Ynigo was playing with one of his toys earlier. He wanted the toy to stay on its skateboard but it kept falling off. Ynigo then started to get frustrated. After trying over and over again, he began to cry. Children do get frustrated and usually they resort to crying when all else fails. I understood how he felt but I had to help him deal with his frustration the healthiest way. I encouraged him by telling him I know he feels frustrated and that I understand how he feels but I had to remind him that he cannot cry and shout everything he gets disappointed or things do not go his way. Children need to be able to practice controlling their emotions, thus Ynigo had to practice today. If I just went ahead and fixed his problem for him then he would not have been able to practice this skill and would have lost a valuable a-ha moment (problem solving task).
I first had to remind him of our rule that he can cry but he cannot shout or wail. He settled down immediately. With tears still falling down his cheeks I then tried to encourage him to try to think of a solution... After just about 1 minute and a half, he then said, "Mommy, it does not stick. I tried again and again but it does not stick. Let's put tape." I trhen hugged him and said, "that's a great idea! I told you, you will be able to figure it out, you just had to think." A smile then broke from his small face.
Ynigo was not only able to practice and succeeded controlling his emotions, but he was able to problem solve too!
Teacher Beth, this blog article is really something that I can relate to as a mom and as a future teacher. Before, my kids keeps on screaming and crying out loud every time they are having problems and frustrations. As a typical mom, I will do everything to come up with a solution to their problems just to make them feel better. But now, I also do the same thing as you did. Every time they have problems or they encounter frustrations, I let them think of their own solution to their problems. I just keep on telling them that resolving their own problems will make them somebody like their idol... their dad.. From then on they always try to think of a solution and ask for my opinion or advice about the solution that they came up with.
ReplyDeletehehe..natawa ko..
ReplyDeleteganto din kasi ako palagi..pag di ko po magawa ang isang bagay naiirita na ko at napapasigaw..minsan din saying bad words..
na dapat ko nang iwasan..:)
Super Idol ko na Si Ynigo..:)
It is good that Ynigo learned how to handle/deal with his frustrations in young age. My son Lei, is still trying to control how to handle his frustrations. Anyway, for us adults, we usually frustrate, and every time this happens, we know how to deal with it, because we can think in divergent ways:)
ReplyDeletemy youngest sister and nephew have difficulty controlling their emotions too... madalas silang mapagalitan ni nanay kasi bigla na lang mag aaway at mag iiyakan... dapat pala ipaunawa sa kanila how to deal with their emotions and how to handle it properly... :)
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