Given the enormous turmoil going on in the world at this time, the nourishment of positive mental health outcomes for kids has never been more important.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n During a long teaching career, a very important notion was one of “student equilibrium”. Not just kids, but “all” of us like to feel settled and emotionally prepared for any things which may happen during a day which may upset that equilibrium to the point that it takes away our focus on what we should be engaged with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the start of a teaching day, I tried to find and give credit to someone doing something well and “particularly” if it involved a student helping or showing generosity to someone else (\u201cbucket filling\u201d) and the amazing benefits it generates to a kid’s self-esteem i.e. confidence, feel-good endorphins, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, few of us, if any, are going to avoid all conflict on the Highway of Life, so kids need to acquire important life skills like conflict resolution, which is a whole blog topic in itself, to be hopefully covered soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supposedly, bullying is rife in society, but many kids understandably don’t seem to know the difference between banter and bullying. Banter is us having a good-natured lend of each other. Bullying is the nastiest form of “bucket dipping”. It is targeted, frequent and, as we see, very emotionally and at times physically damaging to the recipient’s self-esteem and sense of wellbeing. “But” be mindful that a great bucket filling achievement is to help turn a “bucket dipper” into a “bucket filler”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, kids need ideas for \u201cbucket dipping\u201d. For example, these are just the beginning of Carol McCloud’s A to Z: <\/p>\n\n\n\n A \u2013 Ask if you can help <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n B \u2013 Be a bucket filler <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n C \u2013 Cheer up a friend with a funny<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n D \u2013 Donate to a special group <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n E \u2013 Elaborate about someone’s good efforts or skills (Words of Affirmation) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n F \u2013 Friends have fun and hang out <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ….and so on to the letter Z.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was so impressed with its more-than-valuable messages \u2013\u2013 which are so important not \u201cjust\u201d for little kids but also for us big kids, too \u2013\u2013 that I bought a number of copies of the book and gave them to friends who had kids and to those who worked with at-risk kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, Carol\u2019s book became a staple read to \u201cevery\u201d class I visited as a relief teacher; from preps (5-year-olds) to grade 6\u2019ers (11-year-olds)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please<\/strong> So, again, a narrative presentation\u2026just six very valuable minutes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feedback about this video will be very welcomed, so please feel free to comment below.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commonhealthkids.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Girls-hugging-1024x419.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/s>look at the narration of the book via this YouTube link (about six minutes) and you will see why I value this book so highly, in the way that it communicates to kids and everyone else an ideal way to acquire daily happiness<\/strong> and the sense of purpose which flows from it. I also very much like the mention of \u201cbucket dippers\u201d, which negates the terrible effect of bullying, which unfortunately exists in our communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n