Chantal 0:02
preschoolers don't really come with a manual, do they? You want to spend your day helping them grow and enjoying the magic of learning through the eyes of a preschooler. You also want to help them deal with all the big feelings that come with being three or four. But real talk, you don't have a lot of time. We need to prep for the day with confidence, and ditch the stress that sometimes comes along the way. I got you. Welcome to the preschool Made Easy podcast. I'm your host, Chantal, a kinder teacher turned curriculum designer, and preschool consultant, and I'm here to help you make this school year. The best one yet. Let's get to the show.
Can we talk about all the real feelings we're all going through right now for a second? Because I feel like the holiday craziness creeps up on us, even though we are fully expecting it to every year. But between all the routines unraveling, the never ending list of events and people to see stress added on for buying gifts and keeping up with all the things and classroom happenings. It can definitely feel like way too much.
Hey, hey, you're listening to Episode 21. And today we're breaking down why preschool children have trouble regulating their emotions. Three tips for helping your students regulate their feelings in five examples on how to respond. When a child is struggling with identifying and regulating their emotions. I know firsthand how tough the holiday season can be for teachers and parents. And that's exactly why I created my preschool activity packs with you in mind. Because teachers, I know you will love sending these home and parents, I know you love having simple and fun things to do with your littles to keep them busy and not having them tell you I'm bored 73 times during winter break, head over to the shownotes to grab the link and get started today. All right, let's do this.
When you think of regulating your emotions, do you think about controlling your anger or maybe managing your stress? What about just identifying what emotion you're feeling at that very moment? According to the Cornell Research Program, emotion regulation is a term generally used to describe a person's ability to effectively manage and respond to any emotional experience. They believe people unconsciously use emotion regulation strategies to cope with difficult situations many times throughout the day.
Okay, so now let's think about this from a child's perspective, right? We know that preschool children often struggle with regulating their emotions because of their limited cognitive and emotional development. Their brains are still developing at a pretty quick rate if I may add to and they haven't fully acquired the skills or strategies necessary to manage their feelings effectively. One primary reason is their limited language and communication skills. While some preschoolers may have the vocabulary to express their emotions accurately, let's be real, most will not. This makes it really challenging for them to share their needs and frustrations with you.
They also lacked the ability to fully understand and interpret complex emotional cues in themselves and in others, which further complicates their emotional regulation. I mean, would you honestly expect them to fully understand what others are feeling when they may not even know what's happening with their own bodies and emotions? Probably not. Right? preschoolers are at that stage where they're still developing their prefrontal cortex, you know, the part of the brain that's responsible for impulse control and decision making. Since this area of the brain has not yet fully developed, it is very difficult for young children to think rationally and control their impulsive reactions. In simple terms, this means that their limited life experience and understanding of social norms can lead to big misunderstandings, and some serious emotional outbursts because the truth is, they are still learning how to navigate their relationships and the world around them.
Now let's talk about you and how you can help because I know you're probably thinking, Yes, girl, I already know all of this. I know all the things about their brains and how they can control themselves. But real talk, I just don't know what on earth to do with them while they're turning my class into a pure tornado right now. I got to my friends, been there done that. So let me help you out. As it is, you are already playing a super important role in helping your preschool children regulate their emotions. and develop necessary coping skills.
So here are three tips for helping your students regulate their emotions. Tip number one, emotional coaching. You can create a safe and nurturing environment where your children feel comfortable expressing their emotions. When you acknowledge your feelings and help your littles label them, and identify their emotions, you're really helping your children develop a vocabulary for their emotions. For example, saying, I see that you're feeling frustrated right now validates your child's emotions and teaches them to recognize and label what they're experiencing. I recommend teaching them to identify all of the emotions, even the positive ones, and then model what those emotions can look, sound and feel like in many different situations.
Tip number two, teach them problem solving skills. You can guide your preschoolers through simple problem solving exercises to help them cope with their emotions, encouraging children to think of solutions to their problems, and then offering support in thinking of ideas can really empower them to address their problems much more effectively. This process helps them understand that they do have some control over their emotions and situations.
