Submitted by Kindergarten Teacher (not verified) on January 20, 2008 - 18:22.
If we had all learned to identify and communicate our feelings appropriately in Kindergarten, just think of how much more successful we would all be in our relationships as young adults and adults! How many children and adults do you know, that cannot finish the question, "How are you feeling?" Many do not have any idea!
I believe that we need to teach children, from very early on "to be more real about their emotions" as Pritchard states. I believe that the first step in doing this is teaching children, as soon as they can talk, to first identify what emotion they are feeling.
As a Kindergarten teacher, every morning, during our Family Meeting Time, the first thing we do is sing good morning to each other and every single child finishes this sentence "I feel..." each child coming up with their very own word. By the end of the year, each child has a large vocabulary of feeling words, they are able to recognize how they are feeling, share their feelings, and are able to express them "appropriately!" This is the base upon which I build our classroom family.
Thank you Michael Pritchard for all you are doing!
Let's Start in Kindergarten!
Submitted by Kindergarten Teacher (not verified) on January 20, 2008 - 18:22.
If we had all learned to identify and communicate our feelings appropriately in Kindergarten, just think of how much more successful we would all be in our relationships as young adults and adults! How many children and adults do you know, that cannot finish the question, "How are you feeling?" Many do not have any idea!
I believe that we need to teach children, from very early on "to be more real about their emotions" as Pritchard states. I believe that the first step in doing this is teaching children, as soon as they can talk, to first identify what emotion they are feeling.
As a Kindergarten teacher, every morning, during our Family Meeting Time, the first thing we do is sing good morning to each other and every single child finishes this sentence "I feel..." each child coming up with their very own word. By the end of the year, each child has a large vocabulary of feeling words, they are able to recognize how they are feeling, share their feelings, and are able to express them "appropriately!" This is the base upon which I build our classroom family.
Thank you Michael Pritchard for all you are doing!