Today’s forum focused on how we can support our children’s social and emotional wellbeing as they navigate change and transition. The session was led by our counseling team, Ms. Sekai and Ms. Catherine.
We began by discussing some key terms including… Transitions/Change and Social-Emotional Wellbeing.
And went on to consider our school year’s theme: Thrive, taking time in groups to discuss and define the following questions:
- What does THRIVE look like for you?
- Why do we need to THRIVE?
We went on to consider various changes (country, school, grade, friends, home etc) that we are experiencing at the moment, personally and as a family, and the feelings and emotions that emerge during these transitions.
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The counselors shared some information about the emotional impact of change including a reminder that our brains do not fully develop until the age of 25, the various ways in which stress manifests, and signs to watch out for in our children.
We then went back to consider what we as parents need to thrive, looking back at the group’s pervious definition of thrive and exploring and sharing what helps us to thrive. Some ideas shared included finding something that helps ground us (e.g. spend time in nature) and identifying our personal support network. The importance is for us to ensure we are personally thriving so that we can support our children to thrive too.
We went on to explore how connecting with our children is essential, especially as they are navigating change:
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We explored some strategies to manage emotions during change, such as:
- Name it to tame it: Help children identify and label emotions
- The STOP technique: Stop, Take a breath, Observe, Proceed mindfully
- Validation statements: "It makes sense you'd feel scared/worried about this change"
- Emotion coaching in real-time: Guide children through big feelings rather than dismissing them
Then we went on to doing some practice of emotional coaching with phrases and language:
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As we, as parents and families, navigate change, it is important to…
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Ms Catherine and Ms Sekai gave parents an action step challenge to create a Transition Rituals plan at home with our families:
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