Our kids have had an exceptionally bad hand dealt to them the past few months. Theyve been separated from their entire social structure, their classrooms and all sense of normalcy. And parents have certainly struggled (to put it mildly) to keep up. So how can parents use this time at home whatever that looks like to teach their children other important life skills and foster their emotional intelligence? Enter EQ Not IQ, a package from HuffPost Parenting.

For decades, parents searching for a clearer picture of their childrens supposed brainpower turned to IQ (intelligence quotient) tests.

Theyve largely fallen out of favor, partly because experts say they dont work but also because parents values in terms of what they want for their kids and expect of them have changed.

These days, more than 90% of American parents say it is important to them to raise kids who are caring. We want children who are emotionally stable and empathetic. We want kids who are equipped to deal with a difficult and ever-changing world.

In other words, move over IQ (yes, to a point). We want kids with high EQ.

Heres what parents need to know about the concept and how to get started.

EQ is all about emotional intelligence.

There isnt a clear-cut definition for what EQ (emotional quotient) actually means because its really a loose, unofficial term. But generally, when people talk about EQ, theyre talking about a persons emotional intelligence. And according to psychologist and science journalist Daniel Goleman, who helped popularize the term in the 1990s, emotional intelligence generally encompasses four domains : a persons self-awareness, their ability to self-manage, their social awareness, and their ability to manage relationships effectively.

Put even more simply? Emotional intelligence is all about having greater awareness of your emotions so that you can manage them more effectively, Korrel Kanoy, author of The Student EQ Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Your Academic and Personal Success, told HuffPost.

Because the whole concept of emotional intelligence is broad, there arent big, robust scientific studies that say having high EQ clearly leads to long-term benefits.

But theres plenty of anecdotal evidence that being self-aware and being able to work through tough emotions in a constructive way will only help kids throughout their lives.

The first step? Help kids identify their feelings.

One of the most powerful things parents and caregivers can do to help children foster emotional intelligence is simply to help them figure out what theyre feeling.

Old-school parenting said you tell your children Dont cry or Dont get mad but we now know that parents should do the exact opposite, Kanoy said. Of course they are going to get sad. They are going to get mad. Theyre human beings.

Instead of encouraging kids to just get over their feelings, parents should actively help them identify what theyre experiencing. And experts like Kanoy believe that practice of noticing and naming feelings can start at a really young age. If, for example, you have a toddler who is pouting because you told them no, point out that they look like theyre feeling angry or frustrated, she urged.