Promoting Wellbeing at Home

点击蓝色字体 关注我们！Follow Us On WeChat!Paula ZimmermanEY2 Classroom Teacher

Wellbeing comes from physical, mental and emotional health. For children, there are many things that build positive wellbeing. Good wellbeing can include; understanding and managing emotions, having good relationships, experiencing a sense of accomplishment, taking part in healthy activities and getting lots of sleep and eating well.

When we talk about “wellbeing” it’s not about just being okay, coping or surviving; it is about thriving, blossoming and flourishing. When children learn to self-regulate their emotions, they feel more confident, capable and in control. Helping children manage their emotions is important for fostering positive mental health and wellbeing.

By using some of these reminders in our homes, we can work to support our children’s emotional wellbeing, while making time spent with them as meaningful as possible.

Being Honest

There is power and clarity in being real and honest with your children. By acknowledging what we think and feel we can support children’s emotional wellbeing by modelling language and being honest with our own feelings.

A good way to do this is to think out loud. When your child hears you narrate your thinking process, it helps them understand how to cope with frustration and solve problems. 

A good way of doing this is for them to hear you say something like “Oh Dear! My favorite shopping bag has a hole in it. I’d better take another one with me to the grocery store”, its okay to express frustration but then they also get to understand how you think to solve problems.

You might have heard your child’s teachers talk about the importance of encouraging children to ‘take risks’ in order to develop their confidence and learn how to accept failures. This is something that parents can also model at home for their children, it’s important for children to see their parents taking risks and trying new things, and learn how to handle any disappointments or failures, pick themselves up and try again.

Encouraging positive self-talk

Self-talk is the way we talk to ourselves with our inner voice. Positive self-talk is when we say positive things to ourselves. Self-talk has a big impact on how we feel and what we do. Encouraging your child to talk to themselves in a kind and positive way can help improve their wellbeing and help them manage stress.

When you hear them speaking about themselves in a way that is not kind, you can encourage your child to ‘speak’ to themselves the way they would speak to a best friend and regularly remind your child of their strengths and accomplishments. Parents can also model positive self-talk to their children through narration of their own thoughts and feelings.

The Comfort of Structure

Mental health professionals and educators agree that having clear structure and expectations at home helps children feel secure. With clear structure, limits, and healthy boundaries, children know how parents will react and understand what is expected of them. Consistency with boundaries is also important and means that we follow through with what we say we are going to do, which gives real meaning to our words.

Dependable routines and boundaries will anchor them at home and give them support and comfort.

Quality time spent together

This is not only about spending time with your children on special occasions or for special outings but also building in time to work on positive relationships and sharing experiences, both every day and special. 

It could be something as simple as taking a walk through the neighborhood park or going to the grocery store together and letting your children help pick out the vegetables for dinner. Mealtimes around the table also provide great opportunities to chat and share news about their day.

Reading bedtime stories is a good way to build in this bonding time. There is something magical about this end-of-the-day routine that makes it the ideal time for talking about feelings. Discuss the characters and events in the story. Invite your child to share her thoughts and feelings by asking questions: “What do you think he should do? How do you think she feels? What would you do if you were this character?”

Practice kindness and gratitude

Gratitude is about taking some time to recognise and celebrate the people and things we love and are thankful for. Being grateful can have a big impact on wellbeing as it strengthens relationships and makes us more optimistic. 

You can help your child practice gratitude by talking to them about things that make them happy, things that inspire them, experiences and thoughts they would like more of and help them notice small pleasures like a flower growing along the side of the road or a beautiful sunny day.

Being kind to others also supports wellbeing. It promotes feelings of gratitude as well as compassion and empathy. Kindness helps to build a sense of community and reduces stress.

Pay attention to your own wellbeing

Dr Deepak Chopra says to “Feed yourself first” which means to give yourself the spiritual, emotional, and mental nourishment you need in order to model high levels of wellbeing for your children. Your children watch everything you do, whether you are aware of it or not. They are very sensitive to the way adults handle situations and regulate their own emotions. 

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