{"id":2490,"date":"2020-01-23T22:13:45","date_gmt":"2020-01-23T22:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/?p=2490"},"modified":"2020-11-20T19:08:44","modified_gmt":"2020-11-20T19:08:44","slug":"childrens-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/childrens-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Strengthen Children&#8217;s Mental Health With High5 Principles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2493\" src=\"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/teens-supporting-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"supportive teens\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/teens-supporting-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/teens-supporting-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/teens-supporting-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/teens-supporting-100x67.jpg 100w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/teens-supporting-962x641.jpg 962w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/teens-supporting-1425x950.jpg 1425w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/teens-supporting.jpg 1731w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\u201cCanada\u2019s youth suicide rate is the 3rd highest in the industrialized world.\u201d<\/strong>&#8211; Mental Health Commission of Canada (2013)<\/p>\n<p>That is a scary statistic to digest.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve ever woken up feeling like the world is too much to handle today, you are not alone! Before anyone can get to everyday tasks; let alone an intense process like learning, we have to take a look at our mental and physical health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why the Tutoring with a Twist* team attended the \u201cStrengthening Children\u2019s Mental Health\u201d workshop with High5 Canada to learn about what mental health means for youth, as well as practical strategies to foster positive mental health in children. Supporting mental wellbeing is the start of supporting your child\u2019s future success!<\/p>\n<h2>What is Children&#8217;s Mental Health?<\/h2>\n<p>Just like your physical health, your mental health can experience ups-and-downs. Feeling nervous before a test or upset about something that happened is perfectly healthy and normal. However, when we experience the following symptoms, it may be a sign of poor mental health:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Headaches and stomachaches<\/li>\n<li>Frequent or intense mood swings<\/li>\n<li>Lost of enjoyment in everyday interactions<\/li>\n<li>Sudden shift in social groups and\/or behaviour<\/li>\n<li>Expression of low self-esteem or worthlessness<\/li>\n<li>Changes in appetite and\/or sleep for an extended period of time<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is important <strong>NOT<\/strong> to jump to conclusions from an isolated instance of the symptoms above. Healthy youth should be given some distance to tackle life\u2019s ups-and-downs on their own to foster independence and resilience. However, if these symptoms are persistent, intense, or show signs of escalation, they may require intervention from a caring and trusted adult. It is also important to note that these are simply signs of poor mental health which is different from a mental health issue or condition.<\/p>\n<h2>What are Mental Health Conditions?<\/h2>\n<p>Mental health conditions manifest from an <strong>extended, consistent, and\/or intense<\/strong> state of poor mental health. Mental health conditions require professional, and in some cases, medical intervention.<\/p>\n<p>The most common mental health conditions in youth include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Anxiety<\/li>\n<li>Depression<\/li>\n<li>ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>If you suspect any of these conditions, early intervention and professional help are necessary for management and recovery.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>How Can Extracurricular Youth Programs Support Your Child\u2019s Mental Health?<\/h2>\n<p>Consider this image:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2491 size-medium aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/mental-health-cube-300x300.png\" alt=\"mental health cube\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/mental-health-cube-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/mental-health-cube-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/mental-health-cube-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/mental-health-cube.png 549w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You can see 3 sides of the box clearly, but what is on the other 3 sides? What is on the inside?<\/p>\n<p>Think of the box as a metaphor for different \u2018sides\u2019 of your child. There are some parts that they only show you, and some parts that they only show their friends, teachers, tutors, coaches, Youtube subscribes\u2026 and even sides that they don\u2019t show to anyone.<\/p>\n<p>Extracurricular youth programs help you see your child in a different perspective to provide a more holistic understanding of your child\u2019s strengths, weaknesses, concerns, etc. When your child is in a different environment with different people and expectations, they will be able to express themselves differently. Often, parents and teachers may be completely unaware of certain traits and behaviour of a child that is only expressed in certain settings, which is why exposure, teamwork, and communication is key.<\/p>\n<p>Tutoring\u2026 with a Twist*! emphasizes the circles in our logo and processes for this exact reason! Different people on your child\u2019s team can come together with their knowledge and strategies to understand and bring out the best in your child. By working together, we can provide each of our perspectives to get a better picture of the whole &#8216;box. Our initial meeting, monthly report, and emphasis on ongoing communication is also done to support this process.