Advice for Parents – Helping your child to feel ‘Respected’

Information to help you in keeping your child feeling respected.

Respecting and responding to your child’s feelings

It is normal to feel stressed, overwhelmed or even scared in the current circumstances. You may also notice this in your children and be seeing a change in their behaviour. Some of the changes you might see are on the World Health Organisation website with some ideas of how to support children. Some other reasons children might be feeling this way, the reasons for each and how to manage them can be found using the link Barnardos – Talking About Feelings.

All behaviour is communication

Try speaking to them about how they are feeling. A helpful visual for this is an anger iceberg. You could also talk to them about different feelings and times you have felt happy, excited, sad, stressed or angry – at an age appropriate level. Advice on how to talk to children about feelings can be found on Barnardos – Talking About Feelings and for younger children, have a look on cbeebies. Remember that all feelings are ok but not all behaviours are.

Planning and working together

One of the key factors that can help your child develop is by ensuring that they are involved in decision making about them and that their opinions are listened to. This can help build their self-esteem. This can be done in lots of ways, including working together to plan routines, activities and what help they might need. Some ideas to help with this can be found on this Home Schooling site.

Showing gratitude

Showing appreciation should be done for each other in the home too as this supports emotional development. Some ways to do this can be through using a kindness calendar which can help children and young people show respect though learning about and carrying out kind acts.

Another way to practise gratitude is by scheduling time with your child to have a think about how to document this, and respecting the way in which they would like to. Some ideas and choices include making use of a gratitude journal.

Helping children to see and respect other people’s views

Children can also be supported with their emotional development through discussion that people might have differing thoughts, opinions and views about different situations. Lots of ideas for helping your child develop respectful relationships with others can be found on Kidscape.

Sometimes the use of social stories and conversations can be a great way to develop their ability to understand and relate to the positions of others, and be able to accept that others may have different opinions than them. These resources were developed for children with autism, however can be very useful for all children and young people.

Advice for Parents – Helping your child to feel ‘Nurtured’

Information to help you in keeping your child feeling nurtured

Being nurtured means that we feel cared for and important, and that our environment provides us opportunities and room to grow and develop. While routine and structure are always helpful, flexibility, creativity and tolerance are even more important right now, given our current circumstances The Covid 19 Five a Day link provides further information.

More than anything else, it’s important that children (and adults) are feeling safe and happy as we negotiate this unusual, and uncertain time together. Children tend to take their lead from the adults around them so don’t forget to take care of yourself! Mindful practices as suggested  on Headspace and Childmind can be helpful during stressful times for your wellbeing.  Key elements to think about as you plan your day (and your child’s) include having fun, taking time and space for yourself, developing kindness (to you and others), spending time interacting with others, and staying positive

Opportunities to connect and share with trusted others is key and conversation can be a great way of enhancing learning. You will find some ideas on the Video chatting to grandparents and grandchildren link. Finding even small ways that children and young people can contribute to others is also a good way of building their sense of accomplishment and keeping them connected to others.

Try to use positive language. Talk about what we CAN do to look after ourselves, our families and our communities.  We can stay in our houses, we can go for a walk each day, we can wash our hands regularly, we can keep in touch with friends and families with phones/technology, we can do our school work from home etc. rather than focusing on the things we CAN’T do.

Try to make having fun and playing a priority in your day where you can as we know how important this is for children’s development. Do what you can with home schooling but don’t worry about trying to replicate a complete school day or a full curriculum.  If we can find a way to view this time as an opportunity to develop some new skills, both in ourselves and in our children, that’s even better. Joining your child in their play can reduce the challenges of trying to get them to join you in your task. Please visit Bright Horizons for more ideas.

If you find yourself becoming frustrated, or see this in your children, it’s helpful to remember that unexpected reactions, irritability and boredom are common and to be expected, given that our movements and activities are unnaturally curtailed. Childmind offers advice and support to families. Understanding and kindness to others (and towards yourself!) might be all that is needed. Remember that even though fall outs are probably inevitable at this time, it is the making up and mending of relationships that’s the important part of relationships.

Helpful information on how to encourage your child to be active

Staying active is important for our physical and mental wellbeing.

Getting Outdoors – currently the government advises we can go outside once a day for exercise, providing your household is free from coronavirus symptoms. You and your child can go for a local walk, bike ride, or run.  You could look out for rainbows and pictures in neighbour’s windows. When outdoors you need to be very careful and keep two metres away from other people who don’t live in your home. Make sure your child understands what two metres distance from other people means, keeping in mind your child’s age and stage of development. For example, show them physically what two metres looks like by counting how many steps it takes to make two metres.

Staying indoors – over long periods of time, this can become boring or stressful which can impact on our physical and mental wellbeing. Try to think about ways in which your family can be physically active indoors as well; building an obstacle course, hide and seek, dancing, helping with chores around the house, joining in with The Body Coach. Relaxation activities such as those on  Cosmic Kids Yoga and Calm Zone  will help children stay calm, active and enjoy time together with you.

Keeping active minds – one way this can be achieved is through play, fun activities or games such as puzzles, board games, work from school, colouring, playing cards, magic tricks, arts and crafts, eye spy etc. Spending lots of free time indoors can be used as an opportunity to start a new hobby or build on a new skill for you or your child and help add structure to the day. For example, involve your child in baking or learning to cook a meal, planning a family trip for the future, completing a puzzle or read together with your child. This can help you and your family connect, bond, and have fun together.  It is important for children to experience success and receive praise and acknowledgement for hard work and effort.

Use of Technology – consider how you can use screen time/technology in alternative ways. There is a range of resources available online for children of different ages and for parents/carers as another way to connect and keep active. For example, you can take a virtual tour together with your child to explore museums and historical/educational sites on  Virtual Tours, access books through the  Open Library  or visit zoos across the world using the link Zoo Live Streams to learn about animals, plants and insects   Try to have conversations about what you are both seeing to help your child develop their understanding and giving them a sense of achievement from their activities.