WELLBEING

Prep Wellbeing Sessions

It has been an absolute delight getting to know the prep students and I look forward to building my relationship with them.

The prep children have begun wellbeing sessions by building on their emotional vocabulary. Big feelings can be very tricky for young children to navigate, especially when their understanding of emotions is limited to sad, happy, and mad. We have done lots of practice demonstrating and identifying emotions, including frustrated, excited, hopeful, exhausted, shy, annoyed, confused, worried, panicked, and furious just to name a few! You can support your child at home to further develop their vocabulary by naming your own emotions throughout the day and supporting them to be more specific in identifying their feelings.

We have also been exploring the impact emotions have on us. Some feelings make us feel good, while others are harder to have and can make us feel yucky. It’s okay to have all feelings, that’s normal. 

Students have begun to explore the brain and what it helps us do in simple terms – think, move, feel, see, and balance. They then begun looking at the upstairs & downstairs brain model. This model is a simplified version of what the older students in the school have been learning. Recognising which part of the brain is in control can help regulate our emotions and make good decisions. They learned to use their hand to model the brain so they have a concrete example they can refer too (see images below).

This short video and article help explain in more detail:

ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bKuoH8CkFc

https://momentousinstitute.org/blog/upstairs-and-downstairs-brain

You can support your child’s emotional regulation at home by helping them to identify when their upstairs or downstairs brain is in control.

As the term progresses preps will further explore the need to listen to their body, and the physical signs it gives us, so they can recognise early signs that their feelings are becoming big! They will also investigate calming strategies and ways they can get their upstairs brain working again. 

Some simple calming ideas can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP1hRu3HROw

Nicki Chalmers