<\/p>\n<h2>How do we Employ High5 Principles for Positive Mental Health Development?<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2492\" src=\"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/happy-girl-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"happy girl\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/happy-girl-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/happy-girl-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/happy-girl-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/happy-girl-100x75.jpg 100w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/happy-girl-962x722.jpg 962w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/happy-girl-1425x1069.jpg 1425w, https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/happy-girl.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>High5 Canada emphasizes the following 5 principles for positive development in your child:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>A caring adult<\/strong>; opportunity to establish a positive relationship with a leader<\/li>\n<li><strong>Friends<\/strong>; opportunity to build friendships and interact with peers<\/li>\n<li><strong>Play<\/strong>; opportunity to have fun and be creative<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mastery<\/strong>; opportunity to learn new skills and succeed<\/li>\n<li><strong>Participation;<\/strong> opportunity to make choices and have a voice<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Our tutors\u2019 core methods and philosophy are designed to revolve around these principals:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>We are always on your child\u2019s team!<\/strong> We show your child that we care about them and their education by teaching in a way that is tailored to their interests, passions, and needs. We choose to have an intensive questionnaire as part of the initial meeting to get to know your child and to show that we are all adults that genuinely care for their individual success.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ask about our group tutoring programs!<\/strong> Some learners learn best in a group. Having similarly-aged peers learn together can foster leadership, social skills, and positive lifelong relationships.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Learning is supposed to be fun!<\/strong> Our innovative methods focus on helping your child discover how they like to learn (or how to make a boring topic interesting!). We may use a role-playing game to learn English, make a dress to learn geometry, attend the annual Nanaimo bathtub race to learn physics\u2026 the possibilities are endless!<\/li>\n<li><strong>It\u2019s our fault if your child doesn\u2019t \u2018get it\u2019!<\/strong> Every child should be able to master learning a skill and be given opportunities to use it. If they don\u2019t succeed, it\u2019s on us as your child\u2019s tutor for not being able to help them understand! (It is the entirety of our job after all!)<\/li>\n<li><strong>It\u2019s about you!<\/strong> We offer an individualized tailored learning experience. We listen to your child and give them opportunities to have a say in their learning and what success looks like to them!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>At the end of the day, your child\u2019s mental health is one of the foundational building blocks to their success. Learning should not take a toll on your child\u2019s mental health, <strong>it should support it<\/strong>. When done right, <strong>learning should feel good<\/strong>, and we are with them every step of the way.<\/p>\n<p>Our tutors are always on the lookout for more opportunities such as the High5 \u201cStrengthening Children\u2019s Mental Health\u201d workshop as part of their professional learning and development to better support your child and improve their experience with us. With that said, we would like to give a big thank-you to High5 Canada for their informational workshop. Follow this link to find out more about mental health for youth: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.highfive.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.highfive.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you would like to learn more about how the \u201ctwist\u201d can make a difference in your child\u2019s life, make sure to <a href=\"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contact us<\/a>! Alternatively, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TutoringWithATwist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">follow our Facebook page\u00a0to stay updated<\/a> on the latest and greatest in the world of tutoring!<\/p>\n<p><em>*Services provided by With a Twist Education Ltd.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cCanada\u2019s youth suicide rate is the 3rd highest in the industrialized world.\u201d&#8211; Mental Health Commission of Canada (2013) That is a scary statistic to digest. If you\u2019ve ever woken up feeling like the world is too much to handle today, you are not alone! Before anyone can get to everyday tasks; let alone an intense process like learning, we have &#8230; <\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/childrens-mental-health\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2490"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3783,"href":"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2490\/revisions\/3783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tutoringwithatwist.ca\/ns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}