All children will experience obstacles and challenges as part of their everyday lives.
Resilience is the ability to bounce back when these challenges or setbacks occur.
Young children build resilience over time, with experience and when surrounded by positive relationships.
Sarah Bethune, Head of Early Learning at St Catherine’s School, Toorak, says healthy ways to build resilience include:
Encourage independence: Encourage your child to solve problems for themselves. Ask questions and bounce the problem back to your child, then brainstorm solutions together.
Identify, acknowledge and manage emotions: Help your child identify and manage their emotions. For example, “It’s okay to be sad because we can’t visit grandma. What could you do to tell grandma how much you miss her?”
Promote a ‘can do’ attitude: Encourage your child to have a go or try again when they think they cannot do something or when things do not work out.
Embrace mistakes: It is important children understand mistakes are how we learn. This should be role modelled to promote a growth mindset.
Promote healthy risk taking: Young children need to experience a healthy level of risk. This might include a new activity, interacting with new people, or trying new play equipment at the playground.
Promote optimism: Optimism and resiliency go hand in hand. Your conversations and questions can help support the child to see the positives in situations.
Encourage problem solving skills: Rather than providing solutions to your child’s problems, ask them what they could do if they encounter the same problem again.
Role model resilience: Role model how you respond to challenges. When your child sees you positively adapt, they learn they can do the same.
