Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Growth Mindset: Building Relationships appeared first on One with the Water.

Understanding Growth-Oriented Feedback: Person Praise versus Process Praise

When it comes to praise and feedback, many parents fall into the same fixed – mindset traps that can ultimately hamper children’s ability to develop growth mindsets. When we say well-meaning things like, “You’re so smart!” we overlook the fact that these words associated with personal attributes may ultimately be damaging. “You’re so smart!” might feel like appropriate praise at the moment, but later, when your child meets with inevitable failure, they may fall to pieces because the words they internalized about themselves — you’re so smart — don’t seem true, after all.

The above is known as person praise. Person praise focuses solely on the personal traits and qualities of the individual.

The problem with person praise is that it sends the message that a child succeeded because of some inherent, inborn quality they possess (in this case, intelligence) rather than the effort they put into the task.

PROCESS PRAISE:

When we use the word “praise,” we are talking about a specific kind of encouragement of effort known as “process praise.” On the other hand, process praise acknowledges effort, strategies, or actions that contributed to the success of a task. It sounds more like this: “You worked really hard at that,” and sends the message that the amount of effort put into the task led to success.

So how does this look at home or school?

Person Praise: “You are so smart at math!”

Process Praise: “Your effort in studying is really evident by your latest test score.”

When you as a parent tie success or failure to effort, strategy, or action, you don’t communicate to your child your vision of them as a whole being, but just on that one thing, right here and right now. In that moment, unrelated to intrinsic qualities and personal traits, your child can better understand the connection between effort and achievement. At that moment, it has nothing to do with being smart or stupid; it has everything to do with perseverance and the process of learning.

Understanding Growth-Oriented Feedback: Vague Praise versus Specific, Process-Oriented Praise

In vague praise, the person is given no specific indication of what was done that had value or meaning to the achievement. Never use the phrase “good job” or “nice work.” On the other hand, specific praise illustrates to your child precisely what was done that resulted in achievement.

Here are some sample feedback statement openers to ensure your feedback is specific and process-oriented:

• I noticed how …
• Look at how much progress you’ve made on …
• I see a difference in this work compared to …
• I admire how hard you have worked on …
• I can see you really enjoyed learning …
• Could it make a difference if you …?
• Have you considered trying a different strategy to …?
• You’re on the right track here but could benefit from …

At One with the Water, we focus on specific, process-oriented praise to ensure our clients understand exactly what we expect and how much they can truly accomplish.

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Growth Mindset: Growth Oriented Feedback Between Parent and Child appeared first on One with the Water.

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Water Safety Refresher appeared first on One with the Water.

From the first bath, the bathtub is an excellent opportunity to prepare a child for swimming! Never leave a child unattended in the bath, of course! But make bath time FUN and a BEAUTIFUL LEARNING EXPERIENCE!

Play in the bath mostly before any soap or shampoo enters the scene. Soap in the eyes and mouth is never fun!

Make sure the water is at a comfortable temperature and warm it up again if playtime is extended and the water becomes cool.

Clean Water In The Eyes

Splash and sing and laugh! Do NOT be afraid to let water splash on your child’s face! Teach your child to “Blink, blink, blink the water away!” with words and modeling. Pour water over your own face and “Blink, blink, blink the water away!” Please refrain from teaching your child to wipe their eyes with a towel when clean water gets in them.

Water In The Ears

Lie your child face up in a shallow tub well before he learns to sit up (when possible) and allow water to fill his ears. It is an unusual sensation that takes some getting used to but is easiest in younger babies. (They’re already used to that sensation in utero.) Do NOT dribble water into your baby’s nose when he’s on his back! Play with fun toys above Baby’s head while Baby is on his back to sustain the position and place a warm towel on his tummy if he may be a little chilled.

For toddlers who can sit up and who are not comfortable on their backs, have them position themselves in a crawling position and put one ear at a time into the water to “Listen for the fishies!”

Floating

When Baby or Toddler is comfortable lying on her back in the water with ears underwater, increase the depth of the water to allow them to float. Hold a favorite toy overhead and keep the child’s head tipped back (chin up). Roll a small towel and place it under the small of your child’s back to keep tummy up, too. Play nap time in the tub and encourage him or her to let their arms and legs totally relax and float like a leaf (with eyes closed, when possible). Sing a lullaby. Make sure the water is comfortable, and your child is very relaxed. This may take some time and will happen only when they are very comfortable in the water.

