MASK The Magazine – August 2019

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V9 - FALL maskmatters.org 69

P

reschool-aged children are so much fun. They’re learning

how to use language to describe their world and their

experiences, so it’s the best time to introduce the

language of emotions.

At this stage, help your child learn how to use words

to describe their internal sensory and emotional experiences by

defining feeling words and linking them to physical experiences that

accompany emotions. When they’re feeling happy, ask them where

they feel it in their body, how big or small the emotion is, and to

describe the physical sensation that comes with feeling happy.

When we teach our children the meaning of emotions, how

to build their vocabulary with rich and

descriptive sensory words, and ways to

develop their ability to link the emotions

to physical experiences, we’re laying

the ground work for an adult

with high empathy and emotional

intelligence.

CHILD READING LIST

+ “The Unbudgeable Curmudgeon” by
Matthew Burgess”

+ “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No
Good, Very Bad Day” by Judith Viorst

PARENT READING LIST

+ “Raising An Emotionally Intelligent
Child: The Heart of Parenting” by John
Gottman, Ph.D. and Joan Declaire

+ Parenting from the Inside Out: How a
Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help
You Raise Children Who Thrive” by
Daniel Siegel

Emotional

Intelligence

Pre-K

What You

Can Do

D Be empathic

D Allow them to express themselves

D Listen to them

D Teach them the meaning of emotions

D Talk about feelings often

D Ask them to describe the feeling and

associate the emotions with body

sensation

D Describe physiological sensations

using sensory words

D Associate feelings and physiological

sensations with situations

D Teach scaling of feelings, meaning

how big are their feelings

Signs &

Behaviors

q More attentive

q Can be calm and begin to

recover more quickly

q Experiences age-appropriate

relationships

q Engages in reciprocity and

sharing

q Engages in creative and

imaginative play

q Listens well

q Solves problems well

q Tolerates frustrating tasks

q Pauses before acting

q Responds to limit setting in

an age appropriate manner

Conversation

Starters

“

I know you’re having some

big feelings right now.

Remember that when our

feelings get really big, we

have choices about how we

can handle them.”

“

Your body is telling you that

you’re really mad. And it

sounds like you want me to

go away. I will take a step

back so you can have your

space and you can see that

I’m listening. But know that

I am here for you and I will

wait until you are ready to

work this out.”