On Wednesday of this week my 5 year old son Ari launched himself into Kindergarten!
That’s him in the jet fuel knapsack! Watch out world!
So… as Ari was getting ready in the morning, I thought about giving him a tiny bit of helpful life wisdom every day before school. After all, I want him to grow up not only learning School Lessons – but Life Lessons – becoming smart about things like how to be a good friend/good person/good citizen of our world. And a lot of happiness and success in life comes from developing a high “Emotional Intelligence” – sometimes referred to as one’s “EQ” (versus IQ).
Below are the first few “EQ Lessons” I shared with Ari. I’m going to continue to share these EQ Lessons with Ari before school each day, then post what I share here on my site!
Keep checking back! After all, these life lessons are for kids of all ages – from 5 to 105 years old!
I decided to make the first mini-lesson about making new friends. I intuited that it might be scary for Ari to be surrounded by a room full of all new kids. So I told him, “Ari, today keep in mind that it’s more important to be interested than interesting. Be sure to ask other kids about what toys they like – then really listen!”
EQ Lesson 2:It was raining on day 2 of school – but Ari brought the sunshine with him – in his fun rain gear get-up! Today’s mini-lesson: It’s okay to be a little scared at the beginning of something new. It means he’s growing and changing – and that’s actually kind of exciting and cool. Plus, everybody’s a little scared at the beginning of something. Other kids in the room are scared too. So if he talks to someone and they’re a little quiet, that he should know that they might be a little scared – and not take it personally. And if he feels shy and quiet at times, that’s okay too.
EQ Lesson 3:I bought a new (old) book: “How To Make Friends And Influence People” – from Dale Carnegie. I’m thinking of sharing regularly from this book – explaining tools from it to him in language a kid can understand. The first lesson was already kid-friendly. Dale says, “If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive.” I explained to Ari if there’s something he wants (from me, his teacher, a friend) never yell about it – and absolutely never hit to get someone’s attention. Be nice. Say please. And if later he gets the something he wanted, always say thank you. Niceness is a superpower which melts people’s hearts and opens their minds to wanting to consider giving him what he wants. Ari agreed with me – plus, reminded me how the best way to get him to do something (brush his teeth, go to sleep) is not to yell at him – but to hug him. I’ve written about this before – in an essay – you can read here – called “How NOT To Yell At Your Child”!)
TWEET THIS NOW: Tools For Raising Emotionally Intelligent Kids via notsalmon
