14th June 2024

THE RESILIENCE PROJECT - GEM CHATS

GEM chats are short activities or conversations that can help guide children to build their awareness of gratitude, empathy and mindfulness.

You might like to try some of these conversation starters at home. These GEM chats are designed to develop and build empathy.

SLEEP

In the previous newsletter, I included information about how devices can impact children's sleep. This issue, I continue the sleep theme, with more information about the importance of a good night's sleep for our children.

SLEEP TIPS FOR CHILDREN

Did you know that school aged children need 9-12 hours of sleep a night? Without enough sleep, children can be cranky, moody, hyperactive and have behaviour problems. They may also have difficulty with learning and paying attention at school. It is vital that parents prioritise a good night's sleep for their children, to ensure children can do their very best socially, emotionally and academically at school.

Establish a regular sleep pattern.
Regular hours of sleep are important. It will help your child understand when it is time to sleep. Also, your child will have better sleep. Bed time should not vary by more than an hour between school and non-school nights. The same goes for the time your child wakes up.
A consistent bedtime routine.
It is good to have the same routine before bed each night. This will help prepare for sleep. Quiet activities are good e.g. reading a book or being read to, or having a bath or shower. In the half hour before bed, there are some things you don't want your child to do. These are more active games, playing outside, TV, internet or mobile phone social networking and computer games.
Make sure the bedroom is comfortable.
The bedroom should be quiet, comfortable and dark. Some children like a night light. This is fine. Make sure your child sees the bedroom as a good place to be. You can help do this by not using it as a place for punishment.
Bed is for sleeping, not entertainment
TV, computers, mobile phones and other things that distract your child are not good for their sleep. Keep them out of the bedroom. 'Needing' the TV or YouTube to go to sleep is a bad habit. This can easily develop, but you don't want it to happen. It's also better if you can check on what your child is watching.
A snack before bed may help.
It's harder to sleep on an empty stomach. A light snack can help. Your child should not have a heavy meal within one to two hours of going to bed.
Caffeine is a stimulant.
Caffeine is found in many popular drinks. These include coffee, tea and cola soft drinks. It can make it harder to get to sleep. Your child should have as little of these as possible, and certainly not after lunchtime.
Exercise and time outside
Daily exercise is an important part of healthy living. It also promotes good sleep. Time spent in bright daylight does the same. Outdoor exercise achieves both things. However, it is best to steer clear of heavy exercise in the hour before sleep.

www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au

Katrina Spicer

Assistant Principal for Wellbeing and Inclusion

katrina.spicer@education.vic.gov.au

TEACHING CHILDREN THAT MISTAKES ARE OKAY

By Dr Justin Coulson

You won’t find a child more chuffed with themselves than a preschooler who is learning to write their own name. In the beginning, they courageously create a jumble of mixed-up letters and back-to-front S’s to piece together the first iteration of what will become their signature. Ver quickly, those mistakes lead to mastery, and they’re equipped with a skill they’ll use hundreds of thousands of times throughout their lives.

As our children grow, their fearlessness in the face of mistakes often gives way to a paralysing fear of failure. They become less willing to take risks, try new things, and broaden their experience because of the risk of not getting it ‘right’ straight away.

How do we help our kids overcome perfectionism and make friends with mistakes again?

Here are my top tips for parents and educators:

Talk it through

Whether it’s learning to ride a bike or writing a story, when a child shows reluctance to try before they start, ask them what they’re worried about. Give them the chance to share their fears and talk it through. Ask them, ‘What’s the worst thing that can happen?” Putting words around their fear can help contextualise and minimise it, making ‘the scary thing’ seem smaller and easier to handle.

Share your story

Younger children love to hear stories from their parents and trusted adults. Share a story with them of when you were scared, then tried, failed and learned something from making a mistake. You can make it funny to lighten the load and help diffuse their worry.

Resilience

Making mistakes and learning from mistakes helps children build resilience, which will stand them in good stead later in life. If they have tried, failed and then tried again, it helps them build confidence to tackle bigger, more daunting tasks down the track. Failure is not the enemy; failure to try is! Failure, ironically, can build success. As the saying goes, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, then try and try again.”

Reward the effort

If you have coached and coaxed your child or student into trying something new for the first time, or fi they have worked hard to conquer their fear, then regardless of the outcome, let them know they are champs for trying. This way, the reward is linked, not to whether they failed or succeeded, but to the effort they made in the first place. Being a ‘doer’ with a positive ‘at lease I tried’ attitude, will help children build a positive approach to tackling new activities and tasks later in life.

Practice makes perfect

Perfect is of course not needed but practice is important. Give children plenty of opportunity to keep trying their chosen activity, whether they’ve taken up a new sport, musical instrument or hobby, or whether they’re plucking up courage to make new friends at school. Help them stay positive and celebrate their achievements and learnings with them along the way. Whether they tell you this or keep it to themselves, kids love it when their parents, carers and teachers are their support team (and they’ll remember it later, too!)

UPCOMING WEBINAR

CHAMPIONING NEURODIVERSITY

Helping Your Child Thrive in a Neurotypical World

Monday 19 August | 7pm AEST

Life for a neurodiverse child is a journey of highs and lows, marked by the joy of mastering new skills and the challenges of setbacks. As their parent or teacher, your support is crucial.

Empower your school staff and parents with our “Championing Neurodiversity” webinar, designed specifically to equip parents and teachers with the knowledge and strategies they need to help neurodiverse children flourish.

Who is this webinar for?

This webinar is for educators, parents, and carers of children who are diagnosed as neurodiverse, are undergoing assessment, or are suspected to be neurodiverse.

Webinar Highlights:

Celebrate Unique Strengths: Recognise and nurture the unique strengths of neurodiverse children.
Support Individual Needs: Tailor support to meet the individual needs of each child.
Provide Behavioural and Emotional Support: Implement effective strategies for better behavioural and emotional support.
Improve Communication and Social Skills: Enhance communication and foster positive social interactions.
Build Resilience: Help neurodiverse children build resilience and confidence.
Encourage Collaboration and Advocacy: Promote collaboration and advocate for the needs of neurodiverse children.

Click on this link to join the Webinar.

https://schools.happyfamilies.com.au/championing-neurodiversity/

Our school subscription to Happy Families allows access to the Happy Families website to all members of our school community.

Families can access the Happy Families website at: https://schools.happyfamilies.com.au/login/whps

Password: happywhps

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