We now know that children need more than academics to help them succeed; they need emotional readiness. How can parents help nurture their child’s feelings and emotions? They can tune into them from day one and practice what experts call “emotion coaching.”

Here are some tips for emotion coaching:

• Learn your baby’s cues and respond to them. Is she wet? Hungry? Tired?
• Imitate your baby’s expressions and babble back when she coos and makes sounds. This helps validate her feelings.
• Help your child understand her emotions by talking about them: “I know you are sad that I’m leaving for a while, but I’ll be back very soon.”
• Tell her it’s OK to talk about her feelings.
• Help your child find solutions for dealing with emotions such as anger or sadness.
• Teach her self-control by helping her understand which behaviors are acceptable and how the way she acts affects others.