For further information contact Seema on media@kidz4mation.com or 0781 2339351

2^nd February 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE

Relief for stressed parents as new free “Supernanny meets Disney” style iPhone app launches

Parents struggling with their children’s behaviour who are unable to call on Supernanny Jo Frost will be relieved by the launch of a new free iPhone app to help children combat negative thinking.

With the app, children learn to overcome anxiety, shyness and a lack of confidence – problems which cause their performance at school to suffer and hold back the development of vital life skills. Parents are included in the experience, with a tips section and a report on their child’s responses.

Children take an interactive journey through the story “Mikey Helps Toot-Toot”, from child confidence specialist Kidz4Mation, with Mikey the monkey and his friends, answering questions about their well-being and hunting for hidden bananas on the way.

The Good Childhood Report 2012 reveals that half a million children across the UK are unhappy with their lives. The study, by the Children’s Society’s, found that while most children are happy with their lives as a whole, around one in 11 (9%) is not. Research suggests that children who experience low levels of happiness are much less likely to enjoy being at home with their family, to feel safe when they are with their friends, to look forward to going to school, to like the way they look, and to feel positive about their future.

Developed as a joint venture with Turned On Digital, the app has an added twist to give children a laugh – literally. Each time the child finds a banana, their laugh, which they record the first time they use the app, is played back to them.

Family Coach Alan Wilson, founder of Every Family Matters welcomed the launch of the app: “I love this app because it addresses the core issue of emotional wellbeing. How we feel is directly related to what we think. Children’s well-being is a core factor for their success at school and in later life. I am glad Kidz4Mation has come up with this app to help children deal with their negative emotions.”

Seema Thobhani, Director and Co-Founder of Kidz4Mation, said: “We are on a mission to improve parenting and child well-being in Britain. Our app takes the secrets from our books and workshops, giving children the best start in life in a way they find fun. I have a job wrestling my iPhone out of my daughters’ hands, so an app seemed the perfect way to help busy parents teach their children valuable life skills.”

Kidz4Mation, the company behind the app, specialises in boosting children’s school performance and improving their behaviour by raising their confidence.

Parents can download the app, called Kidz4Mation, free from the AppStore now or by clicking on Kidz4Mation

Ends

EDITORS NOTES               

For further information contact Seema Thobhani on 07812339351, or media@kidz4mation.com

·         Alan Wilson is the founder of Every Family Matters, www.everyfamilymatters.org.uk is aiming to change the fabric of our society from the inside out. He can be contacted at info@everyfamilymatters.org.uk

·         Kidz4Mation  has changed the lives of over a thousand children since it was launched in June 2009. It has published stories which teach children life skills and runs confidence workshops for children after school and in schools. Each books teaches a different life skill, such as turning an ‘I can’t do it’ attitude into ‘I can do it’. The company was set up by Amal and Santa Simothy and Hitul and Seema Thobhani to improve children’s performance at school by raising their confidence and teaching them valuable life skills. Shyness, lack of self-esteem and bullying are just some of the problems they have helped children overcome through their books, resources and workshops.

·         The six themes taught in the books are positive thinking, gratitude, positive affirmations, believing ‘I can do it’, relaxing the mind and raising self-esteem. The books are stocked in over 20 Waterstone’s stores, area available on Amazon and can also be ordered direct at www.kidz4mation.com

·         Kidz4Mation is a member of the National Children’s Bureau and has partnered with reading charity Volunteer Reading Help to raise the confidence of there most challenged children in Britain’s primary schools.

·         Turned On Digital is a full service mobile apps development agency based in London and Manchester, UK. Since 2009, their clients have included ITN, Channel 4, SamFry and Harper Collins and their projects have been featured by the BBC, the Guardian, WIRED and Fast Company.

Are you emotionally intelligent?

Some people believe that a child with high intellectual intelligence (IQ) will go on and have a successful life. In school, you are constantly being tested and ranked according to how well you do.  To get a good job when you are older you need to do well in your exams.  The question is, how successful are people with an excellent educational background? 

Research suggests that a person's emotional intelligence might be a greater predictor of success than his or her IQ. IQ only accounts for about 20% of our success and we need to have emotional skills to use our IQ wisely.  Good emotional skills include:

·         being able to control impulses

·         Knowing that you can’t always have what you want immediately

·         being able to think up ideas and put them into action (motivate yourself)

·         understanding other people's feelings

·         coping with life's ups and downs. 

It has been found that children with poor emotional skills struggle to make friends, have poor attention in class and have feelings of frustration.  This leads them to be hot tempered and be the class bully.    This is why schools are being told to make sure that their pupils are taught to be emotionally resilient (able to cope with hardships and unexpected difficulties) as well as aiming for good grades in class.

Here are some ways you can help yourself, and your friends, become positive and confident.

