More on the three steps to Well-Being in grade school...
2. Competency: Competency means the ability to do the tasks of life. Having competency gives a person a sense of power and control. Because of the social dominance drive, we all need that sense of power and control. Children/teens/adults who do not gain power and control through competency, either become depressed, or at the other extreme aggressive.
3. Autonomy: Autonomy means freedom to make our own good choices. Parents who are overly controlling undermine a child's well-being, and fail with at risk kids. However, when a grade school child has poor impulse control, it is difficult for a parent NOT to be too controlling. Just Like His Father? and The Child Well-Being Workbook will teach you how to avoid this trap.
The grade school years are a special time in the life of a person!
Why are the grade school years so special and important? There are two main reasons. Your child's brain is still growing and changing. More importantly though, the sex hormones that influence teen and adult behavior are very low in children between 5 and 11. Because hormone levels are low, children are free to learn to enjoy pleasures other than sex and social dominance.
When puberty hits, tweens and teens become preoccupied with sex and social status. If a child has not learned to enjoy academics and constructive hobbies like playing music, by the end of 5th grade, he will have a more difficult time being productive and successful in middle school and high school.
Start today helping your grade school child devlop the life habits that bring real well-being! Well-being comes from three things in our lives. These tree things are relatedness, competency and autonomy. Relatedness, or quality love relationships, reduce stress and support physical and mental health. Competency, or the ability to do the tasks of life allowa a child/teen/adult to feel powerful without being aggressive. Autonomy means freedom from relationships that are overly controlling. In order to ave well-being your grade school child must learn to make his own good choices.
More on the three steps to Well-Being in grade school...
1. Relatedness: Grade school children need to have close family relationships. In addition, grade school children need to learn how to be a good friend. Close relationships and friendships depend on a person having the Ability to Love.
What can I do to make sure my grade schooler fully develops his Ability to Love?At risk children often struggle to learn to love family and friends. This is like any other learning disability that has to be overcome with special teaching.
Parents have to provide the special teaching that is necessary to help at risk children learn to love. No mental health professional, therapist or school teacher can take the place of a parent when it comes to this job.