Stress is part and parcel of life. Period. This particularly holds true in the current scenario of cut-throat competition where stress finds its way to seep into life in one form or the other. And the effect can typically be seen on teenagers who already have to deal with so many hormonal changes happening in their body. Add to that the societal pressure they got to deal with, and their life is indeed full of stress. It thus becomes crucial for teenage children to keep a check on their stress levels, or else it could be detrimental for their psychological well-being.

So today, we, at Chanderbala Modi Academy, recognized among the top 10 CBSE schools in Ankleshwar, would like to share with you all a few relaxation techniques that can help your teenage children get rid of all that unnecessary stress. Read on.

Yoga & Meditation

The multiple benefits of practicing yoga and meditation are known to almost everyone today. No wonder, people from across the world have adopted yoga as a part of their everyday routine. It not only has mental benefits but also imparts physical benefits to those who regularly spend at least some time doing yoga and meditation. It helps improve posture, enhances flexibility, and awakes an inner sense of calm.

Deep Breathing Exercises

These exercises work wonders in bringing down the stress levels. It is, in fact, one of the best and the easiest relaxation techniques to be taught to your growing child. Slow and deep breathing helps to get in enough air for the body, relaxes the muscles, lowers the heart rate, and regulates the blood pressure. All this helps to relax and rejuvenate the mind by decreasing the levels of stress hormone cortisol released by the body.

Indulge in Honest Conversations

Sometimes, all that a stressed mind needs is someone to indulge in deep conversations with, someone you can pour your heart out. Hence, sit with your kid and talk to him/her about how’s life treating him/her and if they have any issues or problems that they wish to talk about. Let them speak openly and honestly to you and avoid putting forth any kind of expectations or judgments at that time. Such conversations not only help them feel relieved of the stress but might also help them derive solutions to some of their problems.

Music Therapy

Music has almost always been known to have a soothing effect on the mind. When you listen to some calming music, it helps reduce the level of cortisol in the body and also eases feelings of anger and frustration. Hence, encourage your child to listen to some of his favorite tracks whenever he/she feels stressed out. It will help to lift the mood and kick the stress away.

Mark Black once said, “Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.” That’s so very true! After all, stress reduces the efficiency of the brain and doesn’t allow it to work to its fullest potential. And if there’s anything that enables the brain to wash off the stress and gain back its vigor is surely the relaxation techniques.

Since the teenage years form the most stressful time for children, it becomes rather necessary for them to indulge in certain exercises or relaxation therapies to keep the stress at bay and not let it affect them negatively. Hence, as one of the top 10 CBSE schools in Ankleshwar, we, at Chanderbala Modi Academy, would like to suggest you to encourage your teens to practice yoga, meditation, or some deep breathing exercises on a regular basis or to listen to some good soothing music whenever they feel stressed. Also, make sure that their stressed-out mood doesn’t create a barrier between you and them. Take time out to talk to them as often as you can. Your open, honest, and heart-to-heart conversations with your kids will not only help them get their stress levels in control but will also create a strong bonding that you can cherish for life.

Parenting is indeed a blissful journey. In fact, many believe that they got to find the true meaning of happiness only upon embracing parenthood. However, parenthood is fun when kids are cooperative. Else, it turns out to be a big-time challenge. But can cooperation be demanded from the kids, or can they be forced to cooperate with the parents as and when required? Ideally no! The sense of support and collaboration should come naturally to children. Having said that, we don’t mean that it is something innate and could not be fostered. With the right approach, you can very well win your child’s cooperation.

So today, we, at Chanderbala Modi Academy, one of the top schools in Bharuch, have brought forth for you five major ways to win your kid’s cooperation. We are sure that these points will help you connect with your child better and help them grow into friendly and understanding individuals.

• Value their trust 

Agree or not, but being parents, it is you whom your children trust the most. And this trust comes naturally to them from within. What is needed is that you must let them know that you value their trust, and you can do the same through your actions. Show them that they can freely speak their mind to you without any fear of being judged. Even when they make a mistake, be understanding towards them and explain their fault to them in a calm and patient way. This will encourage them to ask you for guidance when they have to make a decision or face a problem, and they will naturally turn more cooperative with you.

• Be open-minded and understanding to others

As children grow up and develop a conscience of their own, they will also judge you and decide whether or not they can approach you with their problems. Your reactions and actions to the people around you play a huge role in this. If you are easy to judge other people, they will be too. And if you stand up for the less fortunate no matter who they are, you become an example to your kids. They learn that you will accept and help them out no matter what happens. Naturally, they trust you more and cooperate with you willingly in your actions.

• Give them their space

A very common mistake that many parents fall for is being overprotective for their kids and not giving them their own space to breathe and grow. The need is to understand that as kids grow, they develop interest in various topics and might not always be comfortable to share about each and everything with the parents. As such, being too intrusive and pushing the kids to tell each and everything can turn out to be negative, and kids would eventually prefer to draw themselves out. The better way out is to convince the kids that you will be there for them when they need you. It will let your kids be more independent, and they will also understand the fact that asking for help isn’t shameful.

