CROW Parent Education

My goodness this is the last week of August?! Crazy!! 🤪

⭐Please note ⭐
We do not have access to our Anderson Independent space on Thursday, August 27th resulting in the cancellation of the morning (Groupe Franco from 9am - 12pm) and afternoon (1:30-3pm) programs. Visit us at the Carleton Place area from 9:30am - 12pm 😁

How often do you make unnecessary decisions for your child because you doubt their ability to choose correctly?

It’s helpful to consciously commit to letting children make decisions for themselves in some areas. When we trust our kids to make decisions, we give them practice with an important life skill and help them develop resilience. They'll learn what they like, but they'll also discover — when they inevitably make some choices they regret — that a bad choice isn't the end of the story. They can move in a different direction with the next choice.

Today, resilience has a much broader meaning than just bouncing back from tragedies like hurricanes, fires and floods. For researchers and professionals working with kids, it’s now not just about “bouncing back.” It’s about “bouncing forward.” Resilience doesn’t just mean getting back to normal after facing a difficult situation but learning from the process in order to become stronger and better at tackling the next challenge.

It applies to more common struggles, too. In fact, when kids respond to any type of challenge — including trouble with learning — it creates an opportunity to bounce forward. It helps them learn coping skills and how to find solutions to problems.

Learning from setbacks can also greatly empower kids with learning and attention issues. It can help them build self-awareness and self-advocacy skills. It can also help them develop new strategies and tools for solving problems. And it can boost their motivation and self-esteem.

You can help your child develop resilience by:
🩵 Exposing them to challenges.

🩵 Not jumping in to fix things.

🩵 Letting consequences do some of the teaching.

🩵 Avoiding “sink or swim” situations.

🩵 Encouraging them to ask for additional supports at school.

🩵 Finding out what your child needs to be successful in school.

Allowing your child to do things that are difficult for them — and even allowing them to fail at them — can help them build resilience. If you find that you always jump in prematurely to save the day and facilitate correct decisions, consider what your loving attention may be altering in other aspects of your child’s development.

So listen to that little voice in your head next time it tells you to step back, and watch your child discover their own capabilities.

✨ You can read more about resilience in our library of articles: https://neurochild.com/library/the-map-through-difficulty/

References:
https://www.understood.org/en/articles/building-resilience-in-kids

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/growing-friendships/201906/when-your-child-can-t-decide?fbclid=IwY2xjawFSV_xleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHeUPrmQq-3SUCR6kk6MeLFWTshu_GFcJr_nWN24-iIG386fzzw1eoYzQuQ_aem_3d_XNA80wF_mfv--99jLbQ

Repost from The Occuplaytional Therapist 🧡
•
True at home.
True at school.
True everywhere.
Children want to do well. They don’t want to do poorly. They don’t want to disappoint people. They don’t want people to dislike them.
If they aren’t doing it, it’s because something is in their way.
[Image description: A child sitting in the corner of a room with hands covering their face. Text overlaid says, “You can’t teach children to behave better by making them feel worse. When children feel better, they behave better. - Pam Leo.”]

Interoception is one of the lesser-known senses but is super important as it gives crucial feedback to our brains regarding how we're feeling internally.

from Tots On Target

We parent with both Structure (guidelines, boundaries) and Warmth (caring, understanding, support).

I’ve generally stopped using the term “gentle parenting” because it’s so wildly misunderstood, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. I’ll always stand behind the idea of treating children with kindness and respect alongside loving guidance. ♥️

Not promoting the book (don’t know anything about it). Good post though!

What is it that we need in order to sustain our attention and perform at our best?

We are all different in what it takes to keep our arousal at the best level. Some people can’t cope with any noise while they are trying to think, while others need to have music on constantly. Meeting our arousal needs depends on how we process our sensory information.

The important thing to remember is that some people will need more of these sensory inputs to be at the optimum state of arousal and some will need less. We are then able to to “self-regulate” by getting our arousal levels right even when our environment changes. Self-regulating all of the sensory information can be very difficult for a child. Movement is commonly a way that a child will try and regulate so they can calm and focus. Forcing a child to sit still is counter-productive. When we work out what their sensory needs are we can help support them to meet their best arousal.

More information in my book

Guidance from The Therapist Parent

Available on my website www.thetherapistparent.com and Amazon paperback and eBook

Understanding what’s going on…

Understanding the Skill Gap with Difficult Behaviours

Rather than viewing difficult moments as intentional defiance, clinical child psychology frames them as a clash between environmental expectations and a child's current executive functioning capacities. Some research highlights several core skill areas that directly impact how a child navigates daily demands such as:

• Emotional regulation – the ability to process frustration before responding.

• Flexible thinking – adapting when plans change unexpectedly.

• Impulse control – pausing before reacting to internal or external triggers.

When a situation requires more regulatory skill than a child’s brain has developed so far, distress naturally emerges. Recognising this reduces shame and self-blame for both the child and the parent. Problems are simply signposts showing us where a child needs quiet support and skill-building.

References:
Greene, R. W. (2014). The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children. Harper Paperbacks.

Moffitt, T. E., et al. (2011). A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108 (7), 2693–2698.

✨ Read more about challenging behaviours in our article library here: https://neurochild.com/library/behind-the-behaviour/

✨ Find Neurochild on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/neurochild/