parents Archives - Rainbow Planet Connection

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

September 14, 2018 by Carol Wood

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/

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

December 11, 2013 by Carol Wood

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.
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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: art therapy for children, behaviour problems, children's behaviour, children's development, children's social interaction, classrom behaviour, communication skills, emotional well-being, Ofsted, online training, parenting, parents, schools, social and emotional health, teachers

What are you getting your children for Christmas?

November 27, 2013 by Carol Wood

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!!

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!?

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!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: art therapy for children, bullying, children's behaviour, children's development, children's health, children's social interaction, chilrdren's self-esteem, christmas, christmas presents children, christmas shopping, communication skills, creative activities children, emotional well-being, parents, presents, teachers, toys, training programs for children’s healthy social and emotional development

Why do some children get bullied and not others?

November 20, 2013 by Carol Wood

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.

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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: assertiveness, bullying, children's behaviour, children's development, children's health, children's social interaction, communication skills, counsellors, education, emotional well-being, emotions, inner resilience, online training, parenting, parents, social and emotional health, social interaction, teachers, therapists, training programs for children’s healthy social and emotional development

Tips for teachers. Why teach whole body listening?

November 15, 2013 by Carol Wood

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!

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

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

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: active listening, body language, children, children's behaviour, children's development, children's health, children's social interaction, chilrdren's self-esteem, communication skills, education, family, healthy interactions with others, parenting, parents, social and emotional health, social and emotional learning, social interaction, teachers

What does being a parent mean today?

November 2, 2013 by Carol Wood

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. 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 watching 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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: children's behaviour, children's development, children's health, children's social interaction, computer games, dad, emotional well-being, family, father, mother, mum, online training, parental role, parenting, parents, training programs for children’s healthy social and emotional development

Tips: Do your children show appreciation for others?

October 26, 2013 by Carol Wood

Thanks for being cute and cuddly!

Tip for today from Rainbow Planet Connection – Help your children understand the value of thanking someone in their life who has been kind or caring towards them!

Make appreciation cards together – it is fun and creative and all you need is some card or paper and crayons or paints!

Whether you are a parent, teacher or a person working with children you can have fun helping the children to create an appreciation card for someone in their life that they want to thank! Or it could be a pet!

It is wonderful to help them to take time out and think about someone who loves them or has helped them in some way.

When you thank someone else it helps you to feel good inside too!

On a piece of white card or paper ask the children to create a design (flowers, animals, rainbows or something of their choice) and to think of who they would like to thank and what they would like to say. Make sure they leave some room to write the message!
You may need to help them with this.

Ideas: Thank you for being my friend, Thank you for all the hugs, Thank you for being cute and cuddly.

This idea and more can be found in our activity book Exploring and Expressing feelings games and activities for children.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: art therapy for children, being considerate to others, caring, children's behaviour, children's development, counsellors, creative activities children, healthy relaxed children, parents, showing appreciation, social well-being, teachers, thanking others, therapists, training programs for children’s healthy social and emotional development

Tips for Child Counsellors and Therapists

October 24, 2013 by Carol Wood

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

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!

Other 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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: art therapy for children, bullying, children, children's behaviour, children's development, children's social interaction, chilrdren's self-esteem, counsellors, emotional well-being, online training, parents, relaxation exercises for children, S.E.L., social and emotional learning, social well-being, therapists, training, training programs for children’s healthy social and emotional development

Can Emotional Intelligence Be Taught?

October 18, 2013 by Carol Wood

We spend a lot of time in our children’s education focusing on literacy and numeracy and academic skills. Are we now realizing the importance of teaching children social and emotional intelligence skills too? After all children (and adults) have emotional needs as well as mental and physical.

At Rainbow Planet Connection we believe that teaching social and emotional intelligence is paramount to the well-being of children. Learning these skills will help them in all aspects of life. There is growing evidence that emotions can either hinder or enhance our ability to learn. Imagine being really worried about something in your life and trying to concentrate on learning!!

The following article from the New York Times supports teaching children emotional intelligence.

Below is an excerpt from the article:

Wade’s approach — used schoolwide at Garfield Elementary, in Oakland, Calif. — is part of a strategy known as social-emotional learning, which is based on the idea that emotional skills are crucial to academic performance.

“Something we now know, from doing dozens of studies, is that emotions can either enhance or hinder your ability to learn,” Marc Brackett, a senior research scientist in psychology at Yale University, told a crowd of educators at a conference last June. “They affect our attention and our memory. If you’re very anxious about something, or agitated, how well can you focus on what’s being taught?”

