5 Tips on How to Raise an Emotionally Intelligent Child by Parenting Coach Ragendu K R
Every mother's desire is to nurture a child who attains success and has an optimistic approach to life, but it is not an easy task. As a mommy, you need to be acquainted with the measures to follow so that you can support your little one and start working at an early age.
An emotionally intelligent child can manage his emotions well and communicate his feelings to overcome all kinds of challenges that turn up in life. Some significant elements of emotional intelligence are empathy, self-awareness, motivation, social skills, and self-regulation.
Therefore, if you know how to raise an emotionally intelligent child, you are giving the best upbringing and attitude for life. Your child will be adaptive to new environments and behave well, which certainly would help him grow confident and stay happy.
How a Parenting Coach Can Assist You?
Suppose you are not sure of how and when to start. In that case, we are here to help you out with some valuable tips from an expert and parenting coach Ragendu K R.
She has been working with parents and kids of all age groups to create a positive impact in their lives and ensure that the little ones grow with overall well-being.
So, read on and get a clear idea that would let you start practicing right away and make the required changes in your lifestyle.
5 Tips on How to Nurture an Emotionally Intelligent Child
We know mommies already have so many things to take care of, and hence, finding the right balance and learning how to deal with the child with patience is a war won. Below are the essential tips for nurturing emotional intelligence in children that you can benefit from.
1. Listen Before Reacting
Before we get into the details of emotional intelligence, you need to understand that parents are the child’s role models. At an early age, children tend to learn and imbibe concepts that they visually see around them rather than verbally. So, you need to set up suitable examples for your child and follow the correct practices yourself. And the first step in this process is listening to your kids.
Yes, you read it right: even if your child is unable to communicate his feelings or observations in exact words, you need to actively listen to what he wants to convey and then offer a solution or help him differentiate between right and wrong.
The best approach here is to spend some quality time with your child wherein you could discuss everything about his routine or try to understand new viewpoints he is developing when he spends time with peers.
Even if you know that the child has done something wrong, do not straightaway start scolding him or give statements; hear out his reasons attentively, and then sit with him to make him understand where he went wrong and what he should now do to correct it.
If you follow this, your child will eventually feel connected to you and will not hide things since he will know that he will be heard and you will give him the best solutions. You are going to build a strong parent-child bond forever.
2. Label and Give Names to Emotions
Self-awareness and recognition are essential aspects of a child’s personality since they make them confident and help them make the right choices in life. You should talk about emotions and expressions with your child and let him explore the world with his labels so that you can assist him in identifying emotions and becoming vocal about his thoughts.
Such children easily mingle with people around them and have higher intelligence quotients when it comes to awareness and emotional expressions, which gives them a positive outlook. If your child knows and is able to express his emotions well, it will become easier for him to adjust to the world outside when you aren’t around for immediate support.
Remember, you need to label the emotions and not your child. Some parents make the mistake of calling their kids a good or bad child according to their actions, which has an indirect impact on the child’s thought process.
A child who commits mistakes and is constantly labeled as wrong will start avoiding activities and being involved in social circles as he becomes cautious. This may further hamper his personality and make him under-confident. Yes, it is essential to point out the mistakes, but you need to be careful of the way you convey them.
Also Read: Fun Ways to Improve Your Child's Brain Capacity
3. Be Empathetic to Your Child
If you give your child freedom to express himself in all conditions, you also need to be empathetic since your validation matters the most to him. There may be situations where you may find your child being over-sensitive, but if he knows you understand his feelings well, he will not hesitate at all.
So, you can comfort well and make him see that he needs to work on particular aspects for better outcomes next time. So, let him experience and observe his surroundings and be there to acknowledge his highs and lows for a better, confident personality.
4. Model Good Ways of Responding
You are your child’s pillar, and he will turn to you for all sorts of problems. Therefore, you need to be particular about your involvement in his life.
Suppose you teach your child to express and manage emotions skilfully. In that case, he will develop emotionally and mentally, which means that as he grows, he will have a practical outlook on life. He will understand situations with a problem-solving attitude.
So, while other kids of his age would struggle to open their minds, see your kiddo find simple yet intelligent answers to issues in his life. Yes, you are always there to support him, but this would let him be humble yet opinionated, which does have a crucial role in being successful in the later part of life.
Also Read: How Toys Help Develop Various Skills In Children?
5. Teach Good Coping Mechanisms
Stress and anxiety are prevalent issues these days, and it is seen that young kids are unable to cope with increasing performance and peer pressure. They want to be the best in every aspect of life, but very high expectations do lead to stress, which sometimes transforms into depression and affects the quality of life your child lives.
Thus, in order to raise a strong and positive personality, you need to make your child learn the coping mechanisms. You can spend some leisure time doing breathing exercises or meditation, which would help your child relax and eliminate all sorts of stress from life. Also, plan short outings or trips to destinations that your child would love to visit and enjoy.
We understand that small kids may not be pros in adopting coping techniques, but if you start practicing them at an early age, eventually, you will learn them and take a step toward happy living. Therefore, your child should know how to manage stress and cope with emotional overrides.
So, Is Parenting a Tough Job?
We now know that parenting is a difficult job, and there may be times when you are very frustrated managing everything and may end up scolding your child for small things.
But do not feel bad; after all, you are a human as well. Instead of regretting, sit with your baby and accept your fault since this will set the right example for him. If your approach is correct, your child will be emotionally intelligent, confident, and a happier soul for the rest of his life.
Also, please understand that your personality, approach to life, and problem-solving attitude will make a positive impact on your child, so refrain from the wrong practices and aggressive behavior, as your child will always be watching you.
Also Read: How stacking toys help to develop various skills?
Key Takeaways
Subsequently, now that we have decoded all the secrets of raising an emotionally intelligent child, go ahead and make a significant impact with those small changes in daily life. Indeed, you need to spend time with your little buddy to understand his emotions and help him manage them correctly, so plan your day accordingly and ensure that you have those few minutes of chit-chat every day.
So, if you are ready to make a positive impact in your munchkin’s life, take a step today by incorporating the tips and try boosting his social-emotional growth by introducing age-appropriate toys.
You can try some of the innovative and engaging toys from R for Rabbit that have been designed to cater to your kiddo’s changing needs and address essential emotional development with the least effort.
Open the doors to the world and let your child navigate himself while you are there to assist him at every step so that he makes aware and correct choices as a peaceful mind and happy soul do make a huge difference.
