Kindergarten - October 2014 - Use Your Words!

           Teaching young children to "use their words" is a well-known educational tool aimed at  increasing kids' communication skills and teaching kids how express their feelings rather than resort to physical means (i.e., hitting, biting, scratching, etc.) to resolve conflicts. We encourage children to use their words, and help them in finding the right words to express their feelings. Teaching kids to use their words is also a developmental strategy in the realm of "emotional intelligence," or "emotional coaching," wherein parents and caregivers teach kids how to name  their emotions and learn to deal with setbacks and change.

During a recent Developmental Guidance lesson, your child’s class viewed a program called Share Your Feelings: Use Your Words. This topic is important because young children’s feelings are very real and make up a large part of their world. Their ability to recognize an emotion and say how they feel not only builds self-esteem, but helps them develop social competence.


The program begins by asking viewers, “When something is bothering you, do you walk away and not deal with your feelings, or let your feelings build up inside until you explode?” Through three easy-to-understand stories bracketed by appealing music videos the program shows viewers:


• the importance of using your words to say how you feel.


• that using your words helps you tell others how you feel and what you want.


• why you should use your words when something is bothering you instead of not dealing with it or exploding.


• why you should say what you’re feeling and not expect that others can read your mind.


• why when something scares you, telling how you feel can solve the problem and make you feel better.


Ask your child to tell you about the stories in the program and the lessons the characters learned. Create an opening for discussion by asking if he or she has ever been in a situation like one of those dramatized. The ability to effectively express any of a range of feelings and have it acknowledged often depends on the size of a child’s feelings vocabulary. Here are two books for children that can help in enlarging your child’s repertory of feelings: Delis-Abrams, Alexandra. The Feelings Storybook. Adage Publications, 1998. Parr, Todd. The Feelings Book. L, B Kids, 2005.


Ms. Cahill


Counselor