Millions of families have suddenly found themselves at home for an unknown length of time. These sudden changes can be very stressful not only for parents and caregivers, but for young children as well.
I am excited to be working together with a team of preschool teachers from Alabama to bring you weekly Brain Smart Starts during this period of quarantine. These teachers miss their preschoolers dearly and wanted to do something to be helpful while we’re all at home. We decided that this was the perfect way to be as helpful as we can during your time at home!
As we have discussed before, the Brain Smart Start is one of my very favorite structures in Conscious Discipline. It offers us a way to be proactive in creating an environment that sets children and their caregivers up for success. As we know, all behavior comes from an internal state. If we want to change behavior, we have to change the state first. We can do that very intentionally with the Brain Smart Start.
The Brain Smart Start includes four elements. These elements help us to create a pattern that is helpful to the brain in preparing for learning and interacting with others. There are activities to Unite, Destress, Connect, and Commit. As you will see in the video, these activities are very intentional in helping us be in charge of our own bodies and responsible for our behavior and learning. They also help us build essential connections through eye contact, touch, presence, and playfulness. These connections help us build willingness and impulse control.
You will find a free printable for the Activities to Commit at this link. You can learn more about Conscious Discipline at http://www.consciousdiscipline.com.
So grab a preschooler and join us as we get a Brain Smart Start!