• Praise their good efforts

Positive encouragement is extremely important for children and adults alike. But in the case of kids, they tend to rely on their parents for affirmation, and without any positive feedback, they won’t be as interested in being cooperative. Explaining what they did right and why it was good encourages them to do it in the future.

• Offer suggestions, not commands

Child psychologists suggest that when it comes to kids, offering them suggestions always works better than commands. When commanded to do something, children are more likely to resist. But when they are given suggestions, it makes them feel more independent and empowered. And hence they are more likely to comply. For example, rather than saying “Do your homework” say, “You have school tomorrow, so you have to do your homework. Do you want to do it yourself, or do you want help?”

At Chanderbala Modi Academy, positioned among the top schools in Bharuch, we believe that kids are more likely to comply and cooperate when they find equal respect and cooperation from the other side. However, the worst mistake that adults make when children are non-compliant is to use fear as a locomotive. In this way, kids only end up fearing their elders instead of loving and respecting them. Thus, a vital tip for all the parents here is to treat your kids lovingly, and they will grow up to be responsible and beautiful human beings, just the way you want them to be.

Do you know that M. Akram is the World’s Youngest Multilingual Typist and knows 400 languages at the mere age of 13! Likewise, Kiran Karthikeya (2 years) and Shivanshika Harish Raghuwanshi (3 years) are two of the youngest polyglots of India!

That indeed sounds fascinating, isn’t it! But if you look at the history of the world, there have been many such famous personalities who were polyglots. Queen Elizabeth I, for instance, used to speak five languages by the age of 11. Queen Cleopatra VII, too, could speak nine languages at a very young age!

And now, while appreciating the laurels of these kids and famous personalities, we would like to ask you a question here – What are your thoughts about making your kids multilingual?

Not many know that the benefits of being multilingual extend far beyond merely knowing the languages. Children proficient in multiple languages experience better social skills, cognitive abilities, intellectual skills, and much more. No denying, knowledge of multiple languages is the need of the hour, for it comes with a range of advantages, especially for children. So, in this article today, we, at Chanderbala Modi Academy, one of the leading schools in Bharuch, will be shedding light on the various benefits that children who learn multiple languages experience.

• Better cognitive skills

Speaking more than one language works as an exercise for the brain, and the more it works out, the more it grows!

• Stepladder to the world stage

There is no denying that the globe has shrunk compared to what it was a decade back. With globalization spreading its arms and MNC’s entering the economy, it is almost a mandatory requirement for aspiring candidates to be multilingual if they look forward to landing better work opportunities abroad.

• Brings in better opportunities at work

We certainly want our kids to find great work opportunities once they move beyond the horizon of our school. This is where being multilingual will come to their aid. That’s because it has been often seen in the case of international employers that if the language between the employer and the employee is common, hassles at work get reduced manifolds. Besides, such employees also get the upper hand in opportunities like foreign work trips and summits.

• Keeps the kids connected with their roots

Our land is a land of diverse cultures. And who wouldn’t want their kids to understand and praise this diversity! However, this could be made possible only when children possess sundry sightedness about this diversity, which could be further gained with the help of diverse languages. Besides being aware of our own culture, kids will also be able to acknowledge, understand, and appreciate the different cultures of the world.

• Enhances memory retention

Studies have revealed that children who are multilingual are better at putting their knowledge to use without overloading their memory or taking any unnecessary stress.

• Better social skills

Multilingual children are often more confident about themselves, and this confidence also reflects in their strong ability to connect and socialize with others. These kids grow up into open-minded individuals with great communication abilities.

Infinite studies and popular books such as The Bilingual Edge (King & Mackey, 2009), and magazine articles such as The Power of the Multilingual Brain (Time Magazine; Kluger 2013) in the field of child development are a few among the many written proofs that reveal vast benefits a child can reap if she/he is multilingual. It would be hence wise to help your kids explore their interest in learning various languages.

Ideally, the earlier they begin, the better they will be able to grasp the language. That’s because the human brain has the maximum grasping power during the early years. Hence, we, at Chanderbala Modi Academy, ranked among the best schools in Bharuch, would like to urge the respected parents of our pupils to step ahead and encourage your wards to make good use of their learning age and learn as much as possible. Trust us, by doing this, you would be equipping them better for their future!

All parents wish for happiness and success for their children. They always want the very best for their kids. However, it often happens that in a bid to have their kids win every race of life and come out as a winner no matter what the challenge is, they unknowingly build up infinite expectations from their children.

We understand that being parents, you always strive to leave no stone unturned to provide all the necessary means to your children so that they reach up to their as well as your expectations. However, sometimes these expectations turn to be unrealistic and over the top, and way beyond what the kids are capable of doing. That further leads to broken dreams of parents and anxious and depressed children.

At Chanderbala Modi Academy, one of the best schools in Kondh, we firmly believe that while it is completely alright to have expectations from your kids, it is never okay to let those expectations turn into a reason for stress for yourself as well as your children. The expectations should be holding the grounds of realism. So today, we would like to touch upon this topic and have a look at some of the most common yet unrealistic expectations that parents generally keep from their kids and what it is that is actually flaming these expectations.

