Life already has enough strains and stresses for children, but the trauma and experiences foster children have gone through can compound them. Foster children already have to deal with changing homes and adapting to their new relations, schools and living environment. If they are teens, you also have to consider the uncertainties that come with this period of their lives.
The good news is that teaching them to be resilient can be a huge help, and they can learn different resilient skills that will make things much better for them. Let’s look at some ways foster carers can build resilience in their foster children.
Help Them Make Connections
As a foster parent, you should teach your foster children the importance of making connections with their peers and how to do this. Doing so will help them learn important skills like listening to and being empathetic of others.
You can also help them foster connectivity by allowing them to call and text their friends or connect with them in person. Foster children can connect with other children on fun day outs. The good news is that the best Warrington fostering agency provides allowances that cover the cost of such activities and other interests that lead to your foster child meeting, interacting with and connecting with other children.
It is crucial that you also build a strong family network that foster children can look up to and rely on. The social support they get from such a network can be crucial in helping them become more resilient.
Allow Them to Get Enough Sleep
The sad reality is that many children struggle with sleep, with these struggles stemming from neurobiological development issues, circadian preferences, the child’s temperament and anxiety disorders.
Sleep is crucial because a lack of enough high-quality sleep can cause stress and has a negative effect on cognitive function, decision-making, and concentration. Children and adults who get enough sleep can deal with different situations better, making them more resilient.
As a foster parent, you can ensure your foster children have better sleep by providing a conducive environment, limiting the use of electronics in the evening and switching to gentle lights in your foster children’s bedrooms.
Help Them Help Others
Some children feel helpless in foster care, but you can eliminate these feelings and make them feel empowered by helping them help others. You can ask for their help with something or find age-appropriate volunteering opportunities for them.
You can also ask foster children to help younger children with their schoolwork or something else they excel at.
Help the Work on Their Goals
Goals help children focus on specific tasks while building the resilience they need to keep going when they encounter challenges. You can teach your foster children to establish realistic and age-appropriate goals they can work towards.
You can break these goals into smaller ones to provide your foster children with chunks of success along the way. It is also a good idea to encourage and praise them as they reach specific goals or accomplish something.
Resilience is an important skill in life, as it allows us to overcome challenges when we encounter them. As a foster carer, you should use your knowledge about children and your training to guide your foster children along their journeys while helping them become more resilient. Also, understand the journey to resilience is different for everyone so it should be tailored.
Meg is an author at Cinnamon Hollow. She writes on a variety of topics sharing tips and ideas for daily life.