How many times have you wanted to press rewind but you know this is not possible?
Children suffer from this longing as they often blurt things out and then wish they could take them back!
Sadly we can’t do this but we CAN learn from mistakes and re-group and get on track and start our lives again!
I believe we ALL need a re-start sometimes.
Children need to feel optimistic and feel they can get back on track.
We have written a transformational and very effective workshop to help children achieve this.
We call it RE-START and we have developed specific practical strategies to help children achieve this. We help them develop a sense of gratitude about themselves and what they already have and then we help them to set realistic goals.
We help them develop planning procedures and show them how to view life from the glass half full perspective.
Children are helped to become assertive, determine their strengths and weaknesses and to realise we are ALL smart! (But often in very different ways) All attending children are taken through a process to help them determine their stronger and weaker intelligences so they know how to strengthen their academic strengths by harnessing their strengths and talents!
We harness the image of the chick coming from the egg and show children that we can re-emerge with everything we already know.
Optimism can be taught but needs careful planning and persistence.
Both teachers and parents need to model optimistic behaviours by using positive language and actions. See this link for ideas to achieve this!
http://www.ahaparenting.com/parenting-tools/emotional-intelligence/optimism
There are great benefits to be had (for both children and parents) by adopting more optimistic outlooks. In our experience at ICE, children with positive outlooks are healthier, more resilient and tend to reach higher academic outcomes as they don’t allow negative self-talk to stop them!
http://stress.about.com/od/optimismspirituality/a/optimismbenefit.htm
Martin Seligman, the great expert in this area puts it so well:
“It’s a matter of ABC: When we encounter ADVERSITY, we react by thinking about it. Our thoughts rapidly congeal into BELIEFS. These beliefs may become so habitual we don’t even realize we have them unless we stop to focus on them. And they don’t just sit there idly; they have CONSEQUENCES.”
We believe these skills can be taught at an early age and will benefit children for the rest of their lives. Call us in Perth on 92714200 or email me on victoriacarlton@iinet.net.au for a comprehensive flyer about this course. Our next RE-START course will be held THIS Wed- 20-4-16
