What type of parent are you? Read this checklist to see if you help your child build resilience. My favorite is “Make the adage that there are at least two sides to every story a mantra in your home.”
Nurturing Resilience: Reminding Ourselves What Kids Need
By Ann Klotz featured in Independent Ideas: The Independent School Magazine Blog
Rainbow Community School has always been a safe haven for introverted children. In a world where social aggressiveness has be glorified, especially in the competitive public education model, Rainbow has always had a way of understanding and honoring the power of the introvert.
Three insights from Rainbow on educating introverts:
1. Provide “in-breath and out-breath” time. At Rainbow, we have active and “outward” times of day; but unlike most schools, those are balanced with “inward” times. Every day has moments of silence, such as when we take three breaths together at morning centering, or when we watch nature, or when we decide to have a meditational lunch.
2. Provide many speaking opportunities where introverts can share about something they are passionate about in a safe space — with their classmates. That eventually builds up to speaking in front of the whole community. However, if they are actually terrified, allow them to “pass” until they are comfortable. It takes time to build trust.
3. Allow introverts to find a role they are comfortable with. Instead of forcing a terrified child to sing in a performance, a Rainbow teacher might ask them to take on another role, such as being in charge of costumes or props. Such a role actually makes them a leader in the eyes of their peers, and builds confidence.
How Parents And Teachers Can Nurture The ‘Quiet Power’ Of Introverts
Why does Rainbow have such dedicated, mindful, creative, and loving teachers? Because we follow every single one of the recommendations in this article. Teachers are still treated like blue-collar workers by politicians. At Rainbow they are highly respected professionals who are provided time to collaborate with one another, autonomy to run their classroom, consistent and relevant professional development, and balance in their lives so they aren’t burned out. The result? Students who are dedicated, mindful, creative, and loving. Empowered teachers create empowered students.
A National Strategy to Improve the Teaching Profession
Religious children are meaner than their secular counterparts, study finds by Harriet Sherwood for The Guardian
If this study is accurate, and religious children are less compassionate, what about spiritual children? If we put people into four categories:
1. religious and spiritual
2. religious and NOT spiritual
3. non religious and spiritual, and
4. non religious and not spiritual
Years of studies by Lisa Miller, director of clinical psychology at Columbia Teacher’s College, reveal that the traits of spiritual children, whether in the religious or non religious category, are far more positive than children who were not spiritual. There we 80% less likely to suffer from depression and far less likely to engage in risky behaviors. Miller defines spirituality as having a sense of some unifying force, whether that force is thought of as God, nature, the universe, or any other term/concept. Spiritual children had higher self-esteems and displayed far greater compassion and happiness.
So if spirituality raises healthier, happier, wiser, more responsible children, the question is “How do we promote spirituality?” And we ask this question regardless of whether they are religious or not. Since 1977 Rainbow Community School has made spiritual development a core part of our holistic program. (See The Spiritual Domain for an explanation of how it is implemented.)
What about religious children? It is interesting to note that religiosity does not inherently generate spirituality. While the children who were religious and spiritual conveyed all the benefits of spirituality, of the four categories, the children who were religious and NOT spiritual were at the highest risk for substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, and depression. It is important that people don’t read this article by the Guardian and draw the conclusion that religion is bad. Religion is perhaps more about customs and ethnicity–nothing wrong with that! Religion is only a problem if it gets in the way of compassionate spirituality.
“’Walk in beauty,’ is sage advice I learned from Native elders. Since my youth, when I was fascinated with Native wisdom, I have strived to walk the beauty way, but it took me until middle age to understand my path. The secret? Being engaged in a purpose – a higher calling… Our greater calling at Rainbow Community School is to return beauty back into education. American education has forgotten how to walk in beauty. By infusing beauty into education I believe we can usher in a new era that will restore faith in American education and bring hope to humanity”.
RCS Director, Renee Owen, discusses how Beauty is necessary in balancing the triad of mind, body, and heart within education. Read the full article: Heart of the Matter: Beauty
Try it out for a dinner table discussion. The question, “Who had a fabulous struggle today?” is a great example of what educators call a growth-mindset prompt. Students and adults with a growth mindset believe that humans have almost limitless potential. Therefore, the more effort they put forth, and the more willing they are to overcome mistakes and obstacles, the brighter and more capable they will become. People with a fixed mindset view people as being innately born with a fix potential. If you are smart, you are lucky, and vice versa. Therefore, mistakes are perceived as failures, rather than learning opportunities. Parents and teachers can build self-concept and self-esteem by encouraging one another to embody a growth mindset.
Read: Developing a Growth Mindset in Teachers and Staff, by Keith Heggart
