Click here to purchase the PDF Handbook for this self-paced learning module.
Raising children to achieve their potential is a lot like looking after the land.
Looking after the land sustains life. It supports the best possible growing environment for all that depends on the land for life. Though there may be natural events that challenge our care of the land, more often than not our endeavours are rewarded with a beautiful environment that can sustain new life into the future.
Similarly, when raising children, the growing environment is important. It is vital to provide the best possible growing environment for children to thrive and achieve their potential.
Reflection:
What do children and young people need in their caregiving environment to thrive?
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
What else do all children need to thrive and achieve their potential?
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Connection is an important concept when thinking about what children and young people need to achieve their potential and thrive. An optimal growing environment involves connection with our task. It involves parenting with intention; thinking about what we are doing, and why. It involves holding the child in our mind; especially their experiences and their needs. It involves responding to their experiences and needs.
Reflection:
What is likely to be the child’s experience of having a parent or parents who responds to their experience (and needs)?
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
When children experience others to be connected with their experience and needs, they feel a sense of worthiness that profoundly supports their emerging identity and self-esteem. They feel that they can trust and rely on the adults who are connecting with their experience and needs. They develop a reciprocal connection to these adults. This reciprocal connection goes by various names, but the one I will use in this module is Attachment.
Click here for the next page in this module.