Read aloud the book titled “Akku’s Very, Very Bad Days” photo taken by Wiwit.
The world of children is synonymous with fun times, playing carefree. However, it turns out that not all children experience this happy period. My daily life with children, practicing my skills in observing changes in their behavior when interacting reinforces this point. For example, they are usually active and cheerful, but sometimes suddenly become quiet and irritable.
Through reading aloud from a book titled “Akku’s Very, Very Bad Days”, a duration of 1.5 hours with children aged 5-6, we learn to validate emotions, unravel the violence experienced, and help children learn how to take better care of themselves.
Please read the Read Aloud Books
When children see a picture of a book cover, they may say, “Why is she angry?”. Then our conversation continues using a story guide: I wonder what happened? What made Akku angry? What did her father do? and What makes Akku feel better?
Then we wrote a journal about “One incident that made me sad”. After a while, the instruction continued, “Please give the colors you saw at that time; Who was there; and What sound did you hear?”
When finished, we returned to the big circle to share about our journals. The children took turns showing their pictures while telling stories about their experiences in their journals. These include, “This is when my mother scolded me”, “This is when I can’t play and my toys are hidden”, “This is when I was locked in my room”, etc. When telling their stories, some children’s voice volume decreased, while some looked indifferent and angry.
When children start to get too deeply emotional, we do a grounding by looking at pictures where Akku makes movements to discharge her emotions. Simultaneously, the children imitate her. We move, make sounds, jump, and change seats. The atmosphere brightens again, and they start to look cheerful. They continue their story by saying that to get better I drank milk, slept, played with my brother, etc.
Children sometimes have difficulty understanding and expressing their emotions. Through reading aloud, they are heard, expressing painful events without blame. and learn to deal with emotions.
I realize that the role of adults who are willing to listen, who respond by recognizing the pain the children are experiencing, is very important, because it makes children more open to expressing their feelings and expressing them in a healthy way.
We make a journal about “One incident that made me sad” Photo taken by Wiwit