Positive Thinking

A positive mental attitude is one of the key aids for success.  It enables us to do everything better than negative thinking does.  Negative thoughts affect our feelings and as a result we become sad, depressed and have low self esteem.  Think about having studied hard, and then not being able to remember anything during a test.  What may have happened is that before you went in to take the test you thought ‘I’m sure I won’t remember all that stuff I’ve studied’.  By thinking like this, you are telling your mind that you WILL forget and our minds do follow our instructions.   You are more likely to succeed in your tests by preparing for them properly, then telling yourself that you have worked hard and you are going to do well.  It’s called having a positive mindset.

Positive affirmations

Key to a positive mindset is positive affirmations.  This means stating a future desire as if it is already achieved.  For example, say you are shy in the company of people, and you want to change this situation.  What you can do is to write down on a piece of paper that you are very confident and talk easily to people.  You can repeat your affirmations several times and at the same time try to imagine you ARE talking to people confidently and without fear.  If you keep repeating this consistently, there will be a change in your mindset and you will soon start to feel more confident.  However this all depends on how much time, focus and feelings you put in repeating the affirmations.  Repeating positive affirmations for a few minutes, and then thinking negatively the rest of the day, will not work.

Self-esteem

If you have good emotional skills, you are more likely to have a healthy self-esteem – that is, you are more likely to think about yourself in a positive way.  This includes:

·         feeling happy

·         feeling confident and secure that you fit in

·         making friends easily

·         playing easily within a group and by yourself

·         being able to ask for help if unable to do something, without the fear that others will laugh

We nearly all know someone with a low self-esteem.  They often feel unloved and constantly compare themselves to others in a negative way. They tend to put themselves down, and say things such as ‘I’m not good enough to do this’, or ‘no one will want to play with me.’  These are called negative affirmations and you know what happens with negative affirmations.  If you catch yourself saying things like this, perhaps you have low self-esteem and need to learn to love and respect yourself for what you are by practising positive affirmations.  If it’s someone you know, try giving them praise and encouragement to help them think better about themselves and assist them, to develop a positive self-esteem.

Limiting beliefs

Part of low self-esteem comes from having beliefs that it is impossible for you to achieve certain things.  People with these limiting beliefs often say things like ’I won’t be able to do that.’ Or ‘this is too difficult for me.’  Such damaging beliefs are often created in early childhood and can be overcome by using positive statements such as ‘I can do this’.  For example, instead of saying ‘I can’t do this’,  saying positive affirmations repeatedly such as ‘This is easy, I can easily do it’ will not only make the impossible look possible, but it will build up your confidence as well. 

Gratitude

Gratitude is an attitude of appreciation.  Being grateful means being thankful to everyone who has done even one act of kindness to you, say your parents, family or your teacher etc.  We also need to be thankful for all the good things in our life, such as our home, games, computer etc.  People are more likely to help/give us more if we are grateful to them, rather than not. Being grateful makes a person more positive and less stressed and is the basis for success.

Relaxation and meditation

A variety of extra-curricular activities and sports can often mean that after homework or dinner is finished, few of you will have time to really catch your breath before it’s time to go to bed.  Such a hectic schedule can make it difficult to think through problems or attack areas of negativity. Relaxation and meditation can actually help create a sense of motivation and well-being.  A simple meditation technique is to sit down comfortably, close both eyes and breathe some deep breaths. Such relaxation can actually calm down when feeling overwhelmed, angry or nervous. Try it, you’ll be surprised of the result!

It is said that while IQ ensures your success in school, emotional intelligence ensures your success in life. Practising positive thinking, being aware of when you are feeling negative and correcting that by repeating positive affirmations will help you and your friends to grow into happy, healthy and positive adults.

By Santa Simothy, Co-founder of Kidz4Mation (www.kidz4mation.com)

Kidz4Mation helps parents of primary aged children develop winning habits in their children. Picture books covering the six themes mentioned in the article are available from our website.

Availability - Gift of time is biggest gift one can give a child because a child wants time and love not money.

Acceptance - This requires great courage but accepting the children as the way they are can help you in keeping them happy. How important is it for you to put your child needs ahead of yours and therefore learning to be selfless?

Appreciation - It is something that everyone craves for. All human beings want approval. It is very important to appreciate children publicly and criticise privately. Children creates problem because they want attention. A parent has to be assertive within limits and pursue possibility. Additional tips to help parents A mental shift will help a parent to understand that the child is doing you a favour as you get the chance to be called mother or father. 

It will soon be that point in the summer when teenagers across the country begin biting their nails and frantically filling Facebook with messages like “OMG! Two days to go! I’m sure I have failed History!” Yes, its exam results time. Anxious sixteen and eighteen year olds, and their families, are about to learn their fate, with sixth form direction and university places - and to some extent their future career prospects – depending on exam results. With the energy drink, Pro-Plus and coffee-fuelled exam period a hazy memory, and exam results soon on their way, what advice would a life coach or personal development guru offer to restless young people to help them through this challenging yet exhilarating time?

