Page 34 - Whispering Squirrels

This story is about learning that our feelings and emotions are caused by what we tell ourselves about a situation. Our thinking can be rational, that is, based on what is really going on and is called Good Thinking or irrational, that is, based on inaccurate assumptions and beliefs that are not true and is called
Stinky Thinking.
You want to reward any evidence that your child understands this basic con-cept. Notice if they are attending to their thinking, able to determine if it is Good Thinking or Stinky Thinking and understand the correlation between thinking/emotions/behaviors.
This story is about learning that our feelings and emotions are caused by what we tell ourselves about a situation. Our thinking can be rational, based on what is really going on (Good Thinking or irrational, based on inaccurate assump-tions and beliefs that are not true (Stinky Thinking). You want to reward any evidence that your children understood the basic concept.
For example: If your child is doing their homework as instructed and verbalizes that “I want to do good on my test,” you can reward them for Good Thinking. In the opposite situation, a child not doing their work may verbalize, “It is too hard.” You question them, “Is that Good Thinking or Stinky Thinking.” If your child replies “Stinky” and is able to verbalize why it is stinky, reward him for his awareness. If he/she is able to come up with some alternative thinking, “If those others can do it so can I” or “If I just keep at it I will get it,” you can re-ward them again.
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