8 Ways to Support Your Child’s Mental Health and Well-Being
As parents and caregivers, there are ways we can support our children to give them the best chance to stay mentally healthy.
Parents play a huge role in teaching activities that promote good mental health. The ability to label and manage emotions, identify needs, and ask for support are worth building for everyone — especially since these skills may help protect against future mental health concerns. You can help a child to have good mental health
1. Listen to Your Children’s Concerns
It is essential to listen to your children’s concerns. Let them feel heard and understood. Have a one-to-one conversation with them and listen to any concerns that might have. Once your child feels safe with you, they learn to trust you in every situation which is essential for their mental health.
2. Encourage physical activity
Physical health and good mental health are strongly correlated. Encourage your child to get exercise regularly or engage in other physical activities such as swimming, cycling, or whichever activity they love doing. Such activities uplift their energy, mood, and mental health.
3. Teach Your Child The Art of Positive Self-Talk
Teach your child how to engage in positive self-talk with themselves. This changes how they view the situation and help manage their feelings and response behavior. For example, “Come down, It’s now worth getting into an argument over this.”, “I am going to relax and it will pass.” and “I can do this.”
4. Encourage Your Child to Build Meaningful Friendships
Encourage your child to make new friends at school and around the neighborhood. You could also enroll them in a summer camp or classes of activities that they enjoy such as skating and swimming. Meet their friends and get to know the kind of influence they will have on your child.
5. Discipline Without Labeling
Practice gentle parenting. When disciplining your child, avoid using mean words like stupid, dumb, or calling them bad. This leads to the child feeling like they can’t do anything right or that they are not good enough for you. Instead, correct your child’s wrong behavior by explaining why their action was inappropriate and encouraging them to give it another try when they feel ready. This gives them the push to want to correct their mistake and do better.
6. Be Generous With Praise
Make it a point to always praise good behavior. Praise your children more than you reprimand them. Constant criticism will only lower your child’s self-esteem and make them feel like they can’t get anything right which is detrimental to their mental health. Praising your child whenever they have done a good deed boosts mental health.
7. Journaling
Journaling is an excellent coping strategy when dealing with big emotions. It may also help improve your child’s social skills by encouraging self-reflection from a young age. It could be as simple as writing three things that they are grateful for at the end of each day.
8. Get Professional Help If Needed
It is very important to spend enough time with your child so that you can easily recognize when they need professional help. Most parents tend to shy off when they notice that their child might need more help than what they have to offer. Addressing mental health concerns earlier on in life is the best thing you can do for your child. Children who grew up with good mental health tend to become responsible adults who know how to manage their emotions well.
You can also read 7 Effective Classroom Management Strategies at Coast Academy
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7 Effective Classroom Management Strategies at Coast Academy
Managing a classroom requires skills. A good teacher needs to connect with kids and keep them focused on the lessons. Below are 8 habits for good classroom management to ensure that the class feels safe, comfortable, and pleasant place for everyone.
1. Build A Relationship With Each Student
Our teachers are required to get to know each student as an individual and to Identify and praise individual milestones. Days begin with a greeting and a reflection of the previous day and end with a wave of goodbye while they leave for home.
2. Establish the Rules
Each teacher has individual classroom protocols in place to handle routine issues that occur in every classroom. These involve how to raise concerns in class, how to ask for permission, and general dos and don’ts in class. All children are familiar with these rules and when a student breaks a rule, they own up to their mistakes and act accordingly. We maintain a light atmosphere where students feel free to work and thrive, to try, laugh, and learn.
3. Modeling Way Of Ideal Behavior
Our teachers act as the ideal model of what is expected of the learners. Children learn best through modeling or copying so they are most likely going to act as they see the adults close to them act. At Coast Academy, we encourage the students to:
- Maintain eye contact
- Let one another speak uninterrupted
- Raise concerns about one another’s statements in a respectful manner
4. Have A Plan
All our teachers have work plans that they share it with their students, too. A plan can be simple “You have 10 minutes to practice on your own, after which everyone will make a presentation.” Going through the day’s agenda hooks the students interest from the word go and lessens the chances of misbehavior.
5. Engaging The Learners
Good teachers are enthusiastic about the subjects they teach they encourage classroom participation by asking questions and giving them discussion topics. They walk around the class interacting with the children and offering assistance where needed.
6. Show Love and Kindness
Students are most successful when they feel liked. Our teachers show care and compassion towards the learners. A smile goes a long way. Good work is applauded and Children are allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. This in turn improves academic and behavioral performance.
7. Be Fair and Just
Favoritism is completely forbidden at Coast Academy and all children are treated equally. In cases of behavioral issues, applicable disciplinary measures are applied that do not involve public shaming.
8. Hold Parties
Our termly classroom parties act as an acknowledgment o students’ hard work throughout the entire term, motivating them to keep it up, breaking classroom monotony, and creating room for the students to mingle, share and bond and have fun.
