LETTERKENNY parenting coach, Helen Swierszcz, has written a book designed to help children starting primary school during the pandemic.
The mother of three has a child of her own starting junior infants in September and hopes the bedtime story will help children process the experience of starting school in a Covid-19 world.
“This book introduces through the power of suggestion and hypnotic storytelling techniques , a mental rehearsal. It allows your child to begin processing the experience before it has even happened, in the comfort and safety of their bed next to you as you soothe them to sleep,” said Helen.
“I use hypnotic language patterns to essentially grab hold of those feeling of security and safety that your child is experiencing while lying in bed when you are reading to them. I extract those feelings and then I attach them onto the experience of going to school.”
The book brings the child on a journey through different situations that they can easily imagine.
“A lot of children would have seen on tv and maybe would have read story books about starting school where the experience looks like a lot of children running around and playing in the yard, class groups mixing and being with siblings, things that can’t be our child’s reality in September 2020 because of Covid-19. In the next part of the book we look at the teacher meeting your child at the gate and smiling at them and we attach that calm and relaxed feeling that your child has when they are lying in bed, to the experience of the teacher smiling at them. We attach that feeling to an understanding that their teacher will look after them.”
The book also explains that the teacher may choose to wear a facemask or visor and makes a connection between this and wearing a mask at the shops.
“Paediatric hypnotherapy is all about suggestions and creating associations and helping your child to build on positive experiences they have already had and connecting them to experiences that may be otherwise difficult or uneasy.”
Helen is the founder of In Tune Parenting, an online life coaching service for parents. She has been a hypnotherapist for five years and began studying paediatric hypnotherapy 18 months ago.
“The first thing that made me want to write this book now was because of how I was feeling as a parent and I wanted to help other parents feeling like that,” she said.
Helen had some help from her sister who is a Vice Principal of a school in Kilkenny who spoke to her about some of the changes that might be introduced because of the pandemic. One of the biggest changes facing parents will be dropping their child off at the door on their first day rather than going in and helping them get settled in their classroom.
“The transition into primary school can often be a difficult one anyway and it’s a big jump and a big leap for children to make so a lot of resilience and confidence is needed,” said Helen.
Two weeks is recommended to go through the book and it can be read nightly up to the night before school starts.
“I recommend giving the night time routine an extra ten minutes in the lead up to starting school. Slow down and draw out the process , with curtains drawn throughout the house and lights dimmed. Point out to your child that this book does not include pictures because they get to imagine up their own images. Remember the power of suggestion , the lack of pictures is very purposeful as it prevents any desire in your child to keep their eyes open during the story. Explain that they get to imagine their own pictures and it may help them to imagine if they will close their eyes.”
The book, called ‘Starting School’ is suitable for younger children but Helen is also about to publish another book designed for children over the age of seven as they prepare to return to the classroom that will look very different. The books can be bought from Helen directly by sending her a message to her Facebook Page ‘In tune parenting’.
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)