1. Strengthening the Development of the Emotional Self (Ch. 9)

2. Personal Qualities That Will Help the Teacher Establish an Emotionally Positive Climate in the Classroom
Intention – An intentional teacher is committed to being a supportive, positive influence on the developing child
Consistency – maintain consistent guidelines and schedules to build a sense of trust with children
Reasonableness – expectations are developmentally appropriate
Courage and Strength of Character – Being courageous to take care of strong emotions

3. Being Genuine – honestly expressing your own feelings
Empathy – put your self in child’s place to identify and clarify how the child is feeling
Warmth – taking control of the problem because you care
Appreciation – acknowledge children’s accomplishments
Good Health – take care of your physical and emotional health

4. Practical Ways to Help Young Children Achieve Healthy Emotional Development
Consider children’s temperaments:
Temperaments - composed of activity level, adaptability, intensity of reactions and quality of mood
Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess proposed classified temperaments as:
Easy – positive, adapt easily to a new environment
Difficult – negative mood, hard adaptation
Slow to warm up – adaptation is slow
Goodness-of-fit concept – children develop best if there is a good fit between the temperament of the child and environmental demands
Temperament-innate tendencies that are the raw material of personality

5. Practical Ways to Help Young Children Achieve Healthy Emotional Development (cont.)
Reduce Frustration for the children when possible – avoid long waiting, provide developmentally appropriate activities
Learn to connect language with emotion by identifying and describing children’s feelings to them and by helping them express these feelings acceptably to the relevant people
Teach children the difference between verbal attack (telling another person what he/she is) and self-report (saying how one feels about something)

6. Learn to recognize signs of stress and emotional upset in children – regression, change in behavior
Know what to do for children who are emotionally upset:
Short-term, emergency treatment – calm child down and help to transition to the satisfying activity
Long-term treatment – when stress continues on, work with families

7. Promote Every Child’s Sense of Self-Esteem
Unconditional positive regard – acceptance of all children as they are, and their rights to be different
Honest recognition and praise – Acknowledge children’s positive behaviors. Use encouragement to build self-esteem
Respect – respect child’s decision; avoid humiliating; explaining reason of the rule; show respect to families by greeting and welcoming

8. Helping the child achieve competence – acknowledge accomplishments
Allow children to experience mastery by Making their own choices and by being as independent as possible
Provide opportunities that are challenging but not overwhelming
Make sure that children with disabilities experience opportunities to build competence, too
Offer creative activities because they provide excellent opportunities for experiencing competence
Help children connect with nature to soothe the soul