Resilence

"Resilient" people have been shown to have happier relationships and are less prone to depression, more successful in school and jobs, and even live healthier and longer lives (from "The Resilence Factor" by K. Reivich and A.J. Shatte). Research shows that children can start to develop resilience skills as early as 2-3 years old, so why not start early?

In Spring 2008, Ontario's Ministry of Child and Youth Services published a document called Realizing Our Potential: Our Children, Our Youth, Our Future. This document identifies several strategic goals for our province. Goal number 4 is as follows: Every Child and Youth is Resilient.

Resiliency is also highlighted in the Full-Day Early Learning-Kindergarten Program. Page 2 indicates that the program aims to provide each child with the support they will need to develop self-regulation. Self-regulation is a critical skill in resilience.

Resilience is not something we are born with - it is developped through practice. Some critical abilities associated with resilience include:

- emotional regulation
- impulse control
- causal analysis
- realistic optimism
- empathy
- self-efficacy
- reaching out

One way for children to learn these abilities is to see them modelled through the adults in their lives. In order to be good role models, we must develop our own resilency abilities. Please follow the links below to find out more about how you can do to support resilence in children. Start with Reaching IN...Reaching OUT (RIRO) is an evidence-based program that teaches resiliency thinking skills to young children so they can Reach IN to face life's challenges and Reach OUT to others and opportunities that encourage healthy development.

Resilence in Development: The Importance of Early Childhood

Play and Self-Regulation in Preschool

Developing Self-Regulation in Kindergarten

Resilence Bounce Back