To teachers – Would you like the children in your classroom to be able to focus and concentrate on what you are teaching them?

October 15, 2018 by

Our book called Refocusing and Calming activities (Module 1) for children could help you?

If you use the activities that we offer in your classroom, as part of your daily routine, then your students will have a better chance of being more receptive to learning.

Here are some of the ways that you might use them.

INTEGRATED INTO CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

The exercises and techniques offered in the book can be integrated into classroom activities for the benefit of all children.

For example, at the beginning of the day or after lunch break when children’s energy may be scattered and unsettled, one of the following could be used:
Breathing Out Feelings – Activities 1.3, 1.7 or 1.9
Deep Breathing for Relaxation and Balancing – Activities 1.2, 1.4,
1.5, 1.8 or 1.10.
This can help to create a calmer, more peaceful classroom atmosphere, where the children are more receptive to learning.

DAILY ROUTINE – It may be beneficial to build in deep breathing exercises as part of a daily routine. For example first thing in the morning to help children oxygenate their bodies and to help them to
begin the day in a calm, relaxed state.

TIME OUT – Children could be taught to recognize when their own emotional energy is building up in their body (using the Body Awareness Activities in Module 2). They can them be given an opportunity to choose time out for a relaxation, and taking deep breaths followed by an art or a journal writing activity to help them express their feelings.
(See Module 5 for creative expression activities).
This could be combined with a debriefing session with the school counselor or a trained teacher aide.

A ‘CALM DOWN CORNER’ – A space could be created in the classroom, where children have access to pillows or cushions, relaxing music, art resources and their own journals. These resources can be used to help children to express their feelings as the need arises.
This corner provides children with the opportunity of expressing their feelings in a safe space, and helps them to change to a calmer more peaceful emotional energy state. For more information, see Appendix A.

Please go to our website to order this book

www.rainbowplanetconnection.com

 

 

 

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Imagine this! Children who are calm, relaxed and receptive to learning

September 14, 2018 by

At the Rainbow Planet Connection we are here to help you as a teacher, child counsellor or parent!

We realize that many children can exhibit restlessness and lack of concentration.

It’s difficult to either teach or parent children when they are  not receptive.

If we can teach children to relax and be able to put themselves into a much calmer state then we will be in a much better position to help them with both learning and behaviour.

I would like to introduce you to our first E-book on ‘Refocusing and calming activities for children.

Please read below:


There is a lot of wisdom in the old saying, ‘TAKE A FEW DEEP BREATHS’.

This Module has been developed to help children to refocus and calm their energy using breathing exercises. It helps them to become more aware of their breathing patterns and teaches them how to breathe in a deeper more relaxed way. Encouraging full, deep breaths can also be a powerful way to promote release of the energy linked in with feelings, which are locked in the body. It can help to set the energy in motion (e-motion).

Many adults and children, only breathe into the top part of their chest. Shallow breathing is one of the body’s ways of controlling and suppressing emotions and excitement.

Feelings of grief, sadness and fear are often held in the chest. Some of the exercises also teach them how to release pent up emotions using breathing techniques.

Benefits of Refocusing and Calming Activities
Benefits of the activities in this Module include helping children to:
  • Develop an awareness of their breathing, and how it affects their energy and emotional state.
  • Learn how to release pent up emotional energy by breathing it out, using visualization exercises.
  • Learn how to use deep breathing for refocusing, calming and balancing their energy.
  • Use deep breathing techniques so that they are more receptive to learning, more focused and less scattered.
  • Be aware of how feelings such as anxiety and fear can cause shallow breathing and how peaceful, calm and more relaxed feelings are linked with deeper breathing.
  • Understand how breathing is affected by external situations and experiences, including environmental factors and other people’s emotions

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN WHAT WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT PLEASE CONTACT US VIA OUR WEBSITE OR YOU CAN ORDER COPIES OF OUR E-BOOK 1 ‘REFOCUSING AND CALMING ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN’

http://rainbowplanetconnection.com/products/module-one-refocusing-and-calming-activities-for-children/

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How can we improve children’s behaviour and attitude in our schools?

