Teaching Your Child About Emotions While Reading
As parents, we all know that reading with our children is important. It helps to foster bonding and attachment and promotes early literacy skills. But reading together can do even more than that. With just a few extra questions from you, reading helps to improve social skills and emotional intelligence. While reading with a young one, try by simply asking about feelings reflected on the faces of the characters – “is that a happy face/sad face/angry face?” With older children it can be helpful to pause mid story and be curious about different aspects of the characters experience. “How do you think she feels in this story?” “How would you feel if you were her?” “What do you think you’d do differently if this was your story?”
All these questions help you and your child engage in a discussion that helps them explore their own thoughts and feelings and be more prepared to explore and identify these things for themselves in the future. Identification and appropriate expression of feelings and needs are cornerstones for self-awareness and provide children with a better ability to manage conflicts and stressors in their own lives. So the next time you and your little one are curled up with a good book, take a few extra minutes and turn it into a teachable moment about feelings.
Vicki Chiang, Psy.D. (PSY21136) is a licensed clinical psychologist at the Institute for Girls’ Development in Pasadena, CA. She specializes in working with parents, children and immigrant families in her practice. She can be reached at vchiang@instituteforgirlsdevelopment.com.
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