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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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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What does being a parent mean today?

November 2, 2013 by

The role of a parent and the nature of families has changed significantly as a result of the fast pace of changes in our society in the last 50 or more years.

From the old paradigm of a Nuclear Family with both parents living together, we now have many different types of family structure and parenting experiences.family sepia These changes, together with other influences on child development have made the role of parenting somewhat challenging and confusing.

Your children have many other teachers and role models as you operate within the context of the social (or antisocial!) world around you. Whether you regard them to be of a beneficial or a harmful influence, they are still there and include television, advertising, peers, child-care, schools, computers and the internet to name a few.

I am not judging these influences just asking you, as a parent, to be aware of their impact on children’s development. I believe over-exposure to television and computers for example, can have negative social and emotional effects on children and breed fear-based emotions and can also lead to over-stimulation of the nervous system.

Many of our children are overactive, restless, ‘moody’ and sometimes even aggressive after extended periods children and computerswatching of TV or playing computer games. Have you ever tried to prise a child off a computer game and found yourself confronted by an angry, aggressive monster-like being? With regard to TV, you have only to watch a scary movie before going to bed to realize the effect it has on your nervous system!

As parents you remain the most significant and powerful influence on your child’s development. You are their most important role model providing wisdom, guidance and support for them as they grow and respond to the world around them. At the Rainbow Planet Connection we have a page especially for parents to help you with resources and ideas to help your children grow up with healthy social and emotional skills.

Your children are dear to your heart and yet they often provide your greatest emotional challenge.
Can your children’s energy seem huge and overwhelming at times? Do they push your emotional ‘buttons’ and bring up strong emotional reactions? Can they be manipulating and controlling? Do you sometimes feel lost and powerless?

Many parents seem to be looking for answers as to how to support and teach their children and how to develop an effective parenting role.There are no ‘Rule Books’ for you as a parent bringing up your children. In fact we are finding that many of today’s children do not respond to the old ways of punishment and control.

Parenting can be a bit haphazard and chaotic for many of us as we search for different ways of responding to our children. If you find yourself constantly involved in power struggles with your children and allowing them to control and manipulate you, then rest assured you are not alone. There appear to be many other parents who are having similar challenges.

I also have experienced that situation. My daughter has been my best teacher. I was a single parent for 12 years, juggling parenthood and a career. I carried a lot of blame, shame and guilt in my life. I gave my power away to my daughter and bless her soul she grabbed it with both hands outstretched! I have however, since learned a different way of responding and operating as a parent, one which is much less stressful!

Would you like to consider adopting a more proactive approach to parenting and being in your own power rather than feeling powerless?

This parenting role would include the following:

  • Setting boundaries and personal space.
  • Disengaging from the power struggles – coming out of emotional bondage to your children!
  • No longer using blame, shame guilt language and nagging, coercion, threats and punishment – it drains your energy and it doesn’t work anyway!
  • Using powerful, responsible language, which is loving but firm.
  • Respecting and honoring yourself and your children.
  • Looking after yourself as a parent as you are number one.
  • Operating from a place of self-power and love.

If you would like to find out more about our online parenting course please follow this link.

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Tips for Child Counsellors and Therapists

October 24, 2013 by

Would you like more ideas and resources to help the children that you are counselling develop their social and emotional well-being?

Happy child with painted hands

I know that as a counsellor myself for many years, I was constantly looking for resources to use in my counselling role, especially ones that were interactive and fun.

I needed resources to use with small groups of children and also ones that I could use when working with a child one on one to help to encourage them to express their feelings!

If you are working with emotionally disturbed children it is extremely useful to have stimulus materials, ideas and resources to help them express their emotions in healthy, non-violent ways.

We (myself and Karyn – a primary school teacher) set up the Rainbow Planet Connection several years ago to provide resources and training programs to support children’s healthy social and emotional development.

We offer fun, creative activities to help to encourage children to open up and express themselves so that emotional healing can take place.

The activities we offer are based on the use of art therapy, drama, role play, dance and movement and creative writing to encourage children to express their feelings.

Art therapy for example, is a very useful and effective tool to use one on one or with small groups of children to help them to express their feelings. Many children find it difficult to talk about their feelings but if they are drawing a picture it helps to put them at ease and they often begin to open up. It is amazing what you can find out about a child’s personal circumstances from a drawing of their family!

dancing girl blog 231013Other activities are offered which are based on breathing exercises and inner body work. This involves looking inside the body to find out where the feeling or hurt is and then breathing it and/or doing other exercises to express and release the feeling.

Drama and role play activities are offered as part of our programme and provide fun, effective ways of helping children express their feelings and find better ways of responding to life issues.

As well as a number of Activity-based books and a set of colourful feelings cards we also offer an E-training course for anyone working with children and supporting their social and emotional well-being.

Our Training programs can be done online over a period of 7-10 weeks.
If you decide to enroll 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 well-being skills to groups of young children (primary school age).

An outline of this course:

o This e-course has been created to provide resources and training to encourage and support the development of SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE in children

o Teaching EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE skills has been found to be a KEY FACTOR in producing happy kids with good self-esteem who are socially and educationally more successful

o The Program focuses on helping children to learn how to manage their own emotional energy as well as how to be more aware of other people’s emotional energy and how it affects them

o It introduces them to relaxation, visualization, breathing and body awareness techniques and teaches them how to use these techniques to centre and manage their own energy

o Creative self-expression activities are used throughout these sessions including games, role-plays, movement/dance, art, story telling and more, to help children to explore and express emotions

o The program also helps to empower kids to deal with life issues such as bullying, friendships and anxiety.
If you would like more detailed information about our resources or our training courses please go to www.rainbowplanetconnection.com
Or e-mail: carol@rainbowplanetconnection.com

Thanks for your interest.
Carol Wood, Director of Rainbow Planet Connection.

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