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5 REASONS WHY PLAYGROUP IS IMPORTANT
First-time separation between a parent and child can be overwhelming for both but the benefits of enrolling your child in a playgroup are worth it. For most kids, it takes 2 weeks or even more to adjust and adapt to the new environment, but at Coast Academy, most children usually settle in within the first week. All children are respected and their individuality and differences are embraced. Here are 5 reasons why Playgroup is Important for your child’s overall growth.
1. DEVELOPS SOCIAL SKILLS
Statistics state that social skills development in children starts between the ages of 1-3. Most kids today spend the whole day with their nannies at home. This could slow down their growth and social skills. In playgroups, children get to socialize, which helps build life skills such as self-expression, sharing, cooperation, consideration, and mutual respect, which also add up as conflict resolution skills. Our very able and qualified team inspires the children to thrive and maximize their potential by exploring and discovering the world around them.
2. ENCOURAGES PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
While most children spend their entire day at home on screen time, playgroups offer an enabling environment for a variety of age-appropriate activities ranging from physical activities such as running, jumping, balance, and swimming to block play, painting, and molding which build the children’s gross and fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and balance.
3. DEVELOPS CREATIVITY, IMAGINATION, AND MOTOR SKILLS
90% of Brain growth happens before kindergarten. Exposing your child to a playgroup environment will trigger their creativity and imagination through dress-up, role plays with the other children, music, puppet play, and other games. Storytime aids in speech, language, vocabulary development, auditory perception, and imagination whereas visual perceptions are developed through activities such as Identifying different shapes and colors and building puzzles.
4. BUILDS CONFIDENCE AND INDEPENDENCE
The warm and loving nature of our staff helps develop the child’s confidence and resilience. Children that go to playgroup turn out to be strong and independent individuals as they learn to take care of themselves and show a sense of responsibility and a desire to be competent. They learn how to manage separation anxiety, clean up after themselves after free play, make choices throughout the day, and adapt to a new environment.
5. PLATFORM FOR BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Playgroup is hugely beneficial in building trusted relationships with each other and with their teachers and helpers. Our small class sizes help in developing close, healthy, and positive relationships. It also serves as a base for parents to meet, make friends, learn parenting tips, and network. We pride ourselves in maintaining close, healthy, and positive relationships with our parents and most importantly, vibrant and happy children.
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IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATING THE GIRL CHILD
Half of the girls in Kenya are getting little to no education. One in 2 girls in Kenya is married at the tender age of 19. It is a fundamental right of the girl child to receive a quality education. All learning centers should ensure that they provide a friendly, safe, and conducive environment for the safety of the girl child. Educating the girl child is like educating the entire community. Below are 5 reasons for educating the girl child.
1. Increase in literacy level
When girls are educated, they Acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in the labor market. This gives them the will and confidence needed to join the employment task force.
2. Ability to Make Smart Decisions
Educated women make better decisions when it comes down to healthcare, and marriage and are less likely to endure domestic abuse. Social skills, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills are also impacted and in turn, can help in settling disputes in the community.
3. Reduction of Child Marriages.
If all girls went to school and proceeded to finish secondary, it would have a great impact on the number of early marriages in school-going girls.
4. Reduction in Child Mortality Rates
According to the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative, children of educated mothers are twice as likely to survive past the age of five. This is because they are more aware of the importance of good health care and would ensure that their children get all necessary vaccines required.
5. Continuation of Cycle
Education equips one with the socio-emotional and life skills necessary to adapt to the changing world. A girl that is educated will definitely want the same for her daughter’s education. They will beat all odds to ensure that their daughter gets quality education.
6. Economic Growth
Women invest their salaries into their families and their community at large. This in turn helps in poverty eradication. Educating the girl child will mean having more women in the workforce thus increasing the labor force needed for the country’s economic growth.
7. Self-Reliance
An educated woman is able to be self-sufficient. She is capable of taking care of her own needs without being dependent on either her husband or any other relative for survival.
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5 BACK TO SCHOOL TIPS
Starting a new school year is exciting and can also be filled with anxiety for others, especially those joining a new school. Below are tips to curb the anxiety and prepare your child mentally, emotionally and physically for the new school year.
1. Get Back to Normal School Routine
Resume the normal school schedule a few days before school starts. This will help switch off the holiday mode and activate school mode. It involves going to bed early and getting up early to shower and have breakfast in time for school.
2. Purchase Required School Supply
Take a trip to the stationery supply stores and purchase the required tools such as crayons, story books, geometry sets, etc. Allowing your child to tag along, can make the back to school feel exciting as they get to pick their favorite pens, backpack, or supplementary book. This prepares them mentally.
3. Set Everything Ready
Organize books and stationeries, make sure the uniforms are pressed and school shoes polished. Make the necessary physical preparations i.e. visit the salon or barber to avoid last minute rush. Make the necessary arrangements for transport to and from school.
