Lead
Ask a first-grader "how did you feel?" and you tend to get two options: "fun" or "bad." Ask the same child at fourth grade, and you might get: "it's kind of frustrating, but since losing wasn't my fault, I feel like being angry doesn't quite fit — it's complicated."
This shift is not random. It is the product of a developing emotional vocabulary. Understanding the differentiation and increasing complexity of emotion that unfolds during the school years (ages 7–12) can change how you respond to a child who "can't say how they feel."