The Social Skill that we are focused on to the end of term 1 is Respect

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

We are focusing on the Social Skill Respect.

A quote from one of our students suggests “Respect is taking care of others.”  This comes out in everything we do.

Respect is showing appreciation and listening to others.  It is recognising the good in others and what they do for us.

Respect is one of the most important things you can teach your child.  The best way to do this is to show respect. When your child experiences, or is explicitly modelled respect, they know what it feels like and begin to understand how important it is.

Respect is an attitude.  Being respectful helps a child succeed in life.  If children don’t have respect for their peers, authority, or themselves they tend to loss self-worth, confidence and the ability to bounce back when issues happen.

So how can I model respect at home?

• Manners, please and thank you are so important.  It helps us to think of the effort others are putting in.
  
• Catch signs of disrespect early and calmly explain, “That’s not how we show respect as a family”.
  
• Have a shared understanding as what is acceptable behaviour as a family. Ensure that all adults are demonstrating those signs of respect.
  
• When children get things wrong, use this as a teaching opportunity. Talking calmly and quietly away from other siblings to say “When you did this… it wasn’t showing respect.  Is there a different way that you could it next time?”
  
• Set realistic expectations and always look for the opportunity to praise your child when they show respect. “Wow I love how you said thank you!” “That’s awesome you are showing great respect, I am proud of you!” You will be surprised how far a little praise goes.
  

Thank you for your help with reinforcing our value of Respect.