Little Hearts, Big Feelings: Building Emotional Intelligence in Early Childhood

At Four Leaves International School, we believe that emotional intelligence plays a vital role in a child’s development, both academically and socially. Emotional intelligence – the ability to control one’s emotions and the emotions of others is crucial in today’s world, where many people have emotional struggles and that we believe helping young children to recognize, understand and cope with their emotions makes them better fit in their future careers.

Why Emotional Intelligence Matters in Early Childhood

Emotional intelligence matters especially in young children due to their big emotions which can be overwhelming sometimes. It can be frustration over a toy that he/she wants, or sadness from a gift he/she didn’t get on her birthday, or an excitement for a new trip – all this feelings and emotions can be big and hard to handle for their little hearts. By teaching children to identify these emotions and express these emotions appropiately, we lay the foundation for empathy, self-regulation and healthy relationships.

How we Build Emotional Intelligence

At our international preschool in Tokyo, our teachers integrate emotional intelligence in every day learning through:

·      Reading and Storytime: Kids love reading books at FLIST, it helps young children to understand what emotions and feelings are going on in the book so that they can learn from their emotions.

·      Recess Time: This is the time where kids can freely interact with each other and see different kinds of emotions from their peers and more importantly learn how to deal with those emotions.

·      Circle Time Conversations: Kids love talking with one  another, especially on the mat where the teachers encourage and teach them to share how they feel and listen to their peers.

FLIST students expressing their feelings and listening to their peers

We also focus on positive communication, helping children to use words like “I feel”, “are you ok?”, “do you need help?”, instead of acting out. This helps children to express themselves more confidently and help resolve conflicts in a healthy way.

The Long-Term Impact

Children who develop emotional intelligence early on tend to do better in school and more importantly build strong friendships and grow into confident, charismatic, compassionate adults. It’s a must have education that not only supports academic success but also sets the stage for life-long well being.

As a leading international preschool in Tokyo, we are proud to nurture the hearts and minds of our students – one feeling at a time.