St Joseph's Pre-School Bishop's Stortford

Interesting read.....

A psychologist says these 7 skills separate successful kids from 'the ones who struggle'—and how parents can teach them Thrivers are raised, not born. Through her decades of research, psychologist and parenting expert Michele Borba found seven traits kids need in order to become resilient, mentally strong and self-aware adults. Here's how parents can teach them.

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Fun in the sun!

Should be fun... love wildlife!

With the recent hot weather, we have enjoyed splashing about!

We also learnt to sign the national anthem, made ribbon sticks and painted the Union flag!

We had a very busy week last week celebrating the coronation of King Charles III.

And National Nursery Rhyme Week continues.
Enjoy 😉

1,2,3,4,5 Lyric Video by Piccolo Music with Makaton by Sing It Sign It Makaton Choir '1,2,3,4,5' is a popular traditional song for children. It is also one of the five nursery rhymes for World Nursery Rhyme Week 2022. 1,2,3,4,5 (Once I Caught...

Day two of Nursery Rhyme Week. More signing while singing. Signing is a great way to communicate when language fails you.
Our children all know please,thank you and more 😃

1,2,3,4,5 Lyric Video by Piccolo Music with Makaton by Sing It Sign It Makaton Choir '1,2,3,4,5' is a popular traditional song for children. It is also one of the five nursery rhymes for World Nursery Rhyme Week 2022. 1,2,3,4,5 (Once I Caught...

We had another visit from the talented Christina today.
She kicked off National Nusery Rhyme Week by signing this song.
The kids loved it!

The Big Ship Sails on the Ally Ally Oh Lyric video by Piccolo Music with Makaton by Singing Hands 'The Big Ship sails on the Ally-Ally-Oh' is a popular traditional song for children. It is also one of the five nursery rhymes for World Nursery Rhyme Week 2...

It's been a little while since I posted my bit about self-esteem. Here is part two...

The second letter in the name is ‘T’. ‘T’ is for truthfulness.

St Joseph was an honest man. We need to help our children to understand the importance of telling the truth and being truthful. We should instil this virtue in them as the consequence of honesty is trust. Children need to trust the adults that care for them.

Sometimes we hide our children from the truth, the nasty news etc; sometimes it is best that we tell them slightly watered-down versions of the truth. Despite this, we must always support and model what being truthful is. It is not always easy but is the best way forward. “Honesty is the best policy”.

Here are some tips to help you teach your child(ren) about being truthful.

1. Model honesty
It sounds obvious, but if you don’t want your kids to lie to you, don’t lie to them, and don’t let them hear you telling lies.
It’s less effort to say, “I don’t have any money with me,” than to explain to your child that they can’t have ice cream because they’ve already had a sweet treat that day or because it’s too close to dinner. But over time, so-called “little white lies” teach your child that dishonesty is okay in some situations — and leaves them to interpret which situations those are.
2. Don’t set them up
Particularly for preschool-aged kids, one way to deter lying is simply by not inviting them to. When you see your child with an overturned cup on the table, there’s no need to ask, “Did you spill this juice?” Kids this age will lie out of a desire to avoid getting into trouble. If you know they did it, don’t ask as you are giving them the option to lie. So they lie, and then you get upset about that. Rather try say, “Looks like you spilled some juice. Let’s clean it up together,” keeps things focused on the issue at hand. And if you’re not sure who broke the vase, or which sibling is lying about it, go straight to the consequence. Don’t ask if they broke it or which child broke it. Rather focus on what you want accomplished. “We have a mess here. I’m asking you both to clean it up, please.” You’re showing them that there’s no positive consequence for denying responsibility.
3. Tell positive stories
In a study led by the University of Toronto, researchers found that kids ages 3 to 7 who heard the story of George Washington and the Cherry Tree, which illustrates a positive consequence of honesty (George is praised for telling the truth), were much more likely to tell the truth than kids who heard the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, which illustrates a negative consequence of lying (the shepherd repeatedly calls for help as a prank, but the one time he really needs help, the villagers don’t come to his rescue).
We talk about lying being bad, but we don’t highlight the alternative behaviour. Kids need examples for how to behave in situations where lying might be easier, stories that show how to be honest, what does that look like? Those are important messages.
4. Ask for a promise
If you need a straight answer about something you’re concerned about, such as an incident at school, asking your child to promise to tell you the truth before asking them a question increases the chances that they will. But note that this strategy is not a guarantee, and it should be used sparingly so that you don’t wear it out. Promises tend to feel more binding to younger kids.
5. Say truth-telling makes you happy
Young children, under the age of 8, are very motivated to please authority figures. Telling kids that you’ll be happy with them if they tell the truth increases the likelihood they’ll be straight with you. At all ages, look for opportunities to make your child feel good about being trustworthy.
6. Teach tact
Kids learn early — from their parents — how to lie for the sake of politeness or to avoid hurting someone’s feelings. “Thanks, this book looks great,” instead of, “I already have this book!” or “I can’t play because I’m busy,” instead of “I don’t like playing with you!” Researchers call these kinds of lies “prosocial” because they smooth our interactions with others. But being honest does not have to equal being rude or hurtful. The key is to balance honesty with consideration for the other person’s feelings. We want to teach our children to be honest but we want to teach them to be kind as well. We need to teach honesty in a way that potentially helps others rather than potentially hurts others. In the case of the book, this might mean saying it’s an author they like, or expressing appreciation for the thought that went into choosing it.
7. Catch them being honest
We often catch kids in lies, but if we want to teach them to value honesty, we need to look for opportunities to acknowledge when they tell the truth, especially in situations where it might have been easier for them to lie. When your child tells you the truth about something they’ve done, take a moment to show that you appreciate their honesty by saying, “I’m really glad you told me the truth.”

Have loved doing home visits this week. Really excited to welcome you all in September!
We are hoping to have a brilliant year with fab cohort!
Roll on September 😃