Spit, Don’t Swallow

With a clean cup of water, teach Baby to spit water out. Do this when brushing teeth, too! In the tub/pool, we say, “Water in the mouth, SPIT it out.” (But never on another person!). Aim at floating toy boats or such, and eventually take water from the clean tub without a cup to practice the accidental intake of water in a pool and spit it OUT! Teach your child the word “swallow” when eating or drinking, and teach your child NOT to swallow (but to spit it out) when in the tub or pool.

Practice Submersion Readiness

**BEFORE POURING, described below, say, “Name, Ready, Go!” (and pause a moment), then pour water from her forehead down the front of her face.

Pouring:  When a baby or toddler is sitting upright in a bath seat or on the tub floor, use a cup of clean water to pour water over their face running from the forehead down the front of the face.  Do NOT allow Baby to tip head back, letting the water run up their nose.  Keep initial pours very brief and gradually (over days and weeks) increase the length of the pour to about 5-10 seconds (You may need a small pitcher for this!).  Do this at least 3 times in every bath, and remember to “Blink, blink, blink the water out” (Do NOT wipe eyes with a towel.)  Toddlers often like to pour water over Mommy’s or Daddy’s heads and will pour water over their own heads as well!  Make it a FUN GAME!  We will know that your baby is ready to go underwater when she closes her eyes and mouth at the prompt, “Name, Ready, Go!”.  Be very consistent with your timing and sequence of this phrase, and be sure to have a brief pause after the word “GO.”  Show great excitement and enthusiasm!  Cheer!  Try to say, “You did it!” vs. “good job.”  At One with the Water, we teach using a Growth Mindset, and we never say good job! We applaud effort, showing our children what the results of hard work can be.

Teach Your Child To Swim

Drowning is the #1 cause of accidental death for children ages 1-4. Teach your child to swim early or find a qualified instructor and always supervise your child. Accidental drownings happen in minutes. At One with the Water, our goal isn’t just drowning prevention and water safety. We want to help you instill in your child a life-long sense of empowerment, confidence, and success in the water. Sign up for infant swim lessons, and see what your baby can do!

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Swimming Readiness Tips for Babies and Toddlers appeared first on One with the Water.

If your child/athlete is already comfortable in the water, use the following drills to build on the swimming skills being taught in class naturally.

Swim Drills For Parents and Caregivers

Warm-Up Drills

First, you can do two minutes of warm-up drills, either to the side or between two adults in the water. One hand under the armpit, one on the tush for the push.

Drop Drills

Next, do 90 seconds of drop drills. Depending on your child’s age and skill level, this can be reduced and phased out, and this portion of the time used for the third drill below.

• First, hold your swimmer facing you by the armpits as you were shown in class. Put your child’s feet and knees into the water about 18-24 inches from the side.
• Instruct the child to swim to the side.
• Count 1-2-3- and release the child.
• Do this again, with your child facing the side of the pool.
• Turn your child 90 degrees and drop him or her in with only their feet in the water.
• Turn your child another 90 degrees and repeat around the clock.
• Work on having your child put their toes over the edge and jump in on their own.
• Keep your hand below the child’s knees when they jump into the water. If they do not jump far enough, they may hit the cement side of the pool. To avoid this, be ready with your hands below the student’s knees so you can protect them by pushing them out into the water.

Stroke Development

Finally, work in three to five minutes of stroke development.

• Put your child on a step.
• Walk back to a distance you know they can swim.
• Tell them to swim to you.
• You should be down in the water with only your chin above the water as the child pushes off the step.
• Make sure your child pushes off quietly, no splashing.
• Keep your hands stretched out and down 18-24 inches in the water.
• As your child swims to you, bring your hand into your body. When he or she can almost touch you, reach out and pick them up under the armpits. Increase the distance 18-24 inches after each successful swim.

Swim Lessons

Just a few final reminders. Keep these practice swims short when developing new swim skills, no more than ten minutes. And don’t use flotation devices at all! Your child will naturally progress with their swim skills using these drills. And if this blog post sounds like Greek to you, make sure you go ahead and sign your child up for our premium swim lessons so they can be safe, successful, and confident in the water.

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Swim Drills for Parents and Caregivers appeared first on One with the Water.

At One with the Water, our swimming lessons are taught using growth-mindset techniques. We witness transformative miracles in our students, both in and out of the water, as they shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. People with a growth mindset learn to love challenges, are intrigued by mistakes, and intentionally seek out new challenges. They have learned that their circumstances matter less than who they are. 

“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” – Carol Dweck.

Positive Feedback

A core component of parenting and coaching in a manner that fosters a growth mindset is the language we use in giving positive feedback. It requires the most intention and retraining due to our current culture of reflexive praise. As a parent myself, I still find this the most difficult to remember in the moment as I go about the daily tasks of raising tiny humans.