Most common yet unrealistic expectations of parents

• Children should be thankful all the time

If you are a parent and expect your child to be thankful for all the necessary things you have been providing to your child, you are sailing in the wrong boat! Never expect the children to acknowledge time and again for something which, in fact, is your moral obligation, your responsibility towards your child.

• A race for perfection

We have come across many parents who are so determined to make their children a jack of all trades that they gradually begin to expect their kids to grow into a symbol of perfection. This often ends up putting up a lot of unnecessary pressure on the young minds and pushes them into the darkness of stress, anxiety, and depression. It is very important to understand that no one can be perfect every time. We are human beings, and it is our natural tendency to commit mistakes.

• To be joyful all the time

Yes, as a parent, you have done everything possible to provide a joyful environment to your little ones, just to make them feel happy. However, expecting them to be smiling and laughing all the time in return is just not fair.  After all, they are also entitled to have some bad mood days, just like adults. Isn’t it!

What gives rise to such unrealistic expectations?

• Impact of media

We often come across commercials where reel world parents, who are actually paid influencers, keep telling about how a particular product or brand has proved beneficial for their child’s physical or mental or emotional growth. This impacts the parents of the real world, and they begin putting the unnecessary burden of consuming or using those brands or products and expect similar results from their children.

• Technological advancements

The rapid and sudden upsurge in the Edtech Platforms, like Byjus, White Hat Junior, Cuemaths, etc., has pioneered the world of education. However, it has also brought along with it immense competition and putting up a lot of pressure on the minds of parents. Parents are taking it up as a necessity to enroll their kids on these platforms just because the other kids are doing so. No wonder, they begin expecting even better performances from their children by using these platforms.

• Celebrity endorsements

When known faces like Asha Bhosle, Hrithik Roshan, Virat Kohli, and others endorse a brand or a service, many of us put our faith on their words and place our trust on the brand they are recommending. People somehow start believing that if the kids are provided with that particular supplement, he/she will begin growing better, performing better, behaving better, and what not! But if you see, do you think that would be really happening? No! That’s because what you see the celebrities doing is acting upon a script. However, real life is far from that. It is as simple as that!

We, at Chanderbala Modi Academy, recognized among the best schools in Kondh, firmly believe that every child has a unique pace, individuality, and a specific set of skills and knacks. As such, expecting them to match up with the other kids in each and every respect won’t be fair with them. We would hence request the parents to slow down and give a little break to these budding flowers. After all, every bud blooms at its own time, isn’t it!

Parent-child relationship is indeed one of the sweetest and closest of all relationships you can think about. This is probably because this is one such bond that gets formed way before the baby actually arrives in the world. It is the parents who teach every little thing to the kid and feel immensely proud seeing their little ones achieving the milestones on their growing journey.

Whether it is the time when the child learns to scribble alphabet A or when he goes onto reciting his very first poem, parents feel elated on each feat of their little munchkins. But then gradually, as the kids grow up and enter their teen phase, there comes a time when even this relationship begins to lose its charm. That might be because of the hormonal changes that kids begin to go through during their teen years or due to the expectations that all parents have from their children, but it has been seen that even the parent-child relationship often suffers a rough patch.

However, having said that, it is also true that even if the parent-child relationship goes downhill at some point in time, it can very well be lit again with little efforts and patience. So, on that note, we, at Chanderbala Modi Academy, one of the best schools in Kondh, would like to share with you today a few ways you can rekindle your bonding with your kids.

Convey your love to them

All parents love their kids. But keeping that to yourself isn’t going to help. You need to let your kids know about it. And the more often you do that, the better it works to strengthen your bonding with them. So, whether your kid is eight or eighteen, make it a point to communicate your love to them regularly.

Be available for them

Just as much it is important to convey your love to your children, it is equally crucial to be all ears to them when they want to connect with you. Listen to them carefully, acknowledge their feelings, empathize with them, and reassure them that they have your back always.

Have fun together

Try and identify your child’s interests and actively partake in those activities. For instance, if your child likes to play cricket, do indulge a few hours playing cricket with him over the weekends. Or, if the child is a movie freak, grab some popcorns and other munchies to spend some time off with your kid watching his/her favorite movies. This will not only help to strengthen your bond with your child but will also help ensure your child that he/she can have your undivided attention.

Eat together

There’s a famous saying – “A family that eats together, stays together.” This is so very true; particularly when it comes to building and strengthening bonds with children and other family members. That’s because having meals with family is not only about sharing the same table but also having conversations and sharing experiences, which also goes a long in improving the overall bonding with the kids. However, an important thing to keep in mind in this regard is to make sure that the meal times are completely gadget-free. Make it a point that all family members have to keep their gadgets aside for meal times. This will help ensure that all members give undivided attention to each other.

At Chanderbala Modi Academy, regarded as the best school in Kondh, we firmly believe that children are like soft clay that can be molded into good or bad shape depending upon the kind of treatment they receive. Thus, even if you find your child misbehaving with you or someone else, don’t scold them straight away. Instead, try to understand why your child is behaving that particular way. When you do that, you will not only begin to understand your child better, but even your connection with your child will improve.