Week Five 20/8/20

We have spent the past four weeks focusing on how to be happier! But some days just feel plain hard! So we have a resource for days when you don't feel so good! We have heard that some of our students are doing it a bit tough, so this resource is provided to support families through. Watch the video above. The main message is the change starts with you! You have the power!

Don't forget, there are fun activities below: with Mr Block's 'beatboxing' activity a sure hit for students of all ages!

Today, the focus is something that can be very challenging: we are talking feelings. This is best done when you are not in the middle of a crisis. The links provided are important for kids, but parents should also be aware of the content provided.

The content is created by experts in the field and matched to age appropriateness. It is so serious...I've left it to the experts in the field and curated their key massages. While it can be daunting to think about, knowing these resources are out there could really help someone we know, or you know, in the community.

Talking about feelings is really hard, but all the research suggests it is so important to do, starting from a young age. The important thing to know, is that you may feel sad, but you are the one who can turn that around. To do that, you need to 'DO' something different. (Go for a walk, listen to music, do something for someone else!)

Today is a special day! Notice the date, 20/8/20....two 20's with an 8 in the middle. Small thing, but it made me smile. You see, there are a lot of difficult things happening at the moment, and they can be very hard to talk about. But the important thing to do is to talk about them. For parents with kids, it can be hard to know what to say. Experts suggest honesty is the best policy. That doesn't mean we have to be brutally honest with all details. Storytelling can really help!

For our students, we need to understand that feeling upset, is perfectly normal. A feeling that many of us have, and one that gets a lot of attention today, is feeling anxious. Anxiety is perfectly normal and natural emotion that most of us experience from time to time. Referring to Kids helpline, a great resource available, Anxiety is designed to help keep us safe from danger. It means if we see a car, we get out of the way. This is known as our 'stress response'. For some people, anxiety is a sign they don't feel they have the 'tools' they need to cope with a certain stressful situation or experience. For some people, anxiety can become too much, and they need help from a doctor.

Kids Helpline are a great resource. Please watch the video below about what they do. Using these resources, or asking for help is not weakness...rather power and strength. You are becoming informed.

They suggest the following strategies for helping with anxiety:

Here are things you can do to get on top of your anxiety!

1. Learn about what happens in your brain when you're stressed. This can help you understand and make sense of your own experiences with anxiety. (See the link below for details)

2. Look after yourself through self-care. (Ideas for this are on the link below)

3. Try some new coping strategies. (The link below provides many strategies)

4. If things aren't getting better, or anxiety is interfering with your everyday life or causing you distress, then seek support. (The first support level is your family, then consider who a trusted adult might be for you, then kids helpline also has some great links)

https://kidshelpline.com.au/anxiety

ACTIVITY (Best done with an adult if under the age of 10)

For our age students, using stories can really help to identify how we might feel and what we can do about this.

Click on the link below. (There is a picture below of what it looks like)

https://kidshelpline.com.au/kids

Have the student choose a picture that represents them. It will ask them to identify what is making them feel that way. That will take you to many stories available to read through. The stories just reaffirm that many people have experienced this feeling and gives some ideas of how to manage.

An example of one of the stories: Everybody Makes Mistakes https://kidshelpline.com.au/kids/issues/everybody-makes-mistakes