Once a small corner of education theory, Social-Emotional Learning (S.E.L.) has gained traction in recent years, driven in part by concerns over school violence, bullying and teen suicide. But while prevention programs tend to focus on a single problem, the goal of social-emotional learning is grander: to instill a deep psychological intelligence that will help children regulate their emotions.

For children, Brackett notes, school is an emotional cauldron: a constant stream of academic and social challenges that can generate feelings ranging from loneliness to euphoria.

But in practice, Brackett says, many children never develop those crucial skills. “It’s like saying that a child doesn’t need to study English because she talks with her parents at home,” Brackett told me last spring. “Emotional skills are the same. A teacher might say, ‘Calm down!’ — but how exactly do you calm down when you’re feeling anxious? Where do you learn the skills to manage those feelings?”

If you agree with the suggestions and comments and you are a parent or are working with children and wish to support them with Social-Emotional Learning then you may be interested in our e-training courses.

Our online training 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

Please read our testimonials from others who have successfully used our training courses to suit their own individual situations.

Barbara Westgate – Canada. “I feel this is an extremely valuable program and I am anxious to learn as much as I possibly can from the Developers of the Rainbow Planet“.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: bullying, children's development, children's social interaction, education, emotional well-being, emotions, parents, S.E.L., social and emotional health, social and emotional learning, social interaction, social well-being, teachers

Tips for Parents – can your child’s after-school behaviour be challenging?

October 15, 2013 by Carol Wood

Is your child’s behaviour difficult to manage when you have just picked them up from school?

Your child has been at school all day interacting with other children. Some of these interactions are positive and healthy but others can be challenging and difficult for your child.

Is it any wonder that when they have just finished school they can be a little bit difficult!? They have been exposed to other children’s emotions all day!

Many children have issues with bullying, friendships, being ostracised and other challenges with social interactions in the classroom and the playground. I know my daughter did when she was at school!

As a parent you may at times feel helpless as to how you can help your child deal with these issues. The best thing you can do is teach them social and emotional intelligence skills. This will help them to cope much better as they interact with the world in general.

We at the Rainbow Planet Connection offer a range of activities and resources that are designed to help you as a parent to teach your children these skills.

Our resources and training programs have been developed by professionals to promote emotional and social well-being in children. They are based on the creative expression of feelings through the use of art, drama, role-play, creative writing and more.

These activities are designed to develop the right-hand creative side of the brain. I feel that this has a low profile in some schools and should be given more emphasis. Rainbow Planet Connection’s programs encourage children to look inwards to see how they are dealing with their own feelings and how they are coping with the world around them.

One of our resources that is especially popular with both parents and teachers is a lovely colourful set of 32 feelings cards. These have many uses in a variety of situations; for example when your child first gets home from school.

Just ask them to pick a card that best explains how they are feeling. This will help you understand how this might be affecting their behaviour. They may for instance pick ‘sad’. If you encourage them to talk about this, they may say that they are not friends with someone in their class anymore.

Then you can ask them to pick another card that expresses how they would like to feel. Perhaps they will pick ‘happy’. Then you can ask ‘What can you do to make yourself feel happier?’

An extension of this exercise is to encourage your child to sit down quietly with paper and crayons and draw a picture of how they feel or how they would like to feel. You would be amazed at how therapeutic this is for your children. A calmer happier child benefits you as a parent and makes your life easier! All our books have art extension activities.

Many children haven’t been taught skills for coping and responding to life and how to manage their own emotions in healthy ways.

Now you as a parent can help them to develop these skills!

Comments from other people who have used Rainbow Planet Connection’s products with children.

Module 5 – Exploring and Expressing Feelings Book plus Colourful Card Set provides a rich resource of ideas that encourages children (and adults) to become more deeply aware of their feelings and the workings of their bodies.
It is equally valuable for the group leader/facilitator working with children as it is for a parent with their own child. This resource is full of lists, instructions and step-by-step planning to accomplish the activities. It also comes with 32 feelings cards and a booklet with ideas for using them.

“I recommend these cards for teachers, counsellors, people who run workshops and most importantly for families to use on a daily basis.”

More testimonials.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: bullying, calming children, children's behaviour, children's social interaction, chilrdren's self-esteem, emotional well-being, emotions, parents, relaxation, school

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