If there’s one thing we love, it’s educational spaces that are totally aligned. The Little Rebels mandate and vision line up magically with the Oak Learners vision to inspire creativity, foster technique and encourage confidence.
Mindfulness is a human ability that allows one to be present and aware of their surroundings and their own being, allowing them to not be overly reactive or overwhelmed by the world that surrounds them. When you bring awareness to what you’re experiencing, through your emotions and thoughts, you are being mindful.
World Mental Health Day is about raising awareness and educating the young minds of this globe about mental health issues and maintaining mental health.
The benefits of letting your children explore creativity and self-expression are quite clear. Their mental and personal growth will shine day to day the more they’re willing to express themselves. Here are 4 methods to help encourage creativity and self-expression in young children.
Sometimes when a child is feeling stressed or anxious, they just want a big hug, but at the same time they don’t want to be touched. So how can you help them? Have you ever heard of or tried weighted blankets? It feels like a comforting hug and can help a child feel secure.
Yoga is an exercise that includes movement of the body into specific poses combined with slow deep breathing. It is a healthy and active way to relax your body and mind, but the list of benefits goes far beyond relaxation.
Grief and loss are a natural part of life, so why do most adults try to hide it from children? I understand it is not an easy subject to discuss with children, but they are more capable of handling it than most adults give them credit for. Children are very resilient and very intuitive, even when we hide the truth, they can usually sense something has happen.
The world is an unfamiliar place right now causing stress and anxiety to rise in everyone, including our children. Finding time and ways to reduce these is imperative to our children mental health. Meditation has many benefits to improve overall health and well-being.
Have you ever noticed that after a long day at work, staring at a computer all physical activity day you feel cranky, sometimes your body feels stiff, or you have a headache? Well, the same thing happens with our children but it usually doesn’t require a full day of screen time to cause these negative effects.
Covid-19 is wreaking havoc all over the world, this virus is deadly in more ways than one. Being a mother of four, the death I am referring to is the death of my children’s social connections with family and friends.
You may be asking what cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is? Well put simply, cognitive behavioural therapy is a short-term therapy that focuses on one particular problem with set goals in place. You will learn techniques and strategies in order to reach your goals. With mental health on a decline due to Covid19 you may not be able to seek treatment from a professional so here are some tools that you can do with the children at school or in the home. These tools are beneficial for everyone to work on strengthening their mental health and mindfulness.
Life events and our daily stressors can have the potential to create a situation in which our emotions become a destructive form of anxiety. These destructive emotions include but are not limited to a racing heart, obsessive thinking and, inability to breathe.
The “Butterfly Hug” method was introduced to help lighten these emotions. This method is a therapeutic intervention to help relax and calm these rapidly destructive emotions.
Moods and emotions can be big feelings that even some adults have trouble understanding so we cannot expect children to be masters of theirs. There are many ways in which we can help children understand what they are feelings, such as role modeling, through pretend play, and mood cards. In this blog we will be focusing on mood cards, what they are and how to use them.
Children have just as much stress, frustration, and/or anxiety as most adults but are not able to understand or control it in the moment. During moments of stress and anxiety children tend to tense up certain muscle groups unknowingly and have a challenging time relaxing them. This can lead to the children being in a state of high anxiety for longer periods of time.
Winter lockdown doesn’t have to mean endless screen time and being stuck indoors. There are plenty of ways to get outside and explore the amazing secret hot spots of nature, art and culture that South Etobicoke has to offer. Here are my top 3 local hikes to explore with my own family and our students at Oak Learners!
First published in the Etobicoke-Lakeshore Magazine, November Edition The Pandemic has taught us to value many local resources we may previously have taken for granted. We have been forced to shop local, eat local and enjoy the hidden gems in our community. These...
This winter we have a lot to look forward to! From exploring snow hills to ice crystals to making igloos and snow angels. Help your little learners stay warm and dry this winter so they can continue learning and having fun in comfort. Outside exploration has been proven to lead to a plethora of benefits that helps your child develop crucial skills. At Oak Learners, our students are outside for extended periods of time in all winter weather: snow, rain or shine. Regardless of the forecast, we will continue encouraging our students to explore the natural world around them while pushing boundaries and taking risks.
Last week our “Fun with Fitness” class emphasized the importance of healthy living. Our virtual lesson highlighted that healthy foods are fundamental to a healthy lifestyle and we need to be aware of the five special food groups in order to grow big and strong and get...