Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director Kornmehl

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 and so). 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 3 deep breaths when you’re stressed. Breathe in slowly to the count of 3 and then breathe out slowly to the count of 3. Repeat 3 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

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

Go Go Healthy

A reminder that on Sunday we have our exciting social event and fundraiser for the Pre-school – Go Go Healthy. The morning promises to be fun, physical and enjoyable for the whole family. There is still time to get your tickets before Sunday morning if you haven’t yet booked them.

The link is https://tinyurl.com/HealthyKids2018

Tickets can also be purchased on the day at the event – $30 per family.