How to Build Resilience in Kids

As a parent or carer, it's really hard to watch your children struggle through something isn't it? It takes patience and resilience from us to sit by and watch without diving in to help. But, it's really important that we don't.

When we dive straight in we are teaching our child two things:

1. That we can do it better than them (I'll let that sit with you to understand what that might do for their confidence and self-esteem)

2. We are laying the foundations for how long we should persevere at a task.

As our children get older we want their window of tolerance to increase and grow with them, but they can only do this if they have experience of sitting outside of this window.

*Disclaimer: I'm not talking about sitting back and not helping during those times that your child is really distressed!

You will know your child and when to intervene, but if it's simply a case of taking a little extra time over something - and you have time to give, take a step back. Try not to rush in and rescue them.

They'll do a great job themselves eventually, but in order to get there they will need to practice the steps towards that final destination of achievement!

I'm Susie Robbins, Behaviour Consultant working with parents and carers like yourselves, to help you understand what's going on for your child when they behave in a challenging way. If you'd like some expert support and guidance why not take a look at booking a Behaviour Consultation.