Our natural tendency is to respond with a phrase like, “Good job!” While well-intentioned, using this type of expression does nothing to delineate the line between talent, effort, and results. Rather than giving children feedback about how their process of work led to a specific outcome so they can continue to develop their abilities, saying “Good job” implies an end state of success.

Growth Mindset Tools

Instead of saying “good job,” consider the following statements when your child/student is successful in his or her effort. (Source: Mindset Works Growth Mindset Feedback Tool)

• I am so proud of the effort you put forth.
• I am very proud of you for not giving up and look at what you have to show for it!
• Congratulations – you really used great strategies for (fill in the blank).
• I want you to remember for a moment how challenging this was when you began. Look at how far you have come!
• All that hard work and effort paid off!
• The next time you have a challenge like this, what will you do?
• What choices did you make that you think contributed to your success?
• It’s exciting to see the difference in your work now when we compare it to your earlier work.
• Doesn’t it feel good to master this? How does it feel to master this?
• Are you proud of yourself? Tell me what makes you most proud.

Remember that all our responses, growth or otherwise, will have a natural effect on the children we are raising and coaching. We must be using the correct ones.

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post What to say instead of “Good Job”: Growth Mindset Tools appeared first on One with the Water.

Sometimes the news can be overwhelming. Right now, LA County caught on fire seemingly overnight. Hundreds of thousands of Northern Californians are without power. Hurricane Dorian almost shut down the entire East Coast last month. In any disaster, natural or otherwise, it’s easy to feel panicked, helpless, and out of control. 

Take drowning, for example. It doesn’t always look the way we imagine it would. This post, written in 2010, goes viral at the beginning of every summer, but let me summarize the facts. Drowning produces what’s known as the instinctive drowning response. It’s silent, as victims are physically unable to cry out for help, fast (less than 30 seconds), and doesn’t involve a whole lot of thrashing around. And perhaps the most alarming, over half of adolescent drownings each year occur within 25 yards of an adult, and in 10 percent of those incidents, the adult will watch them drown with no idea what is happening.  

CPR Saves Lives

I know this is true because it happened to me. My three-year-old passed out in the water with two adults nearby while all our  attention was focused on a minor emergency outside the pool. In those crucial seconds, he decided to swim across the pool, was unable to reach the side, and passed out from holding his breath. Thankfully, he was seen, rescued, and resuscitated by  my cousin using CPR, with no damage to his brain and body. In those moments, however, it became shockingly clear that I was unprepared to give him CPR. In fact, according to a study done by the American Heart Association, less than 20 percent of Americans are equipped to perform CPR during a medical emergency. 

Why does that matter? Well, if a bystander does not perform CPR, the survival chances of a victim will decrease 7% in every single minute of delay. And European studies done on Cardiac resuscitation show that early initiation of basic lifesaving measures increases the chances of survival up to 2–4 times. Additionally, a Canadian study done on out of hospital cardiac deaths related to drowning found, “most drownings are unwitnessed, occur in public locations, and present with non-shockable initial rhythms, suggesting that treatment should focus on bystander CPR.” 

Learn CPR

What’s the point of all this? Simple. Learn CPR. There is a form of CPR known as hands only, eliminating many concerns of individuals concerning the spread of disease or proper breathing techniques. Regardless of how or to what level you learn CPR, you need to learn it. You might very well save a life one day. To find classes, you can access this course finder, taught by the American Heart Association, or this one, prepared by the American Red Cross. 

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post CPR Saves Lives appeared first on One with the Water.

If you are like me, your Facebook feed is exploding with back to school photos. Cute smiles, brushed hair, and shining faces. Lunches are packed, new backpacks are brimming over with school supplies, and moms and dads everywhere are flopping down on the couch for a quiet, uninterrupted cup of coffee. (Maybe that’s just me!)

Let’s be honest; how long will we all keep it up? We have strong personalities in this house, with big emotions that need constant regulation. If we don’t have a steady morning routine in place, things go downhill quickly, and neatly brushed hair gives way to bedhead and mismatched socks.

In that vein, here are three quick ways to practice healthy morning habits and create regular routines for sensitive and emotional children. We might be a swimming blog, but our goal is physical, mental, and emotional wellness for all.

Healthy Morning Habits

1.    Start with nightly prep and set expectations. Lay out clothes, plan breakfast, make sure your child knows the tasks they are expected to perform in the morning. Depending on age, charts are an excellent tool for this purpose.

2.    Plan for 5-10 minutes of mindful movement after waking. Even brief exercise will awaken the brain and stimulate information processing, plus help with stress reduction and improved concentration abilities. Start here for some simple stretching exercises to do in the morning.  (And for children with ADHD, read more about how and why swimming especially can help with focus in the classroom.)

