We are looking forward to beginning the school year on September 9th. New beginnings bring out lots of emotions in all of us. One of SYC’s favorite California early childhood educators, Bev Bos says “Parents always tell me they just want their children to be happy. But don’t they want them to have the full range of human emotions?”
Negative emotions are part of being human. But of course fear, anger and sadness are much harder for adults to deal with than happiness. One of the major tasks at SYC is to help children express how they are feeling and letting them know that all feelings are okay. Accepting all feelings does not mean accepting all behavior. It’s alright to be really angry but it’s not okay to hit or hurt someone or destroy property of someone else.
At SYC we want to help children learn to express strong emotions like anger in non-violent ways. We often talk in class about what you can do when you are angry or sad. Teachers are there to help them through upsets and to make sure school is a safe accepting place. Once they know their feelings will be respected, they can begin to learn problem-solving skills that will serve them well for the rest of their lives.
So off we go into the adventure of the new school year!
…Stephanie Rottmayer, Director