Tag Archive for: emotional regulation

What Toni Morrison Taught Me About Parenting by Brene Brown

Parenting preschoolers is not an easy business.  I read this short piece by Brene Brown on what she learnt about parenting from Toni Morrison, and it resonated with me.  How often is the first thought, when we see our children, not one of joy of their presence in our lives but how they look or act.

We need to think back to our own childhood and remember how it felt when we saw our parent for the first time after school.  What did they say and how did it make us feel.

To build resilient children they need to understand that they might not always be the best, the first or get what they want, and our job is to help children develop that resilience within themselves.

“When kids know they have the unconditional support of a parent, family member, or even a teacher, they feel empowered to seek guidance and make attempts to work through difficult situations. Positive connections allow adults to model coping and problem-solving skills to children.” Kate Hurley LSCW

And part of that process is showing that unconditional joy and love at their presence in our lives.  We as parents cannot, and should not, fix every problem that arises, but question, discuss and work through problems with a child to an understanding of why things have happened the way they have.  Sometimes that means that the child will not get what they want, but that is building character and the resilience to understand the way of the world.

We cannot start this process too early, as children who are able to work through and accept life’s challenges while still moving forward in their lives, grow into teenagers and adults who can make informed decisions and have better outcomes for themselves and those around them.

– Louise Murfet Director/Nominated Supervisor/Educational Leader Jacaranda Preschool.

https://brenebrown.com/articles/2019/08/07/what-toni-morrison-taught-me-about-parenting/

Why it’s good for children to take their shoes off

Five reasons why it’s good for children to take their shoes off

Felicity Barclay

Sand between your toes, a warm path on a sunny day, prickly grass, cool water, squelchy mud —What experiences are we denying children when we insist that they “keep their shoes on”? Here are five good reasons to lose the shoes.

1. Neural pathways and sensory information

Children’s brains are developing — being barefoot provides opportunity for sensory input — which in turn helps stimulate neural or sensory pathways which are important for the development of motor skills, and for the development of proprioception (which is the unconscious capacity to understand where the body is in space and where/how it needs to move). When children wear shoes all the time — and particularly when they are playing — they are receiving less stimuli to their feet — and therefore less information to the brain. They need this sensory input to help them balance and to help further develop their gross motor skills and their understanding of their environment.

2. Building healthy muscles in feet and toes

When children walk barefoot, they are exercising their muscles and using their feet in a different way from when their feet are protected and enclosed by shoes. Without shoes, children are using their toes to grip more carefully and also supports the development of a greater sense of balance. Falls are reduced when children develop these skills.

It also increases flexibility in the feet and helps give children a wider range of motion.

3. Increases an awareness of safety

As children go barefoot — they are developing a greater understanding of rough or uneven surfaces, of different levels, — which in turn helps them develop a deeper understanding of the world around them. This actually leads to pre planning and safer ways of moving.

4. Skin hygiene

Fresh air helps feet to ‘breathe’. Feet usually only start to smell after being closed up in shoes for a while.

5. It feels good — helps emotional regulation and can be soothing and calming

In a world where many children are less and less connected with nature — it is important to ensure we make time for them to literally feel the earth beneath their feet. This sensory input and connection with the earth helps foster an affinity for the natural environment as well as stimulating a lot of the “feel good” senses.

So why not head outside with your child today and lose the shoes? — it’ll do you both the world of good.