What is in a word?
I write this as both a mum and head of early years to ask the Hiba Nursery families and community for your immediate support. Teachers have reported to me recently that some of the children are now referring to others using negative language, which does not reflect our Hiba values. The word which seem to be most commonly used is ‘
FAT’. To refer to a young child in this manner can do untold damage to their mental health, wellbeing, self-esteem and self-confidence. As adults, we have a responsibility to educate our children and help them to understand that we all come in different shapes, sizes and colours. We live in a world where an increasing number of children and young adults are self-harming because of the strain that social media puts on them to conform to idealistic and unrealistic norms. At Hiba Academy Shanghai, we celebrate the unique child. We actively promote the whole child. Moreover, we ask that children strive to be the very best version of themselves. I ask that all parents support us in ensuring that kind, respectful and responsible words are used, and body positivity is promoted throughout the whole Hiba Nursery community. In a world where Barbie doll sales are on the rise
since the introduction of a more diverse range (
https://nypost.com/2018/10/25/mattel-shares-rise-on-heels-of-barbie-sales-increase/) and brands that promote body positivity are celebrated (
https://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/body-positive-brands-shop,
https://www.holmesplace.com/en/en/blog/lifestyle/brands-leading-body-positivity,
https://stylecaster.com/body-positive-fashion-brands/,
https://www.wellandgood.com/good-looks/body-positivity-fashion-sales/) isn’t it better that we promote and celebrate efforts to support a healthy lifestyle, mental health, wellbeing, mindfulness, and being the nice kid (I may not like the term ‘kid’ but the message resonates deeply).
Instilling confidence and a positive image in our children from an early age has a bearing on how they deal with life’s challenges in later years, which is why building a positive body image early is crucial to the development of children. Here are some ways we can help our young Hiba pupils develop a healthy body image:
Maintain a positive body image – One of the most important things that parents should teach their children is to love themselves and to be comfortable in their own body. Each person is unique, and the body is beautiful no matter what others may say or think. Since body image can be linked to a person’s self-esteem, teaching children to love their body is crucial to promoting a happy and positive attitude towards life.
- Self-acceptance – Every person is unique; comparing oneself to others is normal, but acceptance must be taught and shaming, vetoed. Take for example, a child who has suffered severe burns to the face. Young children and teens typically tease and play practical jokes or do unspeakably cruel things to people who look or act differently. Someone who may deviate from the norm will subsequently be treated ‘differently’, and some will even purposely go out of their way to make him feel like an outcast. Accepting one’s flaws is very important at an early stage in life. Turning these flaws into positives will make a child strong enough to face adversities. Confidence is difficult to come by, which is why parental encouragement and acceptance from others within the child’s environment are important. For mums and dads – watch the movie Wonder, it is fabulous and very heart-warming.
- Change of perspective – What a person chooses to believe has a great impact on the way he interacts with other people. If a person changes how he sees himself, this can positively affect the way other people around will behave. Being open and self-affirming is one way of developing a positive body image. Parents should observe and teach their children how to change their perspective of things when the situation calls for it.
- Health over looks – Body image among the young often focuses on the external aspect, specifically the looks. For the child’s sake, parents must focus on maintaining good health rather than pushing their slightly rotund child to hit near-impossible weight goals. Since children are still growing and developing, it makes little sense to be obsessively concerned with weight. Instead, parents must shift their emphasis on the quality of health of their children. Parents should also help their children understand the difference between junk food and healthy snacks. Each body is unique and making sure that each child receives optimum vitamins and minerals matters most.
- Personal qualities over physical image – Instead of emphasising how a child looks, parents must help their child understand that inner qualities are more important. Beauty is only skin deep whereas having a positive and happy persona allows a child to value himself a lot more than just being pretty on the outside.
Another thing to teach children is that each person has a gift or passion for something. Letting a child enhance that passion or talent by engaging in different activities aside from nursery and school is important. Focusing and nurturing a sense of self only proves that positive values are more substantial than one’s outward appearance.
Adapted from an article in Psychreg, from December 2017.
Hiba Nursery Book Day and a literary treat!
What a splendid time the children had this week – such a fabulous opportunity to learn from a lecturer and researcher (children’s literature), Zhao Qiong PhD with a dramatic performance and storytelling session. We also had a special visit from our neighbours at Bing Changtian kindergarten who joined in the fun. There will be a WeChat article coming out shortly outlining the session in more detail – but for now – enjoy some photos!
We held our first book fair on Thursday which was a great success. The opportunity to enjoy browsing and purchasing for our young learners gave parents and families the opportunity to support children’s interests at home. A percentage of the money raised will go towards books for the local kindergarten so that the children can enjoy stories and think of their time here at the nursery.
We are 3!
Who would have thought that we could come so far in the three years that we have been open? In truth, our birthday is February 29
th (next year we will have the party of all parties!) however for the purpose of acknowledging our journey, today is a fitting day.
There are now 64 of us in the academic team, 10 of us in the non-academic team, 4 security staff, 24 PMC staff – all here to serve the 276 pupils and families. This is a far cry from the team that started out in 2015/16. We have a very well established (and wonderful) parent representative body, who together with Friends of Hiba (also very wonderful) are bringing the Hiba Academy Shanghai community together – parents who are not paid to give their time, effort and energy, rather, parents who do it because they want to see the nursery continue to grow and thrive. Without the involvement and commitment of all of the above people, and those that are now founding parents at Hiba Academy Shanghai, we wouldn’t be where we are now. As we turn three, I believe that is something to be extremenly grateful for.
