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In 2020 I am going to be slowing down the pace of our home education

We will still be covering all the academic areas we need to

But we will be focusing more on being in nature

Learning about the environment we live in

And beginning to know and understand ourselves

“When parents offer their children empathy and help them to cope with negative feelings like anger, sadness, and fear, parents build bridges of loyalty and affection.”
― John M. Gottman, Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child

I want to focus on feelings with the children

Identifying and expressing emotions

Having empathy for others

I want them to know that above all things that they can be

They should be kind

Our emotions need to be as educated as our intellect. It is important to know how to feel, how to respond and how to let life in so that it can touch you. – Anonymous

We are going to think about family and friendships

We are going to think about what makes us us

I am really excited about this new focus in our home education

And I am going to be sharing what we do and how we do it on the blog

“They don’t object to their children’s displays of anger, sadness, or fear. Nor do they ignore them. Instead, they accept negative emotions as a fact of life and they use emotional moments as opportunities for teaching their kids important life lessons and building closer relationships with them.”
― John M. Gottman, Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child

I am also going to be sharing the resources that we use

And I wanted to share a few now

In case anyone needs any last minute gift ideas this Christmas

But mostly because I suspect others like us

Might be getting ready for a slower, more feelings focused 2020

“For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.” ~Lily Tomlin

We need to ensure our children understand themselves and the world around them

I want to build my children up

Help them have confidence and self belief

Help them to help others

And let them know what whatever, whenever and why ever

I am here

Here are some of the resources I have already collected

For our emotionally charged 2020

And some that I am still collecting!

Usborne Books All About Feelings

My 9 year old twins love this book. It has prompted lots of discussions and questions about feelings and how we react to our own and others emotions. It has helped them name some of the feelings they have that they could not name before. It helps them to identify how they think others are feeling. A great book for sharing.

Usborne What Are Feelings? Lift The Flap Questions and Answers

My 9 year old twins also like this book which I read with my 5 year old Bea. Bea is very emotional. She struggles with her own feelings and reacting appropiately to others. As she is very young we try to tackle her emotions through books and play. This is a wonderful book for sharing and for using to start a conversation about feelings.

Big Life Journal

I have dipped in and out of some of the resources that accompany this journal throughout 2019. Next year I want to use it in a more structured way with Esther and William.

Big Life Journal helps children develop strong Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and growth mindset skills through inspiring stories, colourful illustrations, and engaging guided activities.

In this illustrated journal, children discover:

How to believe in themselves
How to face challenges with confidence
Mistakes are opportunities to grow
They can achieve anything when they’re persistent

We cannot wait to get started in the new year

My Little Learner Emotions Flashcards

These cards are great for linking emotions with actions and scenarios. They are also good for learning to read facial expressions. These 10 double sided emotions flashcards are designed to help toddlers understand their feelings and emotions so they can later develop effective ways of managing them. They are also a good tool in helping children communicate how they are feeling and also aid toddlers toddlers with speech delay.

So many ways to include these cards in daily routines and in children’s play to help them develop their emotional intelligence.

Perfect as a gifts but also in helping toddlers/preschoolers with delayed speech or with ASD.

Stamps 4 U Emotion Stamp Set

These stamps from Stamps 4 U are a great resource for home education, for family time and for schools.

Trodat’s Emotion Stamp Set consists of ten stamps, each displaying a different facial expression: happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, admiration, disgust, self-confidence, confusion, anger and guilt. Colouring pencils are also included for the children to colour in the faces.

The stamp images are designed on Trodat’s Printy 4933, a self-inking stamp that requires no additional ink-pads and stamps a perfect image every time. They come in a purple box, ideal for storing them and keeping them all together when not in use.

Recognising and understanding facial expressions and the emotions they convey can be challenging for some children. Teaching how to read facial expressions and interpret emotions correctly and helping them to express their feelings is important to improve a child’s social and emotional development.

These stamps can be incorporated into class projects and games, making this aspect of social and emotional learning playful and fun for the children. They are also a helpful alternative for children to express their emotions if they are finding it difficult to express them verbally.

This is a resource worth investing in.

My Busy Bots If You’re Happy and You Know It Busy Bag

We love My Busy Bots and own most of their bags of playful learning resources

Even though they are little our smallest members of our families experience big feelings!

It is so important to connect with your child, guide them and teach them to manage these emotions

This My Busy Bots bag helps to explore feelings in a fun and engaging way

There are 10 monster feeling characters and 10 yellow emoji characters in this busy bag

Children have to match up the monsters and the yellow emoji characters

That are feeling the same emotion whether it’s happy; sad or excited

This is a fun way to focus on feelings with our littlest learners

Learning Resources Emoji Cubes

I love these cubes from Learning Resources

They can be used to develop social and emotional skills

Images and prompts will encourage young children to think about how they’re feeling

And to talk about their emotions

These colourful cubes feature familiar emoji faces to get children talking

Roll the emoji face cubes for children to name the emotion displayed

Roll the written prompt cubes and encourage children to write, or talk, about how they’re feeling

So many ways to use these at home and at school

Another wonderful resource for getting children to open up and talk to us and each other

About their feelings

I am hoping that all of these resources

Will help me to build up my children’s emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is probably the most important skill we can learn

But it’s rarely taught

If you were lucky, you were born to parents with high emotional intelligence

And you learned self-awareness, empathy and social skills by example

When you’re emotionally intelligent

You understand your own emotions and how to handle them

This may mean that you don’t get frazzled or throw a fit when things don’t go your way

Instead of crying in your Cheerios

You remain calm and strong enough to handle whatever needs to be done

When you’re emotionally intelligent, you also understand other people’s emotions

When someone else acts in anger or frustration

You can easily forgive because you can employ empathy

Emotional intelligence is important whenever you have to face personal challenges

Or interact with other people

It’s a skill you need for all areas of life, including relationships and your career

In the absence of emotional intelligence

Kids are left to find their own ways to handle things

And that often leads to unhealthy coping mechanisms

Unhealthy coping mechanisms can include anything from emotional shut downs to substance abuse

None of these things are productive

I want to help my children understand their own emotions

And have empathy for others

I want to help them develop emotional intelligence

A skill, a gift that will help them throughout their whole life