Newsletter 11

• Some children’s personalities are upfront about communicating their emotions, whilst others may not have the skills or choose not to share.
• Rather than thinking of children as little people who are in the process of becoming fully grown adults, many global child development experts suggest that we think of them as full human beings in their own right: We need to fully recognize children, in each stage of their development, as having unique needs and skills, as well as personal voices that deserve to be listened to with respect and empathy.
• The rights of children include a variety of communication rights: the right to be heard and to be taken seriously; to free speech and to information; to maintain privacy; to develop cultural identity; and to be proud of one’s heritage and beliefs.

This coming week, is the last week of school for many, important milestones of transitioning up to secondary school, to starting primary, between year groups, or moving on in other ways.

Managing and communicating about change is going to be important now more than ever.

Children need:

• To know they are loved and safe
• To develop positive feelings about themselves and others
• To know that the range of emotions and fears they have are normal
• To feel good about new learning and experiences
• To develop resilience by learning to “bounce back” and to seek help

 Parent Top Tips:

Help your children by:

• Use loving tones and simple language
• Model a spirit of inquiry and desire to learn
• Model safe exploration, curiosity and confidence in new-found skills
• Be playful and portray learning through play
• Use lots of repetition, rhythm and song
• Present and reinforce daily healthy self-care habits
• Encourage activities: singing, clapping, dancing, movement
• Involve “question and answer” interactions and encourage talk
• Present children with simple choices and expressing their creative opinions

Children need:

• To nurture positive feelings about themselves, others and the larger world
• To explore and test their own ideas, skills and talents
• To be guided in using their potential in positive ways
• To have their feelings and worries understood and respected

Parent Top Tips:

Help your children by:

• Offering child-centred stories and characters
• Portray learning as an opportunity to develop new, interesting skills and talents
• Use strategies e.g., brain teasers, riddles, tongue twisters, etc. to help with
• Model pro-social actions such as kindness, conflict resolution and caring about others
• Talk and give examples of children making a difference in their own and other’s lives, even in difficult circumstances (realistic heroines and heroes)
• Present and discuss stories about friendship, loyalty and “doing the right thing” – TV and social media is a great tool for this

Children need:

• To nurture positive feelings about themselves, others and the larger world
• To explore and test their own ideas, skills and talents
• To be guided in using their potential in positive ways
• To have their feelings and worries understood and respected

Parent Top Tips:

Help your children by:

• Offering child-centred stories and characters
• Portray learning as an opportunity to develop new, interesting skills and talents
• Use strategies e.g., brain teasers, riddles, tongue twisters, etc. to help with
• Model pro-social actions such as kindness, conflict resolution and caring about others
• Talk and give examples of children making a difference in their own and other’s lives, even in difficult circumstances (realistic heroines and heroes)
• Present and discuss stories about friendship, loyalty and “doing the right thing” – TV and social media is a great tool for this

Children need:

• To be informed and guided into adult life, including about behaviours that put them at risk and about responsible sexual behaviours
• To have strong, positive role models with high moral standards
• To have recognition and respect of their opinions and ideas
• To be allowed to learn from mistakes and correct self-destructive behaviours

Parent top tips:

• Present and discuss divergent points of view, opinions and perspectives
• While presenting growing independence, continue to portray positive parentchild relationships/nurturing adult-child relationships, which means still showing them you are on your side
• Talk about issues of concern to their particular age group (substance abuse, unprotected sex, violence, romantic relationships, bullying and discrimination, friendships), not always related to them, but generally, then they will know it is ok to discuss these things with you
• Talk respectfully and not didactically: Do not “talk down”
• Use a lot of humour and creativity

Children need:

• To be informed and guided into adult life, including about behaviours that put them at risk and about responsible sexual behaviours
• To have strong, positive role models with high moral standards
• To have recognition and respect of their opinions and ideas
• To know they are loved and safe
• To be allowed to learn from mistakes and correct self-destructive behaviours
• They are still not adults, they are still learning

Parent top tips:

• Present and discuss different opinions,
• Model safe exploration, curiosity and confidence in new-found skills
• Talk respectfully and not didactically: Do not “talk down”
• Use a lot of humour and lots of praise, verbally, through text and social media channels
• Involve “question and answer” interactions and encourage talk
• Present children with simple choices, their brain is going through massive change and they can be impulsive
• Stay present and connected –spend time with them, they still need you

If you have any ideas to share or want to keep up to date with the latest workshops/courses/or support then visit our Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/552150055488898/

To book on these or any of the workshops/courses we have on offer then click the link: https://aclessex.com/community-family-learning-online/.

Please feel free to share with any resident of Essex.