Wellbeing

Resilience is the ability to ‘bounce back’ after challenges and tough times. Children build resilience over time through experience. You can help your child learn skills and develop resilience by having a warm, supportive, communicative relationship with them.

Children who are resilient can recover from setbacks and get back to living their lives more quickly. And when children overcome setbacks and problems, it builds their confidence and helps them feel more capable the next time a problem comes up.

Resilient children are often good at solving problems and learning new skills. This is because they’re more willing to try again even if things don’t go the way they want the first time.

Some ways we can increase resilience in our children and students:

1. Make connections - Teach your child the importance of engaging and connecting with their peers, including the skill of empathy and listening to others.
2. Maintain a daily routine - Sticking to a routine can be comforting to children, especially younger children who crave structure in their lives. Work with your child to develop a routine, and highlight times that are for school work and play. 
3. Take a break - While some anxiety can motivate us to take positive action, we also need to validate all feelings. Talk about big feelings and ask questions like; why do you think you feel that way? How does that emotion make you feel on the inside? What can I do to help you feel safe right now? Don’t be afraid to let your child feel uncomfortable feelings, just sit there with them. 
4. Nurture a positive self-view - Help your child remember ways they have successfully handled hardships in the past and help them understand that these past challenges help build the strength to handle future challenges.
5. Look for opportunities for self-discovery - Tough times are often when children learn the most about themselves. Help your child look for the strength in a perceived weakness. 

Below is link to a very short video about a teacher who changed a young boy’s life by taking what everyone else saw as a weakness, and viewing it as a strength. The Year 5/6 students have loved talking about this story recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p5286T_kn0

Children learn about resilience from watching how you and other important people in their lives respond to tough times and setbacks. When your child sees you try again, let go of anger, or think positively in difficult situations, they learn that they can do the same. 

As always, I am available via compass if you have any questions or would like to chat with me about anything wellbeing related. You can also email me at louise.jarvis@education.vic.gov.au.

Have a lovely Easter break,

Louise Jarvis