Helping children after stressful events with John Cowan

 

Based on a resource John Cowan wrote for parents after the Canterbury earthquake, this video gives advice that will help with children who have been upset by any stressful episode: an accident, bereavement, a spell in hospital, relocation or a family disruption. Much of the advice will also be useful to ease the general anxiety that children sometimes experience as they grow up – and might even help adults with their stress as well! 

This webinar is free and is only 20 minutes long...

Incredible Years - parenting course

Today we received this pamplet and referral form for a programme called The Incredible Years. This programme is a parenting course which I think would be really interesting and useful for any parent.

Incredible Years is a 12-16 week parenting programme for parents of children aged 3-8 years. It involves weekly sessions of around two hours. Over the weeks, parents develop strategies to build positive relationships with their children and to manage problem behaviours. They come to group sessions each week, talk through what has, or hasn’t worked, set goals for what they want to happen and ways to achieve those goals during the following week.

Topics covered include:

• how to play/spend special time together
• praising and rewarding children
• communicating positively
• setting limits
• dealing with disobedience, selectively using distractions, ignoring, time out and other penalties
• helping children to problem-solve.

For more information check this link on the MInistry of Education web site...

This programme is a research-based and proven as effective in helping reduce children's aggression and behavior problems and increasing social competence at home and at school. Here is the main Incredible Years web site... which also has this area with links and articles just for parents.

Downloads:

• Pamplet 
• Referral form

Parent Talk Time - Korero Mai "Coping with Stress"

Our thanks to Dr Jay McClean for his time and expertise in leading last weeks first Parent Talk Time session. Click here to download Jay's notes from the session.

During this session, Dr Jay covered a number of fascinating and informative ideas relating to stress:

• What is stress? Good and bad stress.
• How stress affects performance.
• Indicators of stress
• Stress management techniques.

If you would like us to offer this session one evening, please let us know and we'll see what we can do.

Parent Talk Time - Coping with Stress

Parents Inc Hot Tips - free seminars

This is just in from Alison one of our lovely parents - thanks Alison for sharing this excellent resource for parents.

Parents Inc Hot Tips,  their email that came out last night says that they are making all their webinars free for a limited time.  The topics are:

Boomerang kids-living with adult children with John Cowan

Dads and daughters with Ian Grant

Going the distance in your relationship with Jenny & Stuart

How to deal with angry children with John Cowan

Mums and sons with Ian Grant

My child the lawyer with Amanda Pilbrow

Preparing for adolesence with John Cowan

The perfectionist child with Jenny Hale

Parenting Tip - Play and Pack Up

I have a confession when writing this tip - this is something my wife Angela and I do at home which we believe helps our Isabella learn to become independent, but we also do it for our own sanity! Given that, we got this trick from our nanny and I think it is a real cracker.

Whenever our child is playing with lots of toys we get her to pack up one toy before bringing out the next. Over time this encourages her to tidy as she goes. She is now, at three, starting to do this by herself. It has taken quite a lot of work from Angela and myself as well as consistency between us.

As a classroom teacher, it can be hard work when children do not know how to tidy or pack up after themselves, of course, Isabella having two teachers for parents is possibly a tricky one in some ways!!

Parenting Tip - Providing Choice

Here is a great parenting tip I came across this week:

When you want your child to do something he may not be excited about doing (homework, a chore, etc.) negotiate a time with him or her. For example: Your child is playing with lego on the floor. You say, "You need to practice piano. Would you like to do it now or in ten minutes? Okay, in 10 minutes it will be 5:30." [Source: www.wholefamily.com]

This led me to reflect on the nature of a conversation such as this. I'm sure most parents can relate to the sorts of negotiation this quote implies when thinking about their own children growing up! Indeed my 3-year old Isabella is gaining in her ability to negotiate quite quickly!

The importance of providing children with choice is crucial in helping them gain independence over their own ideas and their environment. One of the most important tasks we have at the start of the school year is to provide children with opportunities to develop how their classroom will run. 

If you go into any of our amazing classrooms, you will see examples of what might be called 'rules', or 'charters', or 'norms'. These are guidelines which teachers and children have developed together as part of establishing both how the classroom will run, but also how people will treat one another. One of the great things about this is that every class may have done this in a different way.

This is, in my view, best practice for creating the environment which every child can take ownership over and learn within throughout the year.

Hot Tips for Parents Seminar March 10

HOT TIPS for PARENTS SEMINAR

Aurora Centre, Burnside High School

Wednesday March 10

30 January 2010

Dear Rob

We are pleased to announce that Ian Grant of Parents Inc alongside guest MC Jason Gunn, will be presenting a one evening Hot Tips for parents seminar on Wednesday March 10 at 7.30 in The Aurora Centre at Burnside High.

These evenings have proved very popular in the past. Since 1994 over 182,000 parents have attended Parents Inc’s Hot Tips seminars.  It will be an opportunity for parents to collect fresh ideas and new skills in a relaxed and non-threatening environment.

It would be appreciated if you could encourage parents from your school to attend by:

·       Putting a notice in your newsletter

·       Placing posters on notice boards

·       Making flyers available at your office

The seminars are designed to provide heaps of fun and humour and will be suitable for all parents of children aged 1 through to 15.

We approached several local businesses that have generously provided sponsorship, and have some funds available if you know of parents who would like to attend but can’t afford to. 

Tickets will be available from all Postie Plus stores throughout Christchurch and Rangiora. The nearest one to Burnham School is Hornby Mall, phone: 349 7054 

For further information call 03 323 7196.

Your support is very much appreciated.

Yours sincerely

Marion Milner

Hot Tips Seminar Team

PS   The cost for the one night seminar will be $15 per person.

Parenting Tip - Routine

Now is the time for routine - the kids will be tired after a holiday with late nights, etc.

One way you can help your child ease back into school is by getting those after school and bedtime routines back in place - perhaps even get them helping make their

lunches!