4. Acquire a Positive Attitude and Mindset.
The right attitude will greatly impact your child’s performance at school. Encourage them to Set a SMART target that will keep them focused even on those subjects that seem to be a challenge. Start the term on a high note and keep going.
5. Do a Pre-Visit to the School
If you are starting a new school, take the child for a pre-visit of the school to familiarize with the premises and if possible, get to meet the new teacher. This will ease the anxiety and help with the transition.
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Benefits Of Extra-Curricular Activities In School
Importance of Extra-Curricular Activities to Learners
Extra-curricular activities are the non-academic activities offered at Coast Academy school which are meant to balance the curriculum and foster the student’s wellbeing, as well as to promote their involvement in school activities and those of the community.
In this era of technology dominated pastime activities such as gaming that are loved by the learners, it is important for both parents and teachers to encourage the children to engage in at least 1 extracurricular activity. Parents need to embrace that not every child is born to be a doctor or engineer. Extra-curricular activities are also a door to success. In every classroom, there is a musician, an artist, a footballer, a chef, a Ninja, a swimmer just to mention but a few.
Extra-Curricular activities are also a great way to unwind from the classroom environment. At Coast Academy, we offer a variety of extra-curricular activities to suit a wide range of interest which include but are not limited to; chess, swimming, taekwondo, art and craft, cricket, athletics, football, table tennis, skating , volleyball, music and athletics. By engaging in these, children end up meeting like-minded individuals which helps in building a solid friendship whereby they can help each other through exchanging of ideas and working as a team.
Engaging in Extracurricular activities is not only a great way to make friends, but also increases student interaction, raises self-esteem and increase productivity. These activities also help students to identify their skills and acquire new ones. Partaking in them translates to building of long-lasting friendships, gaining of skills such as communication, teamwork, problem solving and time management.
Extra-Curricular activities can also open doors for you. Students that Excel in extracurricular activities are highly valued by institutions of higher learning as well as future employers because they make a great addition to the team. Most of these students make their way into renowned universities through issuance of scholarships.
Extra-curricular activities are just as important as classroom education is to your child. Without each other, thehttps://www.crimsoneducation.org/us/blog/extracurriculars/benefits-of-extracurricular-activities/ product individual becomes incomplete.
While Classroom educations enriches one with knowledge to pursue a career, extra-curricular activities helps to shape an individual to fit in the society and build social skills. Best part is, children that engage in extra-curricular activities perform better than those that are only focused on academics only. (more…)
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3 Reasons Spending Quality Time With Your Children Is Important
Once again, the half-term break is here with us.
For students, it is usually a time to relax, meet up with their friends, catch up on their favourite shows, go for their favourite recreational activities and lastly, binge eating junk food. On the other hand, most parents find half-term to be unnecessary in terms of time and money because of the fear of truancy.
But the real question is how do you spend quality time with your children?
Half term is meant to be a time for bonding, reflection and relaxation for families.
Coast Academy Student
However, most parents dread half-term breaks as it means them having to dig deeper into their pockets to finance the activities for the short break. For other parents, their main concern is the amount of unsupervised time that their children get during the half-term breaks, considering most parents are either full-time employees or have their own businesses to run, which translates to not enough time to keep an eye on the activities of their children.
Below is why you should spend more time with your child not just during half term, but all year round.
1. Cognitive development
The term cognition means the ability to use your conscious and subconscious parts of the brain to think, reason, remember and make decisions. Spending positive time with your children improves their Problem solving and decision-making skills.
2. Mental development
In this time and era, mental illness has become a global pandemic. Absent parenting is among the leading causes of mental health illness in school-going children. According to the Institute of Health Equity “lack of secure attachment, neglect, lack of quality stimulation, and conflict, negatively impact future social behaviour, educational outcomes, employment status and mental and physical health”.
Children’s exposure to neglect, direct physical and psychological abuse, and growing up in families with domestic violence was particularly damaging. This can all be restored through positive parenting, being there for your children, praising them, encouraging them and most importantly loving them. This in turn boosts their self-confidence and desire to succeed and make you proud.
3. Socio-cultural and spiritual development
The home being the first school, children learn the art of interaction through observing their parents. They tend to copy a lot from their parents and that is why a healthy and peaceful environment is needed at home, to build them up with good values and morals. Teach them to pray, to be thankful and liberal in such a way that they accept everyone regardless of their race, colour, religion, heritage or social status.
Considering that these are young developing minds, parents’ involvement in their children’s life is key to their growth . They should fully embrace the half term as it creates an opportunity for families to spend time together. Take it as an opportunity to understand your child’s wants and needs, listen to them, guide, support their goals and aspirations and also engage in activities that involve every member of the family such as board games.
Celebration of little wins and words of affirmation go a long way! As the old African proverb states, it takes a village to raise a child. Therefore if the parents and teachers work together, the society will become a better place.
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