What Your Child Needs to Know About Change
The world is constantly changing, and changes can be overwhelming for children. Whether it’s transferring to a new school, welcoming a new baby in the family, or adjusting to the new normal, changes are bound to happen in every child’s life. While parents need to make sure that kids experience some level of consistency in their lives, such as daily routines and family traditions, it is also important to raise a child knowing how to respond to change gracefully.
Train your child to have the right attitude when it comes to dealing with life changes. Here are some tips:
What is Change? And Why does it Matter?
Change is a phase to another state condition or a general transition of something, from a moment of familiar-and-known to the next step or place. An essential skill needed for success in learning; coping with change is part of a child’s developing flexibility. Flexibility is needed for a kid to get along with friends and is a basis of resilience, which is crucial for learning, relationships, and handling disappointments.
Why Does Change Challenges Children?
Change is a challenge for kids, but it is also a practice for life. Children can’t plan for what comes next because they lack a sense of time. Likewise, the brain’s capacity to regulate themselves or handle their emotions is still limited. This is why parents play a vital role in helping their kids to adapt to changes.
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Be a constant in a world of changes
The best way to help your child cope with changes is by being the constant in their life. Kids need a sense of consistency n their life, and the presence of parents or family is a constant that can help them get by when changes tend to overwhelm them. This parent-child relationship feeds into a child’s ability to become independent and serves as the basis for understanding and interacting with the world. They learn to depend on others to help them and learn to trust themselves.
How Can Parents Help their Kids to Manage Change?
Please support your child to switch his attention, give up things he is currently doing and comfortable with, and help him focus on something new.
Children get better with change as their brain development and self-regulation mature. Every time you guide your child through a change, you assist them with important growth in skills, such as learning the flexibility to shift attention, plan what comes next, and manage emotions.
How Does Change Help Children?
There are some changes like external circumstances that children can’t control and will often dramatically affect their lives. However, these changes, whether good or bad, will shape them and teach them something new. It will make them more flexible, more understanding and prepare them for the future. It will encourage children to progress and give them the experience and drive for healthy personal development.
Change can be unsettling for children, but it is an integral part of their development journey, and these changes should be embraced.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gwen Llana-Serrano is a millennial mom who works from home. She owns a content writing start-up and writes about her experience as a mom for the first time on her parenting and lifestyle blog. He also writes articles for The Asian Parent, the largest parenting website in Southeast Asia.
