How Are You Supporting Your Children's Emotional Development?
Managing emotions is an essential part of learning and in these times of so much uncertainty, parents must be prepared to provide their children with all the necessary support.
In this post, Iris Angarita, Bachelor of Comprehensive Education and Venezuelan Psychopedagogue, shared her experience in this matter and explained a series of strategies that she calls the Basic Kit to Support Our Children Emotionally.
Her long experience and her preparation in Special Education and Learning Disabilities can guide us on how to educate our children not only academically but also emotionally.
Currently, she resides in Barcelona, Spain and has this basic kit at hand to be able to overcome all the difficulties that confinement, the pandemic, and even migration have brought with them.
Basic Kit to Support Our Children Emotionally
We spoke with Iris Angarita, Graduate in Comprehensive Education and Venezuelan Psychopedagogue, about how we can put together a basic first aid kit to support our children in managing their emotions.
"This kit is only a reference and can be adapted according to the particular needs of each family", She explained
THERMOMETER OF EMOTIONS
Imagining a thermometer to measure the level of our emotions puts us on alert when they are about to get out of control.
IDENTIFY THE EMOTION
Putting into words what particular emotion affects us helps us understand what actions we should take to control it.
VALIDATION AND RECOGNITION
It is valid to feel fear, anguish, anxiety, or despair. Validating our emotions and those of our children allows us to connect as a family, increase our levels of patience, control those emotions and direct our action to the search for solutions.
HUGS
Hugs are a great way to help our children understand, validate, and control their emotions. They also generate empathy.
POSITIVE MESSAGES
Our words act as the gauze that allows us to clean and cover our emotional wounds. They help to strengthen the spirit, self-regulate our emotions and to be more persevering.
ROUTINES AND SCHEDULES
They give us structure and allow us to better organize time to reinforce the independence and responsibility that each member has within the family group.
LIVE IN THE PRESENT
Despite the uncertainty of what fate holds, we can only control the present moment. Take advantage of it by generating positive learning experiences like family playtime, reading time, or creative camps.
PATIENCE
Regulating emotions takes time and requires a lot of perseverance and patience.
BALANCE AND FLEXIBILITY
Balance between work time with rest time, personal time with family time, time to tidy up the house and time to play and relax.
LOVE
Love is the most effective medicine to overcome any difficult situation together.
Do you have questions, comments or suggestions on this topic?
Share them with us in the comment box
You can see the full interview in Spanish on my IGTV on Instagram.
”Managing emotions is an essential part of learning and in these times of so much uncertainty, parents must be prepared to provide our children with all the necessary support".
Comments