Five Scripts to Build Resilience in Kids

These are tough times. In some ways, there is no greater truth than this right now: we are a year into a pandemic, we are overwhelmed, overstretched, overtired. We want nothing more than a "return to normal". It is incredibly hard to be an adult right now. It is incredibly hard to be a child right now. We are asking ourselves every day to show up, more depleted than ever, to take care of children who are understandably more frustrated, sad, angry, and anxious than ever.

Teachers have always had an incredibly important role in our kids' lives - this has been further highlighted this year. Teachers have shown up amidst so much uncertainty, adapted to ever-changing teaching conditions. They've offered support to children who are struggling to make sense of how to be a kid who can grow, learn, and explore in a world that feels suddenly very unsafe.

Here are 5 scripts to help build resilience in kids (great for teachers and parents)

"Not-knowing means we can learn something new. It's awesome to learn so it's awesome to not-know."

"You're right. It is really hard! Good thing you're a kid who can do hard things."

"It's ok to take a break and take a breath. That's what I do when things feel tricky to me."

"Learning is supposed to feel difficult, uncomfortable, and frustrating. If it feels that way to you... you're doing it right."

"I see you building that working-hard muscle. That's going to pay off for years to come."

THANK YOU to all of you who are teachers, counselors, principles, assistants, really all of you who work with kids in school settings. You are so important, valued, and brave. Many of you have reached out to me asking me if I could more explicitly adapt my ideas to classroom settings, to do a workshop just for teachers, and with the help of an amazing steering committee of educators, I've done just that.