​As COVID-era plans develop for back to school time, there are multiple areas of focus: safety, skill development, social-emotional health and the creation of a positive “new normal” for operating schools in 2020 and beyond.  It is good to see that the “Fourth R” - resilience - is getting a fair share of attention as well.  
​Schools and districts are working hard to manage physical health risks and to create strong and supportive social-emotional foundations.  Such a framework has to be flexible enough to meet the needs of the full range of learners.  What may be a moderate challenge for one child can be overwhelming for another, so re-calibrating expectations is essential. One size won’t fit all.  It never did. For kids who struggled in pre-COVID times, there are even more formidable challenges now. Youngsters who have experienced increased incidents of stress, anxiety and trauma will sometimes face challenges that exceed their capacity to function effectively.  Every time resources and strategies strengthen a child’s resilience - through guidance and support, empathy and encouragement – the outcome will be more successful than “try harder” admonitions or punitive sanctions.


What is that Fourth R about?  Resilience is the capacity to deal with significant stressors and then be able to reflect, recover, refocus and re-energize. It essential for individuals, families, communities and systems.  We aren’t born infused with a lifetime supply of resilience; it develops over time through nurturing relationships, lived experiences and strategies we are taught that shape our development.  At times like this, when the environment around us is substantially disrupted, our resilience can be tested, along with our capacity to self-regulate and function productively.    We see the results all around us. Adults who become unruly and refuse to follow basic guidelines at a grocery store or restaurant are dysregulated: they are processing too many stressors and have too little capacity to cope and refocus. A pandemic can do that.  Children facing an unfamiliar learning landscape when they return to school may not have the reservoir of experience and energy to successfully navigate novel and uncomfortable experiences.  Many kids will need additional time, space and a co-regulating adult to build up the resilience needed for them to be successful the next time... or the time after that.   


It is interesting to scan the “restart” education resources across Canada and beyond.  There is a universal focus on the primacy of social-emotional health and a growing recognition that overwhelmed kids can’t learn. Youngsters’ ability to engage in the “3 Rs” and other core competencies, doesn’t happen without attention to social-emotional health including the 4th R - Resilience - as a foundation.




Bottom line? We create a better new normal when it is infused with attention to social-emotional health and resilience.


Following are links to several resources that may be helpful on this journey, both for professional reflection and for sharing with parents:


https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/abk9962  This short article from HealthLinkBC identifies specific resilience-focused strategies.  In our new normal, we will need them.  


https://childmind.org/article/how-to-help-kids-deal-with-rejection/  From the Child Mind Institute, these 5 tips focus dealing with rejection and disappointment with simple explanations as to what responses will benefit a child.


https://childmind.org/nixieandnimbo/  Another Child Mind Institute resource.  This animated series of short clips is for young children as they tackle concepts such as anxiety and begin to learn coping strategies. Links for parents and caregivers are also available.
cators and caregivers. Great tips and reminders.
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https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/jul2020/preventing-compassion-fatigue  This article explains how the body responds to stress, and offers suggestions on how to recognize and manage the compounding impact of stress on the care giver. It’s a good reminder that self-care by adults is essential if we are to provide the effective support youngsters require.  The article is aimed at early childhood educators, but the messages and strategies will resonate for educators throughout the system.   

We have recently heard from our friends at Collective Therapy that they are offering a new suite of on line courses for parents who are looking for support and a sense of community as they work with their children during the complex and sometimes challenging early years.  Here are three course offerings starting in mid-June and going for four weeks.  Registration is open until June 14 and information is available at http://collectivetherapy.ca/classes/   CSRI is pleased to share this information as another set of tools in the self-regulation toolbox...

Collective Therapy Classes being offered in June:

Picky Eating 101: How to Raise a Happy Eater is co-led by an occupational therapist and a registered dietitian and aims to help parents feel more confident and capable about creating positive learning experiences for their child when it comes to eating. We cover topics such as Ellyn Satter's Division of Responsibility, a basic introduction to food nutrition, creating structure and routine to meal times, and making meal planning simple.

Kindergarten Booster: Making the Leap to School is led by an occupational therapist and is intended for any parent who has questions and concerns about their child's kindergarten readiness. Each week we will discuss a specific area of development (fine motor, gross motor, and independence with social, emotional, and self-care skills) and provide parents with age appropriate milestones as well as ways to help boost their child's skills for kindergarten. The intent of the class is to help ease any anxiety parents may be feeling about their child's transition to kindergarten.

Ants in Your Pants: Managing Big Feelings is our original Collective Class and was developed with the intent of teaching families about self-regulation and how to help children stay more calm, balanced, and settled throughout their day. This class has been offered twice since January. We have had positive  feedback from past parents who reported that the tools they received from this class helped them to better understand their child's behaviours and put strategies in place that actually worked.

All our classes are held online and run for a 4-week period. Parents are emailed learning modules every week and are given access to a private online forum for each class. Throughout the 4-weeks of class parents can use the forum to ask questions to the therapist leading the class as well as discuss ideas and experiences with the other parents in the group. 

Parents from previous classes have commented that the online format of the classes made it easy to fit the learning into their busy lives and schedules. While the forum helped create a personal connection to the teacher and other parents in the group.

For more information on our classes please visit our website at http://collectivetherapy.ca/classes/

In 2004, Dr. Bruce Perry delivered the Inaugural presentation of the Margaret McCain Lecture Series, entitled Maltreatment and the Developing Child.  He shared a thoughtful, enlightening overview of the developing child and the particular challenges faced by youngsters growing up in dysfunctional/traumatic situations.  His recommendations and cautions are even more relevant today than they were over a decade ago.  The world has become more complex and yet many of our policies and practices are still lagging behind what we know about neuroscience, human development and effective strategies to change the trajectory for our most vulnerable community members.

http://www.lfcc.on.ca/mccain/perry.pdf