Why does it really matter to me?
Teaching a course in the emotional education of a child is part of what I do to fulfil my mission in this beautiful life.
What do we really talk about in the Emotional Education of the Child course?
In brief, we look at child development from birth to age 6 and discuss the development of temperament traits, body skills, attachment, play, language and communication, self-esteem, self-regulation, conscience, problem-solving, concentration, planning, caring and social skills. Read more about each topic below.
A child's development is like a flower blossoming, as new skills gradually develop and "blossom". During development, a child's life changes significantly with qualitative changes. For example, as soon as a child learns to walk, his or her outlook changes greatly as the world becomes more accessible. Similar changes occur in a child's emotional development: once a child has acquired new abilities or skills, his or her view of the world changes significantly. Some of these important changes happen when a child develops secure attachment, learns to use fantasy in play, to understand his own feelings, to learn about other people's experiences and to care about others.
When we think of a pre-school child, we often overlook how he understands his body. However, if we look at slightly older children or imagine ourselves, we need to recognise how important the idea of our own body really is. The feelings and self-esteem associated with our physical appearance form a very important part of who we are. Our judgement of our appearance is an important aspect of our personality. If we have a very negative self-image of our body, it can affect our mental health. High levels of stress are known to affect the immune system and there is a strong link between how we feel emotionally and our somatic/physical health.
If we are trying to understand what has influenced our current personality, we will probably name our relationship with our parents as one of the most important factors. Indeed, early relationships with a primary caregiver (usually the mother) will often become the model on which we build other relationships later in life, especially those with our children. The quality of attachment and parent-child interactions has been shown to influence children's development, especially emotional and social development. It has also been shown that attachment styles are most likely to continue from one generation to the next. This has been confirmed by both researchers and those who work with parents and their infants on a daily basis.
Play is one of the key elements in a child's development and can sometimes also improve the well-being of adults. In other words, play is not a waste of time, but a breath of life for children of all ages.
Research shows that the most important factor in promoting language is talking to parents. Talking is important for both children with normal language development and those with delayed language development. A child's ability to learn language is innate, but language does not develop without feedback from the people around them.
High self-esteem is associated with a sense of competence, well-being and the ability to parent successfully, while low self-esteem is associated with behavioural and mental health problems. However, self-esteem is often a rather simplistic concept and people do not always notice the difference between a realistic self-concept and an overly high self-esteem, which in turn has a negative impact on behaviour.
The full name of Step 7 is Disciplining, which promotes self-regulation, conscience and moral behaviour. There are a number of factors that cause a child to struggle to control his behaviour and it is impossible to give a simple answer about the "right" method of discipline.
Young children experience a wide range of emotions every day. Sometimes they are so strong that they are overwhelmed and can't contain themselves. With time, children learn to calm themselves. Parental reassurance is important, especially for younger children, but also for older children. Some children need parental help longer than others.
Some children are very good at focusing on a particular activity, while others will flit impulsively from one side of the room to the other, unable to concentrate long enough to finish what they have started. In this step, you will learn how to develop concentration skills and how to promote planning and problem solving.
Social competence includes the abilities that help children get along with others (e.g. to be liked and accepted), build friendships and ensure that interactions with others are reciprocal and valuable. If a child has developed good social competence, he or she is able to build successful relationships - getting along with peers, teachers, parents and other family members.
For each topic, you will have access to video lectures that you can watch at your own convenience, and we will also meet each week in a Zoom group call to discuss the topic of the week together. See you there? The next BEA course starts on 3 December and you still have a chance to sign up! Apply here: Emotional Education of the Child course.
You can read some of the feedback from previous participants here:
