Discover the transformative power of gratitude.

Feeling and expressing thankfulness and appreciation, even for the smallest things that happen to us, has been shown to:

• Improve physical, emotional, and social well-being;
• Decrease stress, anxiety and depression.

To help your child become an autonomous and resilient learner:

Be sensitive to your child’s individuality and foster it, because there are many different ways to be successful.

Here are few tips from psychologist David Lubinski of Vanderbilt University, who has conducted extensive studies on learning and intelligence in young people.

•  Emphasize the importance of hard work: Praise your child’s effort, rather than his/her natural abilities or high marks. This will help your child develop a growth mindset.
• Teach your child to embrace intellectual risks and failures: It’s important to learn by making mistakes, because you often make discoveries along the way. Kids should see challenges as something positive that can make them better.
• Offer kids different a variety of experiences and opportunities: If you can, present your child with a variety of learning experiences, from sports, to arts to science. Camps and classes allow kids to grow intellectually and emotionally and can help them make like-minded friends.

To help your child become an autonomous and resilient learner:

Limit the amount of time she/he spends in front of a screen.

Please ensure that your child:

• Spends less than one hour a day playing video games;
• Turns off all technology one hour before bed time (TV, smartphone, tablet, games).

“Calm is an entirely different state from being mesmerized by some movie or video game. When a child is calm, she/he is relaxed, aware of what is going on inside and around her/him, and engaged.”

 “For many children with attentional issues, the barrage of rapidly changing images, loud noises and bright colours deployed by these (video) games keeps them glued but acts as a brain drain, providing brief but exhausting jolts of energy that is dysregulating – like junk food for the brain.”

 – Stuart Shanker, psychologist, researcher, professor and self-regulation expert

To help your child become an autonomous and resilient learner:

Encourage your child to develop and maintain healthy eating habits

As they say, “you are what you eat.”

To help your child feel better, have more consistent energy levels, and perform better in school:

• Encourage your child to eat a wide variety of fresh foods from all food groups;
• Encourage your child to drink lots of water throughout the day;
• Limit the amount of sweet drinks and snacks your child consumes (such as juice, soft drinks, cookies, granola bars, puddings);
• Limit the number of processed foods your child consumes (such as chips, flavoured crackers, instant noodles, and hot dogs), as they are usually very high in salt and artificial flavourings and colourings.