talking to children (and faking emotions)

[Judy2]

i am currently doing an internship at a bilingual kindergarten and have been observing the children's behaviour and also the adults' ways of relating to them. what stands out is this very particular way of how adults talk to children, namely by exaggerating emotional responses (shock, surprise, disappointment, approval, and on and on). i mean it's nothing new and i do this myself....when a kid tells me a story about how it was hit by another kid or how that kid said a 'bad word', i fake/exaggerate outrage and compassion, and when it tells me where their family's gonna go on vacation, i fake/exaggerate fascination...whereas with an adult, i'd be more casual while expressing "yeah, Italy is beautiful" (something like that).

i guess there's nothing wrong with this and i know most adults interact with children this way - even though sometimes this entails overriding and even suppressing what's actually going on for them personally...think exhaustion, annoyance, worry, etc. in new parents.

now i wonder if this exaggerated emotional pattern is the only way of actually relating to children, essentially by copying how their experience is 'structured' as human beings who have been alive for only four, five, six years. i mean of course they are going to perceive things differently....but i wonder if exaggerating emotions is the only way for adults to relate to children, or if there are other options that may be more serious/authentic. 

would love to hear your thoughts on this, especially if we have any parents/aunties/uncles here:)

[kavaris]

3 minutes ago, Judy2 said:

..but i wonder if exaggerating emotions is the only way for adults to relate to children, or if there are other options that may be more serious/authentic.... would love to hear your thoughts on this, especially if we have any parents/aunties/uncles here

Honestly, most kids just speak to me and relate~regardless of whatever my response is, like... They live in their own world of beliefs and whatknot, and have zero worries.

[Leo Gura]

@Judy2 For you:

[Cred]

"Identify the 12 year old"

this is Epstein academy!

[Judy2]

@Leo Gura well now it all makes sense why duolingo taught me to say that the butterfly is reading a book and the caterpillar is sad.

[kavaris]

4 minutes ago, Judy2 said:

@Leo Gura well now it all makes sense why duolingo taught me to say that the butterfly is reading a book and the caterpillar is sad.

I always get the one with the "cat on the toilet" -Wtf.

[kavaris]

And if yous ever do Greek, then its always going over like: "spaghetti is pink... the cat is pink... the head of lettuce is pink... the movie theater is pink..." like... Thats its favorite thing on there, like. 

Edited 20 hours ago by kavaris

[tvaeli]

18 hours ago, Judy2 said:

i am currently doing an internship at a bilingual kindergarten and have been observing the children's behaviour and also the adults' ways of relating to them. what stands out is this very particular way of how adults talk to children, namely by exaggerating emotional responses (shock, surprise, disappointment, approval, and on and on). i mean it's nothing new and i do this myself....when a kid tells me a story about how it was hit by another kid or how that kid said a 'bad word', i fake/exaggerate outrage and compassion, and when it tells me where their family's gonna go on vacation, i fake/exaggerate fascination...whereas with an adult, i'd be more casual while expressing "yeah, Italy is beautiful" (something like that).

i guess there's nothing wrong with this and i know most adults interact with children this way - even though sometimes this entails overriding and even suppressing what's actually going on for them personally...think exhaustion, annoyance, worry, etc. in new parents.

now i wonder if this exaggerated emotional pattern is the only way of actually relating to children, essentially by copying how their experience is 'structured' as human beings who have been alive for only four, five, six years. i mean of course they are going to perceive things differently....but i wonder if exaggerating emotions is the only way for adults to relate to children, or if there are other options that may be more serious/authentic. 

would love to hear your thoughts on this, especially if we have any parents/aunties/uncles here:)

But look at both side of the things: if children *do* have comparatively "exaggerated" emotions, such as big surprise about an elephant: a lot more processing to do; an adult would need to "exaggerate" such emotion to point correctly, what they think about elephant - perhaps an adult is relatively calm, but thinks the child does not know how to behave and points that elephant is dangerous or elephants should be avoided.