Building Resilience in Children - A Modern Day Survival Tool

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Hi,
Are our kids too soft these days? Elders say that adversities and difficulties bring out the best in one's life. Traumatic events and disastrous situations could act as precursors to make an individual tough and resilient. Some people are born tough and resilient. Choi Sung Bong is one such person who personifies tenacity and resilience.

The story of Choi Sung Bong makes a fairy tale reading. It is an event by itself. An orphan who was abandoned when he was three years old, Choi Sung Bong grew up facing all the adversities that you can see in life. Ran away from the orphanage and started living on the street since five years old. Impoverished, poor, and without the enduring love and affection of parents, Choi Sung Bong made a living out of selling gum and energy drinks on the street and night clubs.

His relentless pursuit for greatness and a great dream to achieve something tangible, made him determined to achieve immense success in life. This is the true story of a young man, who was not only resilient, but never give up in chasing his dream. Watch his great performance on the Korea's Got Talent TV show. A show of a young man who reached the top in spite of extreme rigors of life.

Thought for today:
"In order to succeed, people need a sense of self-efficacy, to struggle together with resilience to meet the inevitable obstacles and inequities of life." - Albert Bandura

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Building Resilience in Children - A Modern Day Survival Tool
One needs to be resilient enough to face and survive all adverse events that might arise in life. Resilience is the modern day tool that your children could use to develop the characters of elasticity and tenacity.

Q1: My daughter (who is now 9 years old) was tested in kindergarten (at 6 years old) for Gifted and Talented services at her public school. She was given the WASI (Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence) test. Her verbal IQ was 156, her performance IQ was 123, and her full scale IQ was 145. I understand these are rather high scores...

A: The WASI is a brief measure of intellectual ability which is said to be rather reliable and saves time. Essentially, testing professionals are able to get a fast and reliable measure of intelligence when screening for mental retardation, giftedness, or for other purposes. This test can also be used for reassessing individuals who have had a comprehensive evaluation and need re-evaluation. However, it has been suggested that the WASI used cautiously and a second testing may be possible for detailed scores... Continue to read Dr. Sandhu's answer on Using Intelligence Test for the Gifted & Talented Programme here.

Q2: My 6 year old son scored the following on the Cogat test: Verbal 134, Quantitative 141 and Non-verbal 135. The school is doing additional planned activities testing and I'm concerned with some of the answers he tells me he is giving them.... can a child score that high on the Cogat test and not actually be gifted?

A: The Cognitive Abilities Test, also known as the CogAT, is an exam administered to K-12 students to assess their abilities in three areas considered important in determining potential academic success: verbal reasoning, nonverbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning. This test is most commonly used by schools to determine placement for gifted and talented programs.... Continue to read Dr. Sandhu's answer on Gifted or Average? here.

Q3: We just received our daughters scores from the WISC-IV. She did very well in verbal comprehension (97th percentile) but scored very poorly in perceptual reasoning (39th percentile). Her other scores were in average to high average range. She seemed to have most of her problems with picture concepts and block design....

A: The Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI) which is a nonverbal ability is made up of Block Design, Matrix Reasoning, Picture Concept and Picture Completion. It is designed to measure nonverbal concept formation, visual perception and organisation, simultaneous processing, visual-motor coordination, learning, and the ability to separate figure and ground in visual stimuli.... Continue to read Dr. Sandhu's answer on Improving Perceptual Reasoning Skills here.

A Parent's Guide to Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Your Child Roots and Wings
By Dr. Kenneth R. Ginsburg

Today's children face a great deal of stress - academic performance, heavy scheduling, high achievement standards, media messages, peer pressures, family tension. Without healthier solutions, they often cope by talking back, giving up, or indulging in unhealthy behaviors.

Show your child how to bounce back - and THRIVE - with coping strategies from one of the nation's foremost experts in adolescent medicine. This 7-C plan for resilience that helps kids of all ages learn competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control to help them bounce back from challenges.

Handbook of Resilience in Children
By Dr. Sam Goldstein and Dr. Robert B. Brooks

Even the most significant technological and medical advances of the 21st century have been tempered by the increasing risk posed to children in the form of such stressors as poverty, victimization, and family dysfunction. To overcome such challenging societal pressures, children must become skilled in navigating through these turbulent times.

To help children overcome the everyday obstacles they face - that is, to beat the odds - the Handbook of Resilience in Children gathers into one volume the current scientific theory, clinical guidelines, and real-world interventions to address such issues as: The role of resilience in overcoming trauma, adversity, and abuse.

Parents can forget about teaching, kids call the shots
Herald Sun Feb 27, 2012

Parents fretting about brain-training their babies have been told to relax - children are like "dandelions" that will flourish almost regardless of what you do. Brain experts say mums and dads worry unnecessarily about their children's development, because the impact of parenting is limited. New book Welcome To Your Child's Brain, written by neuroscientists, concludes most children can reach their potential with "good enough" parenting because they are born hard-wired for learning.

Does spanking make your kids less intelligent?
WTKR Feb 21, 2012

Some researchers say giving your kids a pat on the bottom could lower their IQ. Spanking has been the discipline measure of choice for some parents. Now a new study says sparing the rod could lead to a smarter kid.

For gifted children, perfectionism can lead to unhappiness
Fun Education Feb 27, 2012

South Coast Today recently featured a question from a teacher who has noticed that students who are focused on being right all the time often forget to be happy. In response, the news source stated that for gifted children, perfectionism can be a serious problem.

Choosing books for your children
WPRI Feb 27, 2012

As parents, we know that reading to our children is crucial in their overall development as well as their future success in school. We know that we must be role models for our children, and expose them to as much print as possible even from the earliest age. But just how do we know which books or types of text are appropriate for our children?

Special Assignment: Baby brain booster?
ABC Feb 22, 2012

The home videos of infants as young as six months learning to read have caught the attention of many parents. There are tons of tools to help babies, but which ones really work? ABC 4 News focused on the set of “Your Baby Can Read” DVD's.

How children cope with stress is key: expert
Brampton Guardian Feb 22, 2012

A little tension in our lives isn't all that bad. But ‘toxic' stress can make us physically sick, says a renowned neuroscientist, whose research suggests how we learn to deal with anxiety as children can have a lasting impact on our bodies and brains.

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