Helping Children Understand Emotions

If you ever wonder how we, as infant, toddler and preschool educators handle all the emotions we see each day from the children while here at school, the answer is simple: we have learned what works!  We use children’s emotions as teaching and learning opportunities to help guide them through their development.  Children’s emotions are a big deal during this time in their lives and labeling emotions and talking about emotions with children is the first step in helping them learn how to deal with anger, sadness, disappointment and confusion.  In order for us to help your child as best as we can here at school, it is helpful if parents are using the same approach at home, too.  It may sound so simple, but the act of doing this successfully takes daily practice and repetition.  The ideas from the following handout can and should be used for all ages of children, even babies!

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