Chapter 4

<p>Even at this young age, children’s emotional life is rich. They experience a full range of emotions and are able to see emotions in others. Yet they may not understand how to verbalize, name or identify their emotions or how to talk about them. They may not understand why certain emotions come up for them or why they come up for other people. And importantly, they may not know that there are things they can do to help understand and navigate their own emotions. Without this knowledge and these skills, one’s own and others’ emotions can even be scary or overwhelming.</p><p> </p><p>This chapter therefore seeks to help students start to develop what can be called a “map of the mind,” meaning an understanding of different mental states, such as emotions, and their characteristics. This map of the mind is a kind of emotional literacy, contributing to emotional intelligence and helping students to better “navigate” their own emotional lives. Because strong emotions prompt behaviors, by learning to navigate their emotions, students are also learning how to “hold back” or exercise restraint from behaviors that harm themselves and others. As students grow older, their “map of the mind” can become increasingly sophisticated as they learn more emotion terms and learn to distinguish between emotions and mental states in increasingly subtle ways. The intention here is to introduce them to the idea of thinking about emotions and start them on that journey.</p>