EP 41 | Recognising Emotions: The First Step to Building Emotional Competence in Early Childhood

Children can't regulate feelings they don't know how to feel. In part one of this three-part mini-series - that I'm affectionately calling Big Feelings 101 - I'm providing a compassionate, practical look at what emotional competence actually is (hint: it’s much more than just regulation), why it’s essential to how we understand and support children’s behaviour and the eight skills involved. I'll also provide a deep(ish) dive into the first two skills and how to bring them to life in your practice. You’ll hear: 🐰 What emotional competence really means and why it’s often misunderstood 🐰 The first two foundational skills: recognising your own feelings and recognising them in others 🐰 The deep interconnection between how we recognise emotions in ourselves and in others 🐰 How interoception and theory of mind shape emotional awareness 🐰 Micro-moment that support these skills through everyday connection This episode sets the groundwork for guiding big feelings without shame, power-over, or rewards and gives you the language to name what children actually need to become emotionally competent individuals. PS: Very (very) mild coarse language features in this episode.

Articles Implications of Carolyn Saarni’s work for preschoolers’ emotional competence Early childhood teachers as socializers of young children’s emotional competence Early childhood teachers’ socialization of children’s emotional competence

Doors to The Behaviour Reset are OPEN! If you want to be able to understand the behaviour you're seeing, decide how to respond, and adapt your approach when things don't go to plan - without constantly questioning whether you're doing behaviour "right" - click here to join us! Doors close on October 22.