From the school psychologist

Supporting your child’s wellbeing at home 

Supporting your child’s wellbeing and mental health is important for healthy development. It also helps boost your child’s self-esteem and helps them feel loved, supported, safe, and secure. Importantly, it doesn’t require big changes or complicated routines. To support your child’s wellbeing day to day, it can be helpful to focus on the small, consistent moments at home that help children feel safe, connected, and ready to learn. In the last newsletter, I wrote about a few strategies as a starting point, including ideas around emotions, routines, and opportunities for connection. Here are a few more ways you can nurture wellbeing at home in everyday life.

Encouraging children to try things on their own 

Supporting your child to try tasks independently helps build their autonomy, resilience, and confidence. It also fosters a growth mindset. You can assist your child by breaking tasks into small steps, praising effort rather than perfection, and allowing them to make choices independently when appropriate.

Modelling healthy coping strategies

Children learn by watching the adults around them. Modelling your own coping strategies helps your child understand that emotions are a normal part of daily life and that they can be managed. You can do this by talking about your feelings in an age‑appropriate way (using “I feel…” language), modelling calm problem‑solving, and demonstrating strategies you use to regulate, such as taking slow breaths, reading a book, using calm communication, or taking a short break.

Prioritising rest and downtime 

As discussed in a previous article, good sleep hygiene practices are important for supporting healthy sleep. Children also need downtime to support emotional regulation and overall wellbeing. In addition to sleep routines, it can be helpful to encourage unstructured play, quiet or relaxation time, and monitoring screen time. 

When families and schools work together, children feel supported by the people around them. Small, everyday actions at home can make a big difference in helping children feel calm, confident, and connected.