I’m Happy-Sad Today by Lory Britain Ph.D

Author:Lory Britain, Ph.D.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Free Spirit
Published: 2020-01-27T12:00:00+00:00

Plan Ahead

Planning ahead can be an important part of helping children reach

deeper to share about all their feelings. The following two ideas give

you ways to set the stage for these discussions.

•

In strategic areas where children will see them often, place

feeling charts and pictures of children engaged in activities.

Effective spots to choose could include near a classroom door,

near a child’s bed, or near an eating area. Regularly invite and

encourage children to select all of their feelings on the feeling

chart. Or guide children to look at the pictures and discuss how

the children in the pictures might be feeling. Remember to select

pictures and drawings that are understandable to children and

represent all types of diversity (including gender, ethnicity, body

types, and physical abilities).

•

Always have a range of age-appropriate and diverse books easily

accessible to children, and be open to using them as jumping-off

points for conversation. Remember that books about complex

emotions do not have to be limited to books that specifically

discuss or focus on emotions. Books conveying childhood

experiences and events in their lives often elicit comments and

discussions about multiple feelings. Some of the most poignant

stories are those that resonate with children’s emotions around

a singular childhood circumstance, such as going to bed, los-

ing a pet, going to the doctor, or having a new friend. Also have

books that address delicate subjects, such as divorce or domestic

violence, readily available for adults to select and read privately

with an individual child.

Incorporate Sharing Feelings into Problem-Solving

When problem-solving with a child or group of children, help them

express and represent all their feelings during the problem-solving

process. Often sharing feelings is the first step before generating pos-

sible solutions to a problem. Remember that following through after

implementing a solution could involve sharing about feelings again.

For example, after children choose and implement a solution to a

game-sharing problem and play together, facilitate a follow-up discus-

sion for children to share their feelings about the results.

Share These Concepts with Caring Adults in Children’s Lives

Support consistency in children’s lives by sharing the ideas in this

book with classroom helpers, co-teachers, volunteers, family mem-

bers, and other caring adults. Whether in a classroom or home, consis-

tency supports children’s emotional development.

More Ideas for Activities and Discussion

All these activities draw on ideas in I’m Happy-Sad Today but some

relate directly to moments in the story. In those cases, you’ll see page

numbers referencing the relevant spot in the book.

Telling a Caring Adult (page 23)

Encourage children to tell adults about their feelings, and discuss

ideas for who they might go to when they need or want to talk. If

you are one of the adults children come to, remember that listening

to a child means more than hearing his or her words. Put your body

at the child’s level and remember that eye contact and

other body language convey your emotional pres-

ence. And being present for a child doesn’t always

involve words. Sometimes

offering a lap or hug is

just what is needed to

help a child begin to

sort out feelings.

32

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.