Ruler

Identifying emotions in ourselves and others allows us to:

• Better understand others
• Have positive social interactions
• Work well in groups
• Know when children need emotional support

Knowing the cause of our own feelings and that an event may cause
different emotional reactions in each person allows us to:

• Anticipate, manage, or prevent unwanted feelings in ourselves and others
• Promote wanted feelings in ourselves and others
• Support children’s emotional needs

Knowing feeling words allows us to:

• Communicate our feelings
• Appropriately manage our feelings
• Help children learn new vocabulary to express their feelings

Learning how to display our feelings helps us to:

• Appropriately act in social situations
• Properly model social behavior for children

Developing strategies to manage feelings allows us to:

• Be more effective in reaching our goals
• Feel more, less, or the same of an emotion
• Make wise choices about how we respond to emotional situations

The Mood Meter is a tool to build emotional awareness and understanding. Everyone in the family can get involved by agreeing to check in with themselves and each other on the Mood Meter. First, you ‘plot’ your feelings in one of the quadrants, then think about the specific name of that feeling. Next you can reflect on what caused you to feel that way, and consider the consequences of that feeling. You can choose a strategy to maintain your mood or to shift it. And you can share your feeling, understanding and strategies with everyone in the family!

The Family Charter is an agreement about how family members want to feel as part of family life. The Family Charter names specific behaviors likely to evoke and support those feelings, and includes constructive ways of handling conflict. It is a powerful tool to encourage personal and social responsibility to work together towards creating the kind of emotional climate that everyone wants. The Family Charter is creatively displayed, signed by everyone in the family, and revisited often over time.

The Meta Moment is a tool for prolonging the space in time between when you feel triggered by something or someone and when you respond to that trigger.

This 6-step ‘mindful’ process, in addition to slowing us down for the moment, helps each of us to build character by invoking an image of our Best Self. By identifying what “triggers” us, and what we are like when we are our Best Selves, we can be proactive about developing thought and action strategies that align with our values and meet our larger goals.

The Blueprint is a tool for helping family members to develop empathy and perspective. Using questions anchored in the skills of emotional intelligence, the Blueprint encourages both children and adults to consider one another’s thoughts and feelings when resolving conflicts or differences, and to identify constructive solutions. Used effectively, the Blueprint builds compassion and trusting relationships within the family, and engenders optimism in the challenging moments of everyday family life.