Emotions are a natural and normal part of life for adults and children.
If our children don't have the words to express how they feel, the process of learning how to manage their emotions can be a bumpy road, AND frustrating for parents!
Using the ABC's, My BIG Emotions teaches children different emotions from Afraid to Zany!
It is a delight to read for all children, especially toddlers & preschoolers!
The perfect inclusion for your family library!
Teaches your child the words they need to express how they feel.
Colourful illustrations link each emotion to common experiences of childhood.
Definitions help parents explain each of the emotions to their child.
When your child experiences the emotion in day-to-day life, you can link it back to what they have read.
Emotional development is a key part of growing up for all children. They need to learn to recognise and express their emotions in a healthy way.
Behaviour is always communication!
The common behaviour problems that parents struggle with including tantrums, sibling rivalry, aggression, and whinging (to name a few) are often reflective of underlying struggles with their emotions.
When our children can identify and express how they are feeling, there is less of a need to act it out in their behaviour, especially if they have a parent there to help them.
By reading My BIG Emotions to your child, you can join your child on a journey through their emotions and help them make sense of the emotional world around them.
You teach your child the language of emotions and help them be able to express what they are feeling instead of only acting it out in their behaviour.
You can then help guide them to behave in a way that is suitable for your beliefs and family values. This is the process of developing emotional regulation.
As a bonus, reading to our children helps increase their imagination, develop their brain, enhance their focus and concentration skills and strengthens the parent-child relationship.
Emotions are a normal part of life. They are a series of chemical reactions that happen in our body in response to our experiences and our thoughts.
Everyone has emotions, from babies and through all the stages of childhood into adulthood.
Feelings are the lived experience of an emotion. We feel angry because we experience anger. The terms are often used interchangeably despite their differences.
My BIG Emotions uses the words emotions because we commonly talk about the emotional development of children.
Children with better emotional management skills have better relationships with their parents, higher self-esteem, have closer friendships, solve problems more frequently on their own and perform better at school.
What parent doesn't want that for their child!
Everyone, whether they are a child or an adult act in a way because of how they are feeling. Our kids act in a specific way because of the emotions they are experiencing. They might yell because of anger or cry because of sadness.
Lots of parents want to help their children with their behaviour... but... if we don't look at the emotion underneath, then any positive parenting technique we may use is like putting a bandaid on a broken leg.
Behaviour is communication and information about what is going on for our child... particularly what emotions they are experiencing. While we can guess what they're feeling, most parents want (and need) their children to be able to tell them what they're feeling so that we can help them through whatever they are struggling with.
This is why starting with the fundamentals... the words we use to describe and name our feelings is essential and the first step that many parents overlook.
My BIG Emotions helps you in that crucial first step in helping you give your child the words to describe what they are feeling so you can help them process it, and then look at their behaviour.
Read the book together with your child on a regular basis.
Discuss each of the illustrations and what may be happening for each of the characters. Talk about what the characters are doing and what maybe they shouldn't be doing. Discuss different options for what the characters could do when they feel that emotion.
Ask your child if they have experienced the emotion in their own life. Share your own experiences from being a child or as an adult.
When a situation comes up in day-to-day life that mirrors one of the book, talk about it with your child and relate it back to the book and what options there were for the character and how it can relate to them. This is where the magic happens, the book becomes real life!
Keep reading. Keep talking. Keep going. Practice makes perfect! With continued use and ongoing discussions in different situations your child will be able to handle their emotions more and more.
Don't forget to enjoy the benefits. Reading with your child helps strengthen your bond with them. Enjoy the precious time together cuddled up together reading a book. These memories will last a lifetime.
Helping our children with their emotions can be challenging for some parents, especially if we may not have had parents who helped us with ours when we were young.
If you are really struggling with your child's emotions, get in contact with Heather to get some practical and effective 1:1 support.
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