Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director Kornmehl

Shavu’ot

What a wonderful celebration we had on Tuesday, all dressed in our bright, colourful clothing and beautiful garlands in our hair.

All three groups gathered in the Dream Room, danced and sang some songs. We then ventured outdoors where we had a parade in our beautiful garden, all holding our boxes of Bikkurim. We did a Mitzvah by putting our collection of food products into crates which were donated to Oz Harvest.

Fruit salad was served on the deck at morning tea time. For lunch, we enjoyed some macaroni and cheese, followed by some delicious ice cream. Thank you again to the following parents who helped prepare for the celebration – Mrs Sharon Miller, Mrs Carli Rothman, Mrs Naama Merritt and Mrs Jasmine Ingbar. Our wonderful parents did the shopping, made the fruit salad and cooked delicious macaroni and cheese…Yummm! This was enjoyed by us all. We hope you all enjoyed a lovely Shavu’ot with your families.

Baby Packs

We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and support from Kornmehl Pre-school, Emanuel School and many other Pre-schools and Long Day Care Centres in the wider community for our Baby Pack project. The packs that have come in have been so well-stocked and we are sure that any expectant Aboriginal mums will be very grateful to receive the packs. I personally thank everyone for their generous support of this worthwhile project. To date we have collected 500 Baby Packs and we still have a few more to come. We have delivered them all to Gunawirra, who are delighted and so very appreciative of the support they have received. Many thanks to Mrs Evelyn Marczak, Mrs Janice Eliovson, Mrs Danielle Berger and Mrs Samantha Schwartz for coming in to help me pack and sort the Baby Packs. Here are a few photos of the Baby Packs.

Building Resilience – Part 2

Tips for building caring relationships

Give attention and affection – lots of smiles and hugs. This makes your children feel secure, loved and accepted.
Play with your children. Playing together is a great way for you to connect, get to know them better and have fun. It’s also a great way for children to develop physical, imagination and social skills.
Comfort your children. When children are hurt or frightened, sad or angry, being comforted helps them feel as if they’re not alone with their big feelings. They will feel closer to you and learn healthy ways to comfort themselves and others as they get older.
Listen with interest to your children’s feelings, thoughts and ideas. This lets them know you think what they have to say is important.
Show empathy. Empathy means seeing things from other people’s point of view. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with them. It just means that you are letting them know you understand how they feel. When children feel understood, it’s easier for them to try to understand others. Empathy is the foundation for developing caring relationships with other people.
Help your children identify and express their feelings (glad, sad, mad, scared, etc.). Point out that other people have these feelings, too.
Reduce TV time. Experts recommend that children under 2 years should not watch any TV. Children between 2-4 years should watch less than 1 hour per day. Instead, find things to do that build your relationship, like reading together or going to the park.
Read or tell your children stories about people who show compassion, kindness and understanding for others.

Being a Positive Role Model

Young children copy what others say and do. Parents and other adults can learn to be positive role models by handling difficult situations with resilience.

When parents stay calm and flexible in dealing with life’s challenges, they are teaching their children positive ways to handle stress.

Tips for being a positive role model

Take care of your health. Show children that it is important to eat healthy foods, get enough sleep and exercise regularly. These reduce daily stress. They give us the mental and physical strength to deal with more serious challenges.
Show understanding, compassion and kindness. Imagine what it is like to walk in other people’s shoes.
Take three deep breaths when you’re stressed. Breathe in slowly to the count of three and then breathe out slowly to the count of three. Repeat three times to relax your body and get control of your emotions.
Be in charge of your emotions. It is OK to have all kinds of feelings. It is healthy to express them in constructive ways.
Be patient. Keep on trying even when things are frustrating. Show patience with your children when they are trying.
Let go of being perfect. Remember mistakes are just part of learning.
Stop and re-think. When things go wrong, try not to jump to conclusions. Ask yourself: “How else can I think about this?” “What parts can I control?” “What else can I do?” Take a moment before you respond.
Take responsibility for your own feelings and actions in front of your children: “Oops, I just made a mistake on this, but I can make up for it by doing…” or “I’m sorry I yelled at you. Next time, I’m going to stop and calm down before I speak.”
Use humour. It reduces stress and helps us look at challenging situations with a positive outlook.
Stay positive. Enjoy simple pleasures. Look for the upside to challenges. This encourages us to keep trying. It also helps us learn from these experiences.
Reach out for support. Everyone needs help sometimes.
Reach out to help others who are going through difficult times.

Taken from – Building resilience in Young Children – A booklet for parents from birth to six years

www.beststart.org/resources/hlthy_chld_dev/pdf/BSRC_Resilience_English_fnl.pdf

Kornmehl Movie Night

A reminder to reserve Sunday 18 June for our exciting Kornmehl movie night from 5:00pm to 7.30pm in the MPH. Tickets are available by clicking on the link below:

www.trybooking.com/QEWT