Understanding and managing children's anxiety

Catherine Gallagher: Clinical Psychologist 22nd May I went to this free course run by NZEI. I have always found it very interesting how the body works and wanted to know more about what is happening to a child when they are anxious. Notes: -Anxiety is normal and healthy -Anxiety is experience of fear in absence of threat -Anxiety comes out in bad behaviour -We need to be the frontal lobe for the children and provide regulation when they can't -Adults needed to scaffold and help children manage their anxiety -We need to help children build up their resources -The brain loves plans -We need to acknowledge the feelings the child is having -We need to support them through their distress to come through the other side. They need to feel it to move through it and develop resilence so they can learn to regulate themselves. -We need to model it to the children -In the classroom when a child is in a flight or fight response this needs to be regulated first before learning can happen -Can define it as the worry brain or a problem that needs to be addressed. Write it down, sit with it, regulate. Write down top five worries for two minutes. Decide if it is the worry brain or a problem. Reassurance then move on. -Basic skills to help anxiety: breathing, mindfulness, imagery, self talk and exercise. The course gave us some good tips for dealing with anxiety that I will take back to the classroom. The basic skills are things we have brought into the classroom through Dojo videos, growth mindset, daily fitness already but we can expand our resources. We have plans inplace for earthquakes, fire drills etc that the children know already (the brain loves plans). We can develop a plan for emotions too and how to deal with them. Our term 4 P.B.L about emotions will fit in with these ideas well.