Crafting our Emotional Vocabulary for children in developmentally appropriate ways.

 Experts say children around age five and six "show jealousy toward siblings" and "understand their own feelings"  They say they can even"show empathy and offer to help when they see another in distress." If this is true, I can see a need for beginning readers that help children build emotional literacy.  If we know children have these feelings and show them, I wonder if society gives children the words to actually express these feelings.  The more I research, the more I ask others about their thoughts about how children build emotional vocabulary and use it, I realize that there is little evidence that they are getting good examples in their reading material that model healthy emotional expression, resilience, and coping skills.  I am hoping that we spend less time looking at emotion words as great adjectives to add after you have written a story, and more time building scenarios where we really look at actual scenarios where a feeling fits a situation.  What do you think?

I Feel Jealous When I Want What You Have

It is hard to cope with that feeling one has when someone has something you want.  Sometimes you can’t help but be jealous of others. Jealousy is a problem for young children that parents should reflect upon.  If they can coach their children in proper ways to deal with the feeling of jealousy, they might be able to get what they want at some point.  This does not mean they deserve to get what they want in every moment.  This happens to Deb when she sees all of her friends with rubber ducks.   She is torn by the inside feeling of jealousy. Ada, Ben, Cal, Deb, and Ed are five of the many monster friends who play together in the 'I Feel When' book series. They cope with their feelings of jealousy in this book Karen and Jim are developing as part of the series.  Deb struggles with seeing all her friends play with rubber ducks in the pool.  So far no one will give Deb what she wants.  Even Ed has four rubber ducks.   Finally, she tells all of them “I feel jealous when you have what I want.” How should the problem be resolved?    Sometimes work out feelings does not necessarily mean you get your way.  What do you think should be the resolution of this problem? We invite viewers to chip in and tell us what they think is the best way to instill resilience in the face of jealousy in a nonthreatening way for younger audiences.  We hope our exploration of nonviolent communication as described in this YouTube channel 'Dealing with Feelings' by psychotherapist Dr. Jim Porter and Karen Porter in this edition of 'Feeling Fridays'.  Encourages parents to explore feelings with your young reader as they begin to read.  This video will discuss the best ways these furry friends learn appropriate ways to express feelings and solve problems by coping with their feelings through listening to one another and observing each other without judgement, expressing feelings and needs, and coping with feelings in compassionate helpful ways.

Feelings of Overwhelm, I Feel Overwhelmed When...