Help your child learn the value of truthful living.

In his recent book, “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos,” Dr. Jordan Peterson explains the benefits of living one’s life truthfully: knowing who you truly are and what you truly want. If you embrace these basic personal truths, you will be able to set goals that are achievable and make realistic plans that will help you achieve those goals. However, your personal truths are not static: they need to be re-evaluated and re-affirmed as time goes on. As your understanding and worldview change over time, so, too, should your goals and ambitions. Checking-in on your personal truths now and again will therefore help keep your life on track, make you feel more satisfied, and prevent you from fooling yourself into thinking you’re doing the right thing.

(Dr. Jordan Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist, a professor at the University of Toronto, and the author of “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos” and “Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief.”)

Helping your child become more self-aware will help her become more successful in life.

At a conference I attended this past week at McGill University, I learned more about the relationship between self-awareness, self-satisfaction and success.

In a nutshell, studies have shown that people who are self-aware – meaning they are in tune with their emotions and they know what they like and dislike – are more likely to be successful in their careers and relationships and to be feel contented and satisfied. The more a person is aware of what makes him feel happy or unhappy, fulfilled or unfulfilled, the more likely he will be to make decisions and choices that are “right” for him. This, in turn, leads to personal success and satisfaction.

Self-awareness is not something we learn overnight, however. It is something we continually develop over our lifetime. To help your child develop self-awareness, expose her to many different activities, cultivate varied interests and hobbies, and help her recognize which of these experiences feel the most enjoyable and authentic to her.

Try to take a more positive and proactive approach to discipline, rather than a punitive one.

More often than not, our first reaction when a child misbehaves or harms another child is to raise our voice and punish the child for her actions. However, evidence shows that using a more proactive and positive approach, rather than a punitive approach, is more effective at promoting good behaviour.

Being proactive and positive means taking the time to explain to children what unacceptable behaviours are, why they are unacceptable, and what the consequences of unacceptable behaviours will be. This can be done both at home and at school and it needs to be reinforced on a regular basis.

At Centennial, teaching our students effective learning behaviours is integral to what we do. Effective learning behaviours enhance not only a child’s personal learning experience, but also create a classroom environment that is more pleasant and more conducive to learning as a whole. We also encourage our students to be more mindful, respectful, and to take responsibility for their actions.

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The more we reinforce and reward appropriate behaviour, the less we have to consequence inappropriate behaviour.

Physical and emotional health are important factors in preparing your child for college.

At Centennial Academy, we help our students develop – and master –  effective learning behaviours and we coach them to become autonomous and resilient learners. Our goal is to graduate students who are in control of their studies and who are ready for college. We work very much in partnership with parents, ensuring that routines and structures that support our efforts are maintained at home.

However, once a student graduates from Centennial, he is on his own to maintain his effective learning behaviours at school.

In my capacity as Director General of Centennial College, I have observed that the students who do the best in college are those who maintain a healthy bodies and healthy minds: students who incorporate physical activity and relaxation activities into their lives. As self-regulation expert Stuart Shanker points-out, exercise and relaxation are essential to helping students learn better and manage their stress. These are routines and structures that take root at home, so this is where parents come in.

Here is what you can do to help your child be a more autonomous, resilient and college-ready learner:

• Encourage him to do four hours a week of aerobic activity. This could be jogging, power-walking, dancing, rock-climbing, swimming, kayaking, playing a team or individual sport, horseback riding, skiing, skating, martial arts, or working-out a gym.

• Encourage him to practice a relaxing hobby or pastime every day that does NOT involve a screen (screens excite and stress the brain). This could be reading, painting, practicing an instrument, building models or robots, cooking, gardening, drawing, designing, playing board games, singing, or even meditating.

• Encourage him to mix things up and not stick to the same exercises or pastimes. Variety is the spice of life and it also creates new learning pathways and makes for better balanced individuals!

Helping your child develop her EQ will make her more successful in life.

Rapid advances in technology mean that many careers are being taken over by machines. As human intelligence gets pushed aside by artificial intelligence (AI), developing one’s emotional intelligence (EQ) is becoming more important than ever.

EQ, in a nutshell, measures a person’s ability to monitor, express and communicate with emotion in a way that is beneficial to everyone involved. In the real world, while good grades and fancy degrees might open doors to good jobs, actual success in a job is determined even more strongly by a person’s personality: by qualities such as perseverance, self-control and the ability to get along with both employers and employees. The good news is that EQ can be learned and improved with practice. These are the five primary EQ qualities that we should all learn to master to get ahead:

• Self-awareness: being aware of your emotions and reactions.
• Self-regulation: being able to control your emotions and take responsibility for your actions.
• Motivation: being committed to self-improvement and resilient in the face of setbacks.
• Empathy: being able to recognise how others feel and how you affect them.
• Social skills: being able to communicate respectfully and effectively.

Cultivating your child’s EQ will help her stand-out from the pack and will increase her chances of success in personal and professional relationships. You can start by helping her to more effectively navigate everyday challenges with friends and teachers.

To find out more about how important EQ is in the age of AI, you may want to read:

• Harvard Business Review
• Forbes
• Canadian Immigrant

Try some simple mindfulness exercises, even when on holidays.

The beauty of mindfulness is that it can be practiced any time, anywhere and by anyone. If you find yourself feeling a bit stressed over the long weekend, or of you are on the verge of getting angry or anxious about something, even the simplest mindfulness meditation can immediately help lower your stress levels, induce relaxation, and help you re-focus.

Here is a one-minute relaxation breathing exercise that reduces stress by lowering your heart rate and blood pressure. It’s easy and effective for the whole family!

• Close your eyes and take a deep breath in, for a count of four seconds.
• As you inhale, visualize the movement of oxygen through your body.
• Exhale, for a count of eight seconds.
• As you exhale, imagine any stress you’re experiencing just floating away.
• Repeat five times.