The Power of Emotional Intelligence for Children Birth Through Eight, by Dr. Donna Housman

In this time of uncertainty and anxiety, we need to focus on all that our littlest learners have experienced. Almost all pre-school-aged children made their first start to school carrying more than their backpacks with them this fall. They also brought loads of emotions- from separation anxiety to how to make friends, play with others, fears of getting scary germs... lots of BIG emotions that they are not equipped to understand or manage.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, children 5 and under may have either spent half their lives with no real social interactions or opportunities or they had the very earliest stages of a school and social routine pulled away, they have lost ground during the most important years of learning and social-emotional development. The window to develop the patterning of the brain is narrow and what children observe and absorb in these years sticks! While we must confront children’s learning loss, we cannot do that if we do not first focus on their emotional well-being and our own.

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a burgeoning new pandemic—mental health. How do we stem the tide? It starts with you! Children develop within the context of relationships with the important adults in their world. In order to guide children and model for them in their social and emotional development, their key socializers need to be able to understand, manage and regulate their own stress, anxiety, frustration and emotions first-not only for the well-being of the children in their care but also for their own emotional well-being and personal and professional growth and satisfaction.

Please join Dr. Donna Housman as she discusses how we can use the power of emotional intelligence to foster and support our children's emotional well-being providing them with an

emotional toolkit for life, starting at birth.

In this empowering talk Dr. Housman will provide you with opportunities to:

• Discover how laying the foundation of emotional intelligence from birth helps to build an infrastructure of emotional well-being for life.

• Understand that the years from zero to three provide an unparalleled opportunity as this is when the brain is most plastic and ready to learn.

• Learn why self-regulation matters not only for our kids but for ourselves. How self-regulation can be a key to closing gaps and opening doors of opportunity, and how co-regulation leads to self-regulation.

• Look at the impact emotions have on learning, behavior, and relationships.

• Realize the critical need for educators and families to understand and manage their own emotions first before they can guide and model their children in theirs.

• Explore the importance of home-school connections especially in early childhood education as it is critical that parents and schools work together to support children's emotional development.

Now more than ever, we need to harness the opportunity to help children from the start to build that emotional toolkit for lifelong learning, mental health, well-being and success. Join us to learn more.