Are you ready for return to school?

Are you ready for return to school?

How do you feel about the kids going back to school? Are you counting down the minutes until you drop them at the school gates or will you miss spending time with them?

Children are like little sponges they soak up whatever knowledges i around them and of course a large percentage of what we learn is not formally taught. So many essential life skills do not feature on the National Curriculum; focus and self control, perspective taking, communicating, making connections, critical thinking, taking on challenges and self-directed, engaged learning. What things did your kids learn from you this summer? Maybe they saw you being kind or forgiving or being a good friend? Maybe they watched you take time out to relax and read a book.

I’ve become more aware of how children build up their “reserves.” What I mean by “reserves” is the strategies that kids have to deal with disappointment or upset. As a psychotherapist I’m aware of how adults often flounder when challenged in life and resort to often unhelpful coping strategies of old. I see people get angry or frustrated and end up acting out either shouting or shutting down.

By learning positive coping strategies you can choose better ways to deal with situations. One of my favourite mottos is “it’s not what happens to you in life , but how you react to it.” Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. My passion for teaching kids skills for life has lead to me creating a Brain Train Me after school club. The club will be based on the principles of developing a growth mindset, this way of thinking facilitates children to develop resources such as grit, resilience, kindness and perseverance.

The after-school club will focus on one theme a week and give Key Stage One pupils the opportunity to test out a resource, that they can carry forward into the rest of their schooling as well as into their adult life. By equipping people with more choices around how to manage emotions in order to cope with stressful situations or disappointments, Brain Train Me will play a part in shaping a more emotionally intelligent community.

So if there is one thing that you do this academic term … be mindful of the skills you equip your kids with to deal with life.

If you are interested in the after school club … get in touch!