LittleVoices

Like adults, children navigate social situations on a daily basis and need to learn to manage their emotions. It is important to start building emotional awareness and control early on, to help them better handle relationships and problem solve. 

It is hard enough for adults to recognise and understand emotions in themselves, let alone for children. Calming down when upset and describing one’s feelings requires much patience. This is where parents and teachers can come in to support them. With an adult’s guidance, children will progressively learn how to manage their feelings. 

“Boys like blue and darker colors, and girls like pink”

“Girls are more vain than boys”

If you were to ask your children how boys and girls are different, what type of answers would you receive? These responses stem from them internalizing what they see and hear from parents, teachers and their environment. From engaging with their surroundings, children will mold their idea of gender roles and shape perceptions of what is “acceptable”. 

As adults near and dear to them, we are responsible for doing our best to provide them with a nurturing, empowering childhood. Don’t shy away from tough conversations. Instead, question things and push your children to understand why archaic gender norms should be shunned. 

“Why are so many of my friends falling sick?” 

It’s been over two years into the global pandemic, and if you have children, chances are they would be fairly aware of the current situation. Schools have done their best to keep students up-to-date on the latest happenings, but does your child feel reassured? Does he or she know the reason behind the ongoing measures? 

Here’s how to talk about it.

It is no secret that schools are critical in children’s lives – academic, social and emotional. With the pandemic disrupting lessons and causing abrupt closures, we have to find a way to better live with COVID-19.

Here are some ways we can go about doing this.

With large gatherings in many places paused or canceled at the moment, we may be entertainment-starved, missing live concerts, circuses, you name it. However, there is one other place you could check out mind-boggling juggling acts – right at home.

Working from home or office while caring for kids and keeping everyone physically AND mentally healthy is no mean feat. If the “worst” does happen and a parent/caregiver’s COVID-19 test shows up with double lines, what do you do?

While your child may seem to be your whole world at times, do remember that beyond every planet, lies a universe with much to offer. And that is you. 

This is our reality. Education cannot fall solely on schools and teachers. What we do know is this–children learn and develop best with the significant adults and leaders in their life. This is something we should keep in mind as we think about our current school structures. We need good relationships between schools and families to allow children to have a positive learning experience.

As a parent of a school-going child, meet-the-teacher sessions may uncover surprising, pleasant yet sometimes worrisome aspects of your kid. However, these encounters are always planned. Anticipated. Conversely, receiving a call in the middle of a workday, hearing the news that your child has been involved in a conflict, hits differently. Just imagine. One call turns to two, three, four, and more.