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PreschoolWhat We Saw: While a boy was playing in the block area during free choice time, a girl walked over and sat down next to him. She watched him play for a moment and then asked him, "Can I play with you?" The boy looked up and immediately responded, "No, these are my blocks and you can't have them." The girl became very quiet, obviously upset with his response and the teacher noticed this. The teacher went over to her and said, "You look so sad, I guess he doesn't feel like sharing right now. Why don't you play in another area?" The boy heard his teacher, and looked over at the girl. He threw her some of his blocks and said, "Well here. You can play with these blocks." The two started to build block towers and the teacher responded, "Look how happy both of you are now, I'm glad you decided to share." What It Means: A preschool room offers many opportunities to encourage pro-social behavior. Pro-social behavior is voluntary behavior that is intended to benefit another person. Teachers can help children to behave in more pro-social ways, when they discuss emotions with them during classroom experiences that occur throughout the day. Talking about emotions with children is one way to teach about them. Rather than forcing the children to share, this teacher decided to state just how this boy's actions made the girl feel. This encouraged him to think about the girl's sad feelings, which caused him to feel concern for her, and this influenced his decision to eventually share with his friend. Acting pro-socially involves developing altruistic values, where behavior is motivated by concern for others rather than by expectations of rewards or an avoidance of punishment. When teachers take time to discuss emotions it helps children develop altruistic values, which can influence them to behave in more pro-social ways. |
PreschoolWhat We Saw: In the classroom is a poster with a mirror that says, "How do you feel today?" Another poster has faces with words describing different emotions. A homemade poster has various emotions on it with space for each child's name to be placed on it. When children arrive at the program, a teacher greets them and asks, "How are you feeling today? The child's name is placed by the feeling on the chart. During a transition to go outside, several children were showing through their actions that they had strong feelings. One teacher stayed in the classroom with these children to talk about their feelings. The children talked about what had been bothering them and by the end of the conversation they looked more relaxed and relieved that they could share their feelings. One child perked up and said, "Maybe if I move my name I'll be happy". He moved his name on the chart and the children joyfully went outside to join the rest of the class. What It Means: A major achievement of the early childhood years is the development of the ability to regulate emotions. The ability to alter one's emotional response to a variety of situations is referred to as emotion regulation. Part of learning about emotions is being able to identify feelings and reflect on them with competent adults. It is important to acknowledge and respect children's feelings in order to help them to become socially competent. |
PreschoolWhat We Saw: The teacher is sitting on the floor surrounded by 12 children and begins a variation of the song, If you're happy and you know it. She sings, "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you're surprised and you know it, say oh wow! If you're hungry and you know it open your mouth. If you're sad and you know it, dry your tears. If you're mad and you know it, stomp your feet." The children enthusiastically participate in the singing and actions. What It Means: Children tend to naturally delight in music. Throughout the early childhood years, children are learning to do things with their bodies. They are also learning that movement can communicate messages and represent actions. Young children are also learning about their feelings and acceptable ways to express them. Providing experiences to connect feelings and actions helps children to make sense of their world. More Exploring Feelings Promising Practices |
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