- Read feelings. Learning to identify other people’s emotions is the first step toward feeling empathetic. Take turns acting out a feeling for family members to guess. For example, open your eyes and mouth wide to show fear. Or slump your shoulders and look down to display sadness. Variation: Draw faces on paper plates, and guess the emotions.
- Create an “empathy identity”. Notice ways your youngster shows that she cares how people feel. You might say, “I can tell you feel bad that your brother is sick. It was nice of you to bring him a blanket.” You could also point out others showing empathy, too—in real life and in books and movies.
- Respond appropriately. When someone is having a hard time (say, a friend’s parents are getting divorced), your child may not know what to say. The good news? Sometimes people just want another person to listen and express empathy. Brainstorm honest responses like “I’m not sure what to say, but I’m glad you told me,” or “I’m sorry this is happening. I’m here if you want to talk.”♥
Mix-it-up Study Methods
Create a mural. Suggest that your child hang a big sheet of paper on a wall. On it, he can write and illustrate facts, concepts, and procedures he’s studying. Say his math test includes rounding numbers, he might write the rule (“If a number ends in 5–9, round up”) in big orange letters across the bottom and add examples in green going sideways up the mural. Let him design a new panel for each subject. He’ll have a handy study tool—and a colorful piece of art.
Play with clue cards. Encourage your youngster to make and play a card game with a study partner. He could write each concept on a separate index card and list three clues on the back. For “electric circuit,” clues might include “path,” “current,” and “conductor.” He can shuffle the cards and stack them clue sides up. Players take turns drawing a card, reading the clues, and saying what’s on the other side. Keep the card if you’re right—the person with the most cards wins.♥
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