That leads into tip number three, model emotional regulation. Children often learn by observing the behavior of adults and authority figures, right. Especially parents, we know this at home too. You can model emotional regulation by demonstrating how to cope with frustration, disappointment, or even anger in a healthy and constructive way. This can look like 10 children coming out of their seats to come and talk to you at the same time at your teacher desk. And you can just tell them, boys and girls, I need a minute you can turn your body, you can do some deep breathing exercises, put your hands up into the air, put them together and then bring them down into your chest to show them that it's okay that adults also need some time to just breathe or give themselves a break or kind of just think about what to do next. This process really helps them and set an example for your kiddos and also provides them with valuable strategies for managing their own emotions no matter what happens.
When I was scripting this episode, I tried to think about experiences I had gone through and what I felt, what I did, and also how I could have improved in all of those situations, right? It led me to a realization if I had gone through it, when maybe so have you or you might one day. So here's a list of five examples of how to respond when a child is struggling with a specific emotional situation.
Temper Tantrums. a preschooler has a tantrum over not getting their preferred toy. In this situation, the preschool teacher should calmly approach the child maintain a soothing tone, and offer alternative toy choices or suggest sharing. The teacher can also acknowledge the child's frustration and teach them to use words to express their feelings instead of crying, sharing disputes to children or arguing over a toy the preschool teacher should step in, encourage them to take turns and use a timer to establish fair sharing. This helps children learn patience and cooperation. Which by the way, are two imperative skills in the education world. The teacher can also talk to them about their feelings and How to communicate what they want to their friends.
Separation anxiety. A child cries when their parent leaves in the morning. The preschool teacher should offer comfort reassurance, and help the child start a fun activity to distract them from their distress. Teachers should also create a consistent and predictable drop off routine to help ease separation anxiety over time.
Frustration with a task, a child struggles to complete a puzzle and becomes really frustrated. The preschool teacher can offer gentle guidance, break the task into smaller more manageable steps, and then encourage the child to just keep trying. praising their effort and offering positive reinforcement for perseverance can really boost their confidence now, hey, you know, we're all celebrating over here. So get those tears on
physical aggression. This is a very touchy one. A child hates another child during play. The preschool teacher should immediately intervene, separate the children and explain that hitting is not an acceptable way to express their feelings. They can encourage the aggressor to use words to communicate their frustrations or concerns, and then involve both children in the conflict resolution discussions. This may sound silly because believe it or not, so many people think that preschoolers and toddlers don't know any better or shouldn't be expected to use words instead of being aggressive. But here's an unpopular opinion. Sorry, not sorry. Yes, they can. Yes, they can use their words. And we should be teaching them how to be accountable for their actions, and modeling how to improve every day. In each of these examples, the preschool teachers response should aim to support the child in understanding and managing their emotions, while also promoting positive social skills and self regulation. It's important to remain patient, empathetic, and very consistent in guiding your preschoolers through all of these emotional challenges. We know that things happen, but with consistency, understanding, and most of all, love anything, literally anything is possible.
Okay, let's recap. We first talked about why preschool children have trouble regulating their emotions. We also discussed three tips for helping your students regulate their own feelings. And then I gave you five examples of how to respond when a child is struggling with identifying and regulating their emotions with specific situations. If you're listening to this episode, I know you're going through a bit of a rough patch with your students, and they're really big feelings right now. So I hope you will try at least one of these strategies to bring the holiday craziness down just a bit, and get you feeling more confident and relaxed this school year. Don't forget to grab your preschool activity packs right now. So you can take a break this holiday season, knowing that your littles are learning and having fun with very easy to make simple activities. Head over to www dot Shanti macias.com/shop that C HANTYMA. C I A 's to get your hands on our best selling activities. Let me know which pack your little ones are loving right now. See you there. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I love creating content to support you on your preschool journey. So if you enjoyed this episode, reach out to me on Instagram, and let me know what resonated or any questions you may have. Let's keep the conversation going. So we can support more preschool teachers and parents, just like you see in the next episode.