December 11, 2013 by

How can we improve children’s behaviour and attitude in our schools?

I have worked in the schools in England as a supply teacher for the past six years.

When I came across this article from the BBC news (see below) ‘Ofsted tells schools to crack down on classroom disruption’ I couldn’t help but agree that many lessons are interrupted by low level disruptive behaviour.
Too many classrooms in England are being disrupted by minor disruption and bad behaviour, warns the head of the education watchdog Ofsted.
Launching Ofsted’s annual report, chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw warns of a “sloppy culture” of noisy corridors and pupils answering back to teachers. group of teen girls
Sir Michael also described the scale of regional differences in school standards as being like “two nations”.

But what is the answer to this issue?

I believe that teaching children social and emotional skills as early as possible would go a long way to solving this problem.

They would learn:

o    How to be responsible for and manage their own feelings and not take out their anger and frustration on others who are not to blame
o    The benefits of treating others with respect and fairness as they would like to be treated themselves.
o    How to get more out of life using healthy communication skills and how to improve their social interaction

If you agree with the suggestions and comments and you are a teacher or a parent or are working with children in any capacity and you wish to support them in improving their communication skills then you may be interested in our resources and/or e-training courses.

Our online courses can be accessed from anywhere in the world!
All you need for this course is internet access, an interest in
developing new skills and having fun!
We will tailor the training schedule to suit your individual needs.

On enrolment you will be provided with the full set of Programs and Resources to enable you to deliver between 8-10 sessions of Emotional and Social Skills well-being to groups of young children (primary school age).

We also have lots of activity books and resources that will help you teach children about  Social and Emotional Intelligence.

 

 

 

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What are you getting your children for Christmas?

November 27, 2013 by

What are you getting your children for Christmas?

I was a single parent with an only child!
I used to spoil my daughter at Christmas and buy her far too much!

I was horrified one Christmas when she was about five years old! She tore open all her presents without barely looking at them and then said ‘Where is the next one!!’

I was teaching her to be spoilt and greedy!!
christmas child
Of course I didn’t mean to. I was just making up for the fact that I had been one of six children and mostly had my older sister’s hand me downs!

It brought me to thinking – What would be a wonderful gift for children?

If they are still young then I think the best gift you can give them is something creative where they are able to use their imagination.

If you give a child some card, some paper, colouring pencils etc then they will be just as happy if not happier than receiving a toy that walks across the room and which they will probably get bored with after 20 minutes!
You may disagree!?
christmas tree toy

I have worked in primary schools and taken the children for art and creative classes and they are so absorbed and when they are drawing or colouring in! They love it!
At the Rainbow Planet Connection we promote the use of art, drama, creative writing and all sorts of creative expression in our resources and programs.
We have programs for parents and teachers and lots of fun activity books. They are designed to teach children social and emotional intelligence!
They will have better self-esteem, be able to develop healthier friendships and be more able to deal with bullying and other social issues.
Why not take a look at our parent’s page, teacher’s page and other resources?
In the meantime HAPPY CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!

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Why do some children get bullied and not others?

November 20, 2013 by

Have you ever asked yourself this question?

Some children seem to have better skills at being assertive and strong and not allowing others to walk all over them!

Is it possible to teach children how to be assertive and stand up for their rights?
Could it be as easy as teaching them social and emotional intelligence skills?
This certainly appears to be a factor that can help them when it comes to dealing with bullying.boy sad

Our programs at the Rainbow Planet Connection are designed to help children to become more self-empowered and assertive when dealing with bullying and other negative social issues!

If a child knows how to speak in a clear firm voice and says ‘Stop doing that I don’t like it’ for example rather than appearing to be weak and not standing up for themselves it certainly helps to stop the bully from proceeding further!
Body language is another key to helping children avoid or deal with bullying and other challenging situations. If a child can look another one straight in the eye with a confident look for instance then this is an indication to the bully that the other child is going to stand up for themselves.
Please see our resource book which includes Body Awareness activities for children for more ideas.

