Teaching EQ to Children, 2

Perhaps the fastest way to learn desirable new behaviors is to watch people who are exhibiting them. When you observe someone else’s behaviors, mirror neurons in your brain fire as if you were actually doing what you are watching. (By watching your brain can become changed.) You can then choose to move the behavior to motor neurons and actually implement, practice, and exhibit those behaviors. Since EQ is all about “managing” emotions effectively and exhibiting appropriate behaviors based on the information they are moving from the subconscious to the conscious, teaching EQ to children needs to start with simple information about the four core emotions. When teaching EQ skills, remember study conclusions on how the message content that contains emotions or attitudes tends to be conveyed:

• Words:  7-10%
• Tonality and voice inflections: 15-38%
• Body language: 55-75%

More tomorrow.