How Do You Help Your Child Develop Emotional Intelligence?

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In her book, “Taking Charge: Your Life Patterns and Their Meaning,” Gudrun Burkhard writes: “It is important that the child’s feeling life should find fertile ground on which to grow. Such fertile soil can be provided by art or religion, but above all by affectionate authority which comes from parents and teachers.”

Presumptuous that you’re taking care of the part just about being a “loving authority,” let’s look at several else avenues for developing your child’s emotional intelligence.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE THROUGH THE ARTS In my Net course, The EQ Foundation Course©, I include art, poetry, and music. For several people, it’s their 1st exposure. Being able to relate to the emotional content of art, poetry and music enhances EQ, and leads to an understanding of emotions in others.

How makes this work? Things come fast in real life, but a painting can be a ‘frozen moment in time’ that can be looked at and studied. Whether or not it registers with us consciously, once we look at a painting of an angry person, for instance, we’re learning what the nonverbal signs of anger are. After all, there’s no sound incidental a painting.

One adult learner wrote, “Susan’s EQ course is really valuable because it is experiential; it uses art masterfully as a vehicle to convey and explain emotions over the Internet.” Another wrote, “I ne'er knew that more was in a painting. Now I want to go to art museums and discover more.”

Here are several route you can include the arts in your child’s experience:

1. See “First Feelings: Milestones in the Emotional Development of Your Baby and Child,”by I. Stanley Greenspan, MD and Urban centre Greenspan. This wish give you an understanding of organic process stages.
2. “Discovering Great Artists: Hands-on Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters,”by Kohl, Solga and Slyke.
3. “Linnea in Monet’s Garden,” by Bjork. (About the painter, Monet.)
4. “David’s Drawings,” by Falwell. This book explores art as a private and likewise shared experience, and likewise deals with feelings.
5. “Degas and the Little Dancer: A Story just about King of england Degas,”by Anholt. Just just about Degas, the painter of ballet dancers.
6. “Katie and the Sunflowers,”by Mayhew. Just just about Picasso.
7. “Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child’s Book of Poems,”by De Regniers.
8. “Greek Myths for Young Children”, by Amery. Myths are metaphors … being able to use figure of speech is a high-level EQ competency.
9. “National Geographic Photography Manual for Kids,”by Johnson. If you haven’t discovered National Geographic photography, go here and enjoy the photographs with your child.
10. “Sector 7,”by David Weisner. There are no words IN this book, and there are no words FOR this book.
11. “Today I Feel Silly: And Else Moods That Do My Day,”by Jamie Lee Curtis.
12. “The Random Home Book of Poetry for Children,”by Prelutsky.
13. “When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Actually Angry,”by Poeciliid Bang.
14. “Andrew’s Angry Words,”by Lachner. In reading the reviews of these two books, you’ll see there’s still disagreement on how to handle anger – a child’s, our own, or causal agency else’s. EQ activity can help you develop your skills in this area.

As your child explores the earth of art, poetry and reading, let him or her share with others:

1. Write a kids’ book review on amazon.com.

2. Submit his or her art to the Global Kids’ Art Gallery.

3. Visit several online art galleries with your child: nextmonet.com or cgfa. Let them choose a category and talk just about what you see, and how the paintings do you feel.

If you’d like to discover more just about emotional intelligence, go here for resources. See "Emotional Intelligence,"by Daniel Goleman.

Your EQ is more important to your success and happiness than your IQ. Give your child a real head start. Discover EQ, and pass it on!

Take the EQ-Map™ and see how your emotional intelligence measures up. Unlike IQ, EQ can be learned, and you can develop yours over your lifetime. EQ activity can help you develop competencies you’re deficient in. Remember – if you’re a parent, someone’s looking everything you do!

About the Author

Susan Dunn, The EQ Coach, Global EQ. Emotional intelligence activity to enhance all areas of your life - career, relationships, midlife transition, resilience, self-esteem, parenting. EQ Alive! - excellent, accelerated, inexpensive EQ coach certification. Susan is the author of many ebooks, is wide publicized on the Internet, and a regular speaker for cruise lines. For marketing services go here.