Building Emotional Intelligence Book Study
To promote emotional development and leadership skills, the education specialists at Jacksonville Country Day School have been conducting a study of the book Building Emotional Intelligence: Techniques to Cultivate Inner Strength in Children by Linda Lantieri and Daniel Goleman over the past few months. At the specialists meetings, groups of two or three presented what they had learned from the chapter that the group had read.
How Parents Can Build Emotional Intelligence
The book begins by discussing the concept of emotional intelligence, also known as inner resilience. The authors teach children how "to quiet their minds, calm their bodies, and manage their emotions skillfully."
What can parents do to help?
Parents can talk to their children about the Fight/Flight/Freeze response and discuss physical reactions to stress. Numerous techniques are outlined in the book.
Click to enlarge picture.
Techniques/Exercises to Calm the Body and Focus the Mind for Five to Seven Year Olds
- Click to Watch Video
- Share a calming book or story
- Play "I Spy With My Little Eye" to regain focus
- Create a sensory box or bag filled with uniquely textured items. Let children feel and describe the items while regaining focus.
- Listen to a quiet, calming CD.
- Create a reflection sketchbook and draw pictures about the calming exercises you practice with your child.
Techniques/Exercises to Calm the Body and Focus the Mind for Eight to Eleven Year Olds
- Click to Watch Video
- Color a Mandala, "Kid's Mandala Coloring Book Set" by Monique Mandali, (available from amazon.com)
- Take a nature walk focusing on all the things that you notice, birds, clouds, rocks, water etc.
- Zen, the word for meditation, is a discipline. The purpose is to clear the mind of the chaos of everyday life in order to achieve a greater state of harmony. Zen-inspired gardens originated in Japan, where Zen Buddhism has heavily influenced Japanese culture for centuries. The purpose of cultivating a Zen rock garden is to learn to open your mind and see more that what is before you. The rocks resemble mountains and the sand water. As you rake the sand around the rocks, you can choose patterns and designs reflecting swirling pools or swift streams. It is the patterns evolving from the mind that provide the most serene landscapes. Zen Meditations to Ponder & Discuss with Children
- Listen to a calming, softer piece of music, preferably instrumental. Classical selections work best, especially those that are slower in tempo.
Techniques/Exercises to Calm the Body and Focus the Mind for Twelve Year Olds and Up
- Young adolescents live in a world of unrealistic ideals, peer pressure, and roller-coaster emotions
- Calming techniques may be helpful
- Model techniques yourself so teens don't sense hypocrisy. Find a buddy to participate to give teens a sense of belonging
- Have teens identify what causes stress in their life. Work on ways to reduce stress
- Have your teen create a graphical map showing how happy/satisfied they are with various aspects of their life.
Copies of the book are available for checkout at the JCDS Library.