3.    Protein for breakfast. First, start with the fundamental fact that children need to eat breakfast, period. One study showed that students who ate breakfast in the morning scored twice as high on Teacher Assessment, compared with those who did not. However, what they eat matters too. Carbohydrates in the morning add glucose to jumpstart your brain, but solely eating carbs in the morning will result in a blood sugar crash well before lunch, leading to grumpy, unfocused children. (Adult too, for that matter!) Adding a healthy serving of protein to your child’s breakfast slows carbohydrate absorption and levels out blood sugar throughout the day. (Read more here for suggested healthy snack choices and serving size).

The bottom line? Routines matter. As parents and caregivers, we must teach and model healthy habits for our children, providing them with the physical building blocks needed for emotional, mental, and academic success.

Sources:

• http://www.houstonstateofhealth.com/promisepractice/index/view?pid=3616 
• https://www.verywellfamily.com/simple-kids-stretching-exercises-1257070  
• https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151116212635.htm 
• https://www.uaex.edu/publications/PDF/FSFCS86.pdf 
• http://www.sagechildcare.edu.au/blog/why-a-high-protein-breakfast-is-essential-for-childrens-learning/

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Back to School: Healthy Morning Habits appeared first on One with the Water.

Did you know 4th of July is the number one holiday for alcohol consumption in the US? Combined with Independence day also being the busiest boating season, and prime time for water activities, it’s important to remember these vital safety tips both in and out of the water.

In no particular order:

1. Remember all water can be dangerous. Even inches.
2. Always swim with a buddy no matter what age you are.
3. Enter the water feet first. In natural bodies of water, have a good swimmer scout the water first for hidden dangers.
4. Weak swimmers should use a USCG approved lifejacket in the water, no floaties or noodles for drowning prevention.
5. Designate a water watcher or assign a lifeguard, but keep counting your own children. (It’s how we saved our son’s life). 
6. When not around the water, use pool barriers and other protective measures.
7. Avoid distractions when watching children. As in, STAY OFF YOUR PHONE.
8. Don’t consume alcohol when operating water toys, watching children, etc.
9. Assign swim breaks. Give yourself a chance to rest, rehydrate, and reapply sunscreen.
10. Educate yourself. Know what drowning looks like. (HiInt: It’s not what you think.)
11. If a child is lost or missing, CHECK THE WATER FIRST.
12. Learn CPR – this applies all year round! Drowning victims need oxygen – know how to give it.
13. Remember, swim lessons are the number one tool of drowning prevention. Register with us today if you haven’t yet taken this lifesaving step for you and your loved ones.

Now go out there and celebrate! (Safely).

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Water Safety: July 4th Edition. appeared first on One with the Water.

In fact, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, children with emotional and physical developmental disabilities are at a higher risk for oral problems including cavities, enamel irregularities, gum and oral infections, delayed tooth eruptions and bite problems. The good news is, that when parents take an active role in assisting their differently abled child with routine, daily oral care, disease, and other problems are avoidable.

Like any other intervention, providing excellent oral care for your child takes care, planning, time, and intention. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of resources designed specifically for the parents of children with special needs, with information ranging from how to choose a dentist to physically creative ways to assist in the tooth brushing process.

1. Oral Health for Families with Special Health Care Needs: S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (The most comprehensive guide we found, covering all manner of disability and obstacles when caring for children with special needs.)
   

   “This resource guide is designed to give parents and caregivers tips on keeping their child’s or teen’s mouth healthy. The sheets are easy to understand and can help parents take an active role in establishing and maintaining good oral health for their child. General topics include taking care of teeth, selecting the right toothbrush, adapting toothbrushes, addressing challenges, providing good nutrition, encouraging safety, and going to the dentist.”

2. Oral Health for Children with Special Needs: United Concordia
3. Health Challenges in Down Syndrome and Strategies for Care: National Institutes of Health
4. Find a dentist who specializes in caring for children with special needs (an online search portal): Special Care Dentistry Association

At One with the Water, we know that our body systems work in concert together to create a full picture of mental and physical health. When one is out of balance, infected, or functioning poorly, it has a negative impact on our overall health and wellness. Oral health has a potentially enormous impact on your child’s comfort and overall physical state. The good news is that oral disease is preventable, and care doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Use the simple tips and tricks above to optimize your child’s oral health

Molly Huggins

Molly is a member of our creative team, mom of four water-loving babies, and a fierce advocate for CPR training and really early swim instruction.

The post Oral Care Resources for Children with Special Needs appeared first on One with the Water.