How to raise children with high EQ

As parents, our job is to raise children healthy kids. However, while we know to feed our kids with healthy food and take them to the doctors for physical checkups, we may not be knowledgeable enough to know how to raise kids who are emotionally and mentally healthy. But mental and emotional health is important for the child to function properly in society, work well with others, and know how to handle problems and failures.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Empathize the with child:
   
   Every person wants to be understood, including and especially a child. When dealing with your child, try to understand the child first regardless of whether the child is right or wrong. Step in the child's shoes for a moment and understand the child's feelings. That's how emotional connection is made with the child.

2. Listen, listen and Listen:
   
   The number rule of communications is listening. However, an adult may understand they need to listen to a colleague in a meeting, but he or she might not take a moment to listen to a child. It could be because the child sounds annoying. More often it is because the child is somebody that can be ignored. After all, what the child do if you ignored him or her.

3. Act consistently in front of your child:
   
   In a child's small world, their parents are like God to them. They shape their image of reality through interaction with their parents. They are very much in need of parents who are not only kind and accepting of them, but also who are consistent and predictable. Set some clear guidelines with discipline and expectations and stick with it. Do not start yelling at your child about certain behavior without giving them some sort of warnings.

4. Teach the child to understand the consequences of their own actions:
   
   It is very difficult to teach a child to be a nice and good person in a vacuum. The better way is to let them understand and experience that there are consequences of their own actions. Reward them when they do right; discipline (reasonably) them when they are naughty. This way the child will know about the casual relationship of things and, based on this understanding, they can choose what actions to take as they grow up. After all, they know they will be responsible for their own actions.

5. Teach your child to solve his/her own problems:
   
   We are always tempted to solve all our children's problems. Don't. The better way is to coach to do things on their own. Work with them but not for them.

[Greatfunmoms]

on 8/7/2009 Good article!

[EarthMother]

on 8/4/2009 How to raise children with high EQ shows to raise a thinker you have to be one. Great suggestions in making emotionally stable children. Smile!

[talithabing]

on 8/4/2009 How to raise children with high EQ is an important article. As an "insider" i can tell you we need this information. Step one is so great. Another thing is that sometimes in families, with both children and adults, people tend to treat strangers better than they treat their own family members. And i'm just talking about little things like professional courtesies such as cutting people off when they speak, etc. Going to click your ads now and read more of your work.