Strong Emotions

The Office of Head Start in the US Department of Health and Human Services, offered this advice to parents:

"Young children have very strong emotions. In the process of learning to express them in words, they sometimes lose control. When you help your child manage feelings, you teach self-control and social skills. Both are important for school success. Here are some tips they offered:

• Use words — in English or your home language — that your child understands.
• Encourage your child to talk about feelings.  Respond with empathy.
• Use books and pictures — or songs and videos — to talk about how people look and act when they feel different emotions.
• Discuss new ways your child can respond when feeling stressed.
• Describe positive ways to help calm down when emotions feel out of control.

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