Barbara Westgate a teacher in Canada was using the Rainbow Planet Connection’s Program to teach these skills to a group of children. She reports the following from one of her courses:

‘Just tonight a parent came early to tell me how her son is using the information at home and at school.
Yesterday he encountered a child who was in his personal space. He attempted to handle the situation but he was sent to the back of the room by the teacher so he would not have to encounter the behavior that was bothering him.
Today the same thing happened again and he stopped, assessed the situation and using a confident voice asked the child to stop the action that was irritating him. She did!
The parent spent some while giving further examples of how the program is working and how she too is learning to use the exercises for her own betterment. She also said her son loves the classes. Truthfully, I have had numerous positive responses and much encouragement from most of the parents.’  

The Rainbow Planet Connection’s training courses for teachers (and other childcare workers) show you how to incorporate Social and Emotional Literacy Skills into your classroom/learning environment.

Studies show that Social and Emotional Literacy is a key factor in helping young people develop self-esteem, self-responsibility, develop healthier relationships with others and improve their capacity for learning.

Children and young people can develop skills and techniques to:

o    Be self-empowered and assertive when dealing with bullying and other negative social impacts in the environment.

o    Develop effective ways of handling anger and other emotions and learn to resolve conflicts in a more positive way.

o    Be more aware of and respond in helpful more positive ways to other people’s emotional expression.

An additional benefit is that you as a teacher will feel less stressed and hopefully have a more harmonious classroom.

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Tips for teachers. Why teach whole body listening?

November 15, 2013 by

Why teach ‘Whole body listening to the children in your class?’

Teaching whole body listening will make your life as a teacher a lot easier!
It will improve the quality of learning and lead to more co-operative, harmonious classrooms.
If you are a parent this technique could also greatly improve your communication with your children!girl looking up

Many children have not been taught how to listen well. Perhaps this is a sign of our times when communication skills are changing due to the increasing use of technology for communication.

However, I feel that it is really important to teach our children good listening skills (also known as active listening) as this is the basis for all good learning and acquisition of knowledge and wisdom and will serve them well as they grow into adults.
Everyone feels more appreciated if they know someone has listened to them and acknowledged what they have said.
rainbowplanetconnection.com

What is whole body listening?

Whole body listening means using the whole body eyes, ears, body posture and facial expression to listen well to someone else.
You can use this concept each week in your sessions to remind the children of good listening skills. Ask them:

‘How do I know you are listening really well?’

‘Are you listening with your whole body?’

The following list explains how this works:

o    Listening with your eyes – looking at the speaker, making eye contact (depending on the culture)
o    Listening with your ears – listen to the speaker with your ears (not the person next to you)
o    Listening with your mouth – the mouth should be quiet
o    Listening with your body – your body is facing towards the speaker
o    Listening with your hands – quiet hands (not moving)
o    Listening with your feet – quiet feet
o    Listening with your brain – thinking about what the speaker is saying
o    Listening with your heart – caring about what the speaker is saying

heart art

If a child is not listening, then you can simply remind them in a gentle way such as
‘Harry I would like you to listen with your body. Can you show me how you do this?

There are other activities that you can do to improve listening and communication skills with the children in your class.

Here is a simple activity from our E-training course for teachers that you can do to show the children the importance of eye contact.

Role Play 1 – Communication – Listening Skills

Preparation: Children sit in chairs or on the floor back to back. Children are not allowed to turn around and look at each other for this activity.

Step 1. Child A talks about what he/she did last weekend or about their pet or a member of their family. Child B listens and responds.
Step 2. Ask each child in turn – How did this feel?
E.g. Did you feel listened to? What difference did it make not being able to see who you were talking to?
Step 3. Discuss and emphasize the importance of eye contact, posture and body language in communication. Discuss ‘How do you know you are being listened to with regards to a) eye-contact, b) body language and facial expression and so on?

For other sample ideas on improving social skills and communication in your classroom please contact us!

From rainbowplanetconnection

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