Emotional intelligence is one of the factors that can support children's success, both at school and in the world of work later. In this case, the role of parents is needed to shape and develop children's emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence or emotional quotient (EQ) is a person's ability to understand, use, and manage emotions. EQ can help anyone, including children, to build strong relationships, make decisions, and deal with difficult situations.
Not only that, with a good EQ, a person will be easier to socialize with anyone, more confident, and can grow into a good person. EQ also plays an important role in supporting children's achievement in school.
Some Tips for Growing Children's Emotional Intelligence
Children tend to absorb whatever is taught to them faster. Therefore, it is important for every parent to start instilling emotional intelligence in their children from an early age.
Here are some ways you can develop your child's EQ:
1. Set a good example in behavior
Familiarizing children to behave well towards others is one of the important things in training their emotional intelligence.
To train and familiarize your child with good behavior, you can set an example through daily habits when you want to ask others for help.
For example, when you want to ask for help from others, get your child used to saying the word "please" and don't forget to remind the child to say "thank you" after getting help.
Thus, the child will gradually apply these habits when interacting with other people.
2. Helping children recognize emotions
To grow emotional intelligence, children need to be trained and educated to recognize and control emotions. You can guide your child to express their emotions, for example while watching a movie or after listening to a story or fairy tale.
Communication and affection are the main keys to train children to recognize emotions and control them. Therefore, it is important for every parent to often ask what the child is feeling and to train the child to express his emotions honestly and openly.
When a child behaves violently or has a tantrum because he feels negative emotions, such as anger, upset, or disappointment, teach him to relieve or divert his emotions with positive things, such as inviting the child to play or hugging him.
3. Build children's empathy
Empathy helps children care about others and build good relationships with their environment later.
You can build a child's empathy by educating them to be more sensitive to the feelings of others. For example, when she tells a story about a friend who lost a toy, try asking "How would you feel if you lost a toy?"
If he answers "sad", try asking again, "Would you like to lend me your toy?" then watch the response. Children who have empathy will certainly be willing to lend toys to their friends.
By training children to get used to thinking about other people's feelings, they will be more empathetic and sensitive to people and the environment around them. It can also make them wiser and better behave towards others.
4. Familiarize children to work together
Cooperation and mutual assistance are skills that can be taught through direct experience. This can be practiced in everyday life, for example by asking children to help with simple household chores, such as cleaning the table and washing fruit or vegetables.
After he has done this, thank your child for helping you. This simple thing can motivate children to be more empathetic and happy to help others.
5. Develop problem solving skills
Another part of emotional skills is being able to solve problems on your own. When your child is fighting with a sibling or friend, you can use this situation to develop his emotional intelligence.
For example, when your child starts to get annoyed because his sibling is always bothering him while playing, you can guide him to find a solution by giving him several choices of actions he can take. Thus, children can learn how to decide and solve problems appropriately.
6. Develop self-confidence
You can teach children to build self-confidence and motivate them to achieve their desires or goals. However, as a parent, you also need to remind that this requires hard work, effort, and a lot of time.
In addition, from every business they do, it certainly doesn't always go well and there must be failures in it. However, failure is not always interpreted as a negative thing. Children can learn to avoid the same mistakes in the future.
Your support and guidance can help your child develop emotional intelligence well. With a good EQ, children will grow and develop into smart and healthy individuals.
If you find it difficult to guide your child or are still confused about how to train your child's emotional intelligence, try to consult a psychologist.
