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Saturday, September 15, 2012

School Success Tip #5: Understand What Your Child Views as a Threat*

Many times adults lose track of their child=s perspective. Understanding your child=s perspective is all part of meeting your child where they are. This has to do with understanding and validating their reality. What you perceive as being safe may or may not be safe to your child. Help your child put words to what is not safe. Connect with your child and without asking a lot of questions encourage them to talk about their day at school. Your child may not use the word threat or fearful when describing situations. Listen for words like hard, not liking, and even adjectives like stupid or lame. These words may be your child=s cognitive renditions of an underlying fear or threat. If your child says he Adoesn’t=t know@ use a short social story to describe what you think your child may be experiencing. You can then work with your child and teacher and develop an effective strategy to help your child feel safe. *Adapted from 10 Important Back-to-School Tips for Parents and Teachers - Heather T. Forbes, LCSW If you find yourself needing additional support and encouragement to advocate for your child, contact me for a FREE 30 minute phone consult when you subscribe to my weekly Christian Parent Wisdom http://bit.ly/nmOEXw and mention that you heard about this FREE offer though this blog on your subscription order. I offer more school strategies and resources in my July 2012 Love in Action Newsletter - Back to School Resources at http://bit.ly/nNyPn6

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

School Success Tip #4: Be Mindful of Situations That Cause Stress*

Here are some examples that can be stressful situations for your child. Walking in line to change classes or to go to an activity, lunchtime and the cafeteria, group activities either in the classroom or on the playground, riding the school bus, and substitute teachers, just to name a few. You may need to be a detective and investigate what situations are the most stressful for your child. Effective strategies can be developed for each one of these situations to help your child. Successful outcomes with transitions and stressful situations are usually a function of your child=s regulation and connection with his teacher and/or safe person in the school. *Adapted from 10 Important Back-to-School Tips for Parents and Teachers - Heather T. Forbes, LCSW If you find yourself needing additional support and encouragement to advocate for your child, contact me for a FREE 30 minute phone consult when you subscribe to my weekly Christian Parent Wisdom http://bit.ly/nmOEXw and mention that you heard about this FREE offer though this blog on your subscription order. I offer more school strategies and resources in my July 2012 Love in Action Newsletter - Back to School Resources at http://bit.ly/nNyPn6