What is Emotional Intelligence? Emotional Intelligence in the early years is to help children to recognize, understand, label, and regulate their emotions. These skills centre around emotions and feelings and can be taught like academic skills. EI is being attentive to the feelings and emotions of self and others. Developing emotional intelligence means learning to find skilful ways of expressing and maintaining emotions. Why start so early? Based on the research on brain development, the first five years, especially age

During early childhood, we hear comments, phrases of praise, criticism, encouragement, and failure from our peers, from our power relations, in the family or school. These phrases are so powerful and work for us as a mirror. Our brain stores these voices and starts acting according to these positive or negative inner voices. Over time, these voices internalize and shape our cognition, developing our self-concept and worldview. Listening and Sorting Inner Voices According to Psychologists, there are three kinds of

Children’s Logico-Mathematical Relationship Development From day one of life to the next day, infants start categorizing strangers and familiar people without any single instruction in sorting. Side by side, they also practice seriation; in other words, they classify and prioritize relationships. According to Merriam-Webster, seriation means formation, arrangement, or position in a series or orderly sequence. The construction of conceptual relationships in the brain between strangers and familiars is an example of logical-mathematical knowledge. Logico-mathematical knowledge is one of the

At first, when we see children playing with blocks, it may seem that they are randomly stacking, assembling, disassembling, sorting, and placing blocks together without any plan. If we pay attention or spend more time observing their play, we can quickly notice that they are following a pattern or have a picture in their mind that they are pursuing. I have seen children building their neighbourhood shop, their local community playground and building the street around the house they make.

Having pets at home not only brings unlimited love from them but also has fantastic benefits on children’s social and emotional intelligence. Children may develop empathy for their pets and others when they experience pet ownership. Taking care of a living being is a big responsibility. Small participation, such as brushing the fur or filling up the pet’s food bowl, creates an emotional connection and develops empathy. Taking care of their pet also brings a sense of responsibility, and by