
2. Normalize the Emotion
You could say
- “It is okay to feel sad; I feel sad sometimes”
- Everyone feels sad sometimes; What you are going through is tough”
3. Give Concrete Ideas for Emotions
You could say
“Take a deep breath; write down what you are feeling; take a break”
“I see your frustrated; It is okay to feel frustrated this is something new; You can take a deep breath then try again”
Remember that it does not matter if you get it perfect every time; what does matter is that you are helping your child grow and be more confident in what they can do! Social emotional skills are essential to being successful in school and as they grow and become adults.
If you or a loved one could benefit from Speech Language Pathology please call us today at 586 323-2957.
