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Raising a resilient child in this day and age will be very important since the world is constantly evolving every day. As much as this evolution brings about new opportunities and betterment to life, they will also face challenges in the future. Therefore, for the sake of their future, resilience is a very important skill for them to adopt as a child to benefit from its fruit later on. Resilience is comprised of a few components. In this article, we will be discussing perseverance, daringness, and self-reliance.
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Be Careful Not To Overprotect Your Child
As much as your child will always be your baby in your eyes, always remember that always wanting to protect them will hinder the growth of a resilient child. Expose them to life challenges as much as possible — of course, those that they can handle, so that they are given the chance to practice the skills learnt. A simple example could be to allow them to go on small errands while you wait for the nearby or go to the playground without much surveillance on your part. Give them the freedom and liberty to make decisions and watch them grow.
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Let Them Make Mistakes
Aligning to the above mentioned, allow them to make mistakes. Do not step in right away to stop them - if not they will never get to learn the consequences of their behaviour. Besides, they will also never get to learn how to address the consequences of this behaviour. This will hinder their decision making in the future when you are not there to advise them. Failure is an important process in life to teach them perseverance and how to cope with the situation. If they have never experienced even the slightest failure, how will they be able to make it through these the outside world in the future?
Help Children Develop Various Coping Mechanisms
When faced with uncomfortable emotions, it may make it difficult for them to keep going and not feel overwhelmed by the situation, which is completely normal. Even as adults, we tend to experience stress in day to day life. Practising various coping mechanisms like taking deep breaths, taking a walk, doing a hobby, or speaking about their emotions as clearly as possible will help them to identify and address them accordingly. Step in and ask them questions like “how can I help you” or “What is troubling you” these are some suggestions for you to use when helping them cope with the situation - essentially the 5Ws and 1Hs.
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It Is Alright To Ask For Help
To achieve resiliency, asking for help and support when necessary will be beneficial because it may not necessarily be the easiest task to bounce back from a setback. Remind them that it is alright to get a little help and be supportive in their journey towards resiliency. Model the behaviour of asking for help as it is not exactly easy to do so for everyone, hence they might need a little guidance on it. A simple way could be to ask the staff at the grocery when you are trying to find an item but to no avail and you need that little help from someone who knows more about the store layout.
Have Your Child Help Others
Give your child the responsibility of helping someone other than just themselves. Have them help around the house or ask for their opinions on things around the house. For example, a planned family outing was cancelled due to unforeseen weather. In such a situation, ask them what they would do to address this challenge. Give them guiding questions whenever they seem to require a little nudge. This will give them the chance to make wise decisions and be responsible for the decision they made regarding a challenge.
Exercise — Play A Sport
Sports can teach plenty when it comes to resilience. Do it together with your child and have fun. Besides strengthening the brain, exercising can help maintain stress levels and also help children learn about pushing themselves to reach a goal. Training for a sport and seeing its fruits bear will strengthen the mentality that they can overcome barriers and achieve the goals they set.
Praise Them Well
Focus on the process and praise them accordingly. In particular, focus on strategies, progress, and effort. Things like letting them know that you are aware of their effort or acknowledging a new feat they have made are examples of praises you can give out to your child. When factors like having a supportive family, a good rest, balanced meals, caring educators in a child’s life they are more likely to be more adaptable and resilient individuals. When faced with adversity, they will be better able to face it in the future.
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Blk 433 Tampines Street 43 #01-63/65 S(520433)
Nurture Infant House (2 to 18 months infants)
Blk 433 Tampines Street 43 #01-61 S(520433)
Opening hours: Monday to Friday (7am to 7pm) & Saturday (7am to 2pm)
Public Bus services: 8 / 21 / 28 / 29 / 293