The Caring Child ~ Raising Empathetic and Emotionally Intelligent Children

How does one read the title and not want to dive right in??? 

When I open the pages of a Christine Fonseca book, I know I’m going to learn so much more than I thought possible! The Caring Child is an important and timely read for all parents.

With each chapter read, I gained a new perspective of the world’s latest generation. The iGen. They are the kids who began graduating from high school in 2013 and were the first ones to grow up with Smartphones. Though they are super connected via online activities, this does not translate into real-life competencies. Their vulnerabilities are on display in social interactions (or lack thereof); they complain of loneliness; and are vastly unprepared for the responsibilities associated with adulthood. It is the premise for a real-life dystopian future.

Parents of gifted and/or talented children tend to focus on academics or hours of practice or getting into the best schools. To what end? Having spent the last 20 years around folks in the gifted community, I can tell you the ability to experience empathy and have emotional intelligence far surpass an Ivy League degree any day.

Christine Fonseca

It is imperative that parents today create an environment of love and support; modeling behavior they want to be seen in their children. But that’s a tall order. The Caring Child is a toolbox of ideas on how this can be done.  Christine shares 4 distinct processes – emotional sharing, emotional mimicry, mental imagining of another’s emotions, and differentiating self and others. She delineates social-emotional learning skills as cognitive, social/relational, emotional, character, and mindsets. You will find many strategies to use to build these skills in her book.

We all want what’s best for our children, but this does not preclude building a better world for all. Take time to read The Caring Child and you will be able to accomplish both! You can order a copy here.

 

Portions of this post can be found in another post I wrote here.

Disclaimer: I received a pdf review copy of this book in connection with another project.