Strategies to Support Social and Emotional Development in Children Three to Four Years

Strategies to Support Social and Emotional Development in Children Three to Four Years

family reading book together

Early childhood mental health consultants can provide positive feedback and encouragement to parents and caregivers when they see the many experiences they already provide on behalf of young children’s social and emotional health, “Ms. Johnson when you read that book to Jasper about feelings, did you see how he held onto your leg and modeled your facial expressions? You are doing such a wonderful job of using books to teach feeling labels to young children.”

Reading books to young children is a good way to start teaching children emotion words. Emotional literacy is the capacity to identify, understand, and express emotions in a healthy way. Emotional literacy also includes the capacity to recognize, label, and understand feelings in self and others. It is a prerequisite to the development of more advanced social skills and for the continued maturation of emotional self- regulation.

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This product was developed [in part] under grant number 1H79SM082070-01 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The views, policies and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SAMHSA or HHS.