1. The Emotionally Prepared Child: Becoming an Emotional Coach Janna Price: Assistant Director Rainbow Rising, Cypress Village

2. Introduction: “The only way to change someone’s mind is to connect with them from the heart.” -Rasheed Ogunlaru

3. Think About This... Can anyone think of a time where their emotional state impacted the way they interacted with the world?

4. Think About This... Adults have a hard time managing their own feelings at times, think about how hard this must be for children! Part of our job is to give children the vocabulary, tools, coping skills and knowledge to be able to navigate through the world without their emotions having a negative affect.

5. Think About This

6. What is emotional intelligence? According to the magazine, psychology today: “emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. “

7. Benefits of being Emotionally intelligent and aware According to psychologists, Maria von Salisch and Martha Haenel, in their “Childhood and Development” study found that “children between age three and six who showed they could recognize their own and others’ emotions were less likely to have problems paying attention than their counterparts.”

8. Benefits ●Research has shown that children who are emotionally coached, have better physical health and score higher than children who don’t have such guidance.

9. Benefits... Children who are emotionally intelligent get along better with friends, are less prone to acts of violence and have fewer behavior problems.

10. Benefits Children gain the ability to control impulses, delay gratification, motivate themselves, read other people’s social cues and cope with life’s ups and downs.

11. How we can foster emotional intelligence Become emotionally aware of ourselves: writing down our feelings, rating our emotions, expressing ourselves verbally, mindfulness, meditation, check-ins, etc.

12. Fostering Emotional Intelligence Become aware of the child’s emotion. Recognize the emotion as an opportunity for closeness and teaching. Listen empathetically, validating the child’s feelings. Help the child find words to label the emotion he or she is having. Set limits while exploring strategies to solve the problem at hand.

13. Things You Can Say: “It’s hard for you to stop playing and come to carpet time.” “You’re so disappointed that it’s raining.” “You’re mad your tower fell!”

14. Daily Coping Skills Take a break and come back Go outside and get some physical activity Crunkle up some scratch paper Write down your feelings or a letter Drawing Listen to a song Use the snow globe technique Take three deep breaths Count to ten slowly Ask for help

15. Providing Curriculum To Foster Growth We will now break into groups and do the lesson plan assigned. One person will act as the teacher while the others participate as the children. Questions to consider during and after lessons: 1.Can I find ways to integrate emotional reflection/ awareness in my center’s curriculum? 2.Do I feel confident modifying lessons to ages of children? 3.Are these lessons the children will be excited to participate in?

16. Discussion Please share with everyone what your lesson was The age group it was geared for What other subjects or objectives were integrated What emotional skills were implemented

17. Resources Websites: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/ten-ways-to-improve-your-emotional-intelligence.htmlhttp://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/ten-ways-to-improve-your-emotional-intelligence.html http://www.ahaparenting.com/parenting-tools/emotional-intelligence/steps-to-encourage http://www.youthfirstinc.org/coping-skills-all-kids-need/ Randomactsofkindness.org Pinterest! Books: Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child- John Gottman

18. Continued... “You seem so unhappy right now. Everybody gets upset sometimes... I’m right here. Tell me about it.” “You are so sad and mad you just want to scream and yell and cry. Everybody feels that way sometimes. I’m right here listening and see all those big feelings. You can show me how mad and sad you are. “You are so mad you’re yelling at me to go away. I’ll move back a little. But these feelings hurt and scare you, and I won’t leave you alone with these upsetting feelings. I’m right here and you’re safe. You can be as sad and mad as you want, and when you’re ready, I am right here to hug you.” “You’re so disappointed that Molly can’t come over because she’s sick. You were really looking forward to playing with her. When you’re ready, maybe we can brainstorm ideas of something else to do that sounds like fun.” “You’re pretty frustrated with Sam not giving you a turn. Sometimes you feel like not playing with him anymore. But you also really like playing with him. I wonder what you could say to Sam, so that he could hear how you feel?”

19. Things You Can Say: “You're so mad your friend broke your toy! I understand, AND it's never okay to hit, even when you're very mad. Tell your friend in words how you feel. “You seem worried about the field trip tomorrow. I used to get nervous on field trips too, in kindergarten. Want to tell me about it?” "You're so frustrated! Nothing seems to be going right for you this morning...I wonder if you just need to cry? Everybody needs to cry sometimes. Do you need a hug?"