February Blog

Hearts and Minds

Part 1, On Writing- "The Role of Emotions in Writing for Children"

As a former teacher, I remember reading aloud to my students and how I loved using different voices to emphasize the characters and "acting" out the story so students would be completely focused on listening. In my experience, the role of using emotions is crucial in writing for children.

In my book, "My Baby and Me," I wanted my audience to connect with the characters on a personal level, since my story was based on the true events of my daughter and our adventures with her first doll. The characters should be relatable to children and be able to create empathy using the emotions to teach about the highs and lows and other feelings of learning about life. A story that has a multititude of emotion, shows children that we can often go from feeling one way at one moment in time, then change emotion as the characters face different circumstances. Children develop an empathetic heart and find healthy ways to deal with their own issues.

Using illustrations carefully were an important part of how my book helped to add emotion to the story. Every smile, frown, wide-eyed reaction and so many other scenes that show how a character is feeling was the goal for my story. Those early baby sounds and facial expressions can often "seal a scene" when writing a sensitive story. Keep it as real as possible in order to captivate your audience. The love my daughter had for her doll was such a sweet love that I wanted every reader to feel the same way as they read the story.

In keeping up with emotional reflections, February 17th is Random Acts of Kindness Day, which can be factored into the rest of the month. A fun activity kids can do on their own is establish a "kindness tracker" to record their daily acts of kindness. It's a great way to reinforce writing into this activity. It can be modified as necessary using pre-made stickers and labels and age appropriate add-ons.

Part 2, Education - "Love of Learning: Fostering Curiosity in Children"

In order to spark a lifelong love of learning, children need a routine and a variety of options that will encourage them to develop a love of learning. Reading together as a family, one on one or independent quiet time combines the best of all possibilities, but did you know that reading does not have to be isolated to books?

Whether you travel by car, airplane, bus or train, there are abundant things children can learn from their environment that involves reading. Street signs, maps, posters with advertisements and billboards all have a message which requires understanding in order to respond. Families that play curisosity-driven activities, at home or away, help their children develop comprehension skills. When kids "play detective," they go at their own pace and must use a number of methods to find the answers.

Many libraries have story telling hour each week and instead of reading a book, children listen to stories, plays etc being read aloud helping to use their senses and imaginations at the same time. Library lovers month is celebrated in February. Check out your local library with the family and see what you find!

Part 3, Parenting - "Building Emotional Intelligence in Children"

One of the hardest things any parent ever sees is when their child is hurting, whether it's physical or emtional. It is necessary for children to grow into independent thinking and empathtic adults and parents will eventually need to let children be their own person. Some ways parents can guide their children to have a secure and positive attitude about themselves and others are to help them identify their feelings when they have that emotion going on. If a child seems "sad," let them tell you how they feel so they can relate to their feelings through words. It is also helpful to validate their feelings by talking. They must be made to feel secure in whatever emotion they have.

Along with talking about how they feel and identifying that their emotion is real, teaching them coping skills helps them to self-regulate so they do not let that emotion overcome them in all they do. How many times has your child come home from school saying they were not chosen for a team or a friend did not want to sit with them at lunch? When we help children understand these isolated moments, they will learn compassion and see that they, too, have choices that empower them to be secure with the many roles they will play socially and academically.

Acknowledging how children feel then talking so they can make sense of the emotional changes they experience will set positive examples and lay the ground work for happy and healthy adulthood.

When my children were young, I used to tell them stories of my disappointments with friends or school and how years later I realized that addressing my emotions were healthier than hiding from them. I used a lot of "hands-on" tools as a teacher in order to illicit conversation and thought with my students. Creating a "feelings board" can often help children let others know how they are doing before discussing any issues. A special day like Valentine's Day in February can be celebrated at home with family to bring everyone into sharing their feelings of love and doing something nice to let each other know just how important and special they are.