A measure of gratitude will add a healthy sense of perspective. This may cause a few furrowed brows, as one would on the face of it, only be grateful after exam results are announced and then only if they get the grades they liked. But anyone living a happy and fulfilled life is probably able to do this because of the sense of gratitude running through them. Albeit, someone about to receive their exam results is at a key juncture in their life, but an appreciation of all of the things they have going for them, regardless of what their exam results are, is empowering and constructive. A sense of perspective that life does not come to an end if one doesn’t see the desired letters on exam results day, and the worst that can happen doesn’t involve the world coming to an end. Disappointment is inevitable, but too long spent wallowing in despair is obviously not constructive – a list of alternatives and a sense of gratitude for all the good things in life is far more empowering. Gratitude could be for one’s health, well-being, food, shelter, the privilege of living in one of the top countries in the world and then for all the people, places and technologies to which we have access. A moment taken to reflect on your life and look down the mountain at all the progress you have made towards the summit helps add a sense of perspective at the fraught exam results time.

Positive thinking always helps, and is related to and stimulating by a sense of gratitude. We cannot control events that have already happened, with exam results on their way, but what we can control is how we look at them and the mindset with which we view the situation. Like tends to attract like in life, so choosing to be positive and optimistic encourages more positive things to flow to us at exam results time. What would you rather be on – a downward spiral or an upward one? We can influence what we experience next and to a greater extent how we feel about it. Decide to adopt a positive mindset and good things are more likely to come. You are also likely to appreciate more of the good things you already have, regardless of exam results.

Meditation and relaxation can soothe and energise students at exam results time, which is a crucial point in their lives. Even if you are not inclined to sit under a tree and contemplate the meaning of life, you will be amazed at how clear and uplifted you will feel just by closing your eyes and slowly taking a few full, deep breaths through your nose and slowly exhaling. For those wanting to feel better without the help of a chemically loaded stimulant when exam results are due, do the breathing sitting cross legged with your hands on your knees. Then, in this relaxed state, allow thoughts to run freely through your mind, watching them as a spectator as you would a movie. Even five minutes in this state of stillness can be incredibly uplifting – its free and on-demand, so give it a go!

Whatever your exam results, whether they are what you would like or not, you always have the power to decide how you respond, albeit that may be easier said than done when exam results disappoint. So decide to choose the state of mind that is best for you. Who knows, you might see more people with a happier and more philosophical social networking status over the next few days!

By Amal Simothy and Hitul Thobhani, co-founders of Kidz4Mation.com

Parents who consciously and proactively help their child to develop emotionally and build life skills such as trust, confidence, self-esteem, positivity and empathy alongside their education and technical skills may in doing so be reserving a seat at the top table in life for their child. But nurturing one’s offspring in this way puts the spotlight on parents.

“Until I became a parent, I never knew I had the capacity to love so much.”

This comment reflects the new emotional frontiers we cross when we bring a child into the world.

Parenting is, for most, a cocktail of joy, laughter, fun…and chaos and high stress levels. Thrown in for good measure is a dash of nostalgia, with the opportunity to revisit moments from one’s own childhood. Demands and challenges typically come in good measure. The skills and qualities required for parenting involve pushing out boundaries of heart and mind beyond what we needed to stumble through life thus far.

A sense of security promotes positive child development. A child feels secure when their parent understands their feelings through the connection of love which in turn establishes trust in the child’s mind. The child becomes more comfortable and is open to express his feelings in times of discomfort. Consequently, the child uses those lessons as a basis of reference to build relationship with others.

But how often do you feel that you really want to enrich the life of your child with the right nutrition and skills but feel you lack the internal resources to do so? Or maybe you feel overpowered by the certain demands or attitude of your child?

Awareness of some of the latest and best insights on parenting could be a factor. However, the best book on life skills and child emotional development provides potential knowledge until and unless it is applied. For example a child’s misbehaviour can be sorted by making the child wary of the consequences without a parent being too harsh or too negative. But if someone is neither reading any book nor willing to make a mental shift to read often or acquire more skills, then the likelihood of giving some of the life basic learning skills could possibly be very challenging at the early formative stage to their child.

As a result, we have created a series of developmental resources in the form of easy to follow eBooks which could be easily read by parents to their child which can help in teaching certain core values and skills in helping to raise happy, positive, balanced, well rounded and successful children. These picture books include notes for children and parents.

In addition the following skills could be useful tips to make parenting easier:-

Availability - Gift of time is biggest gift one can give a child because a child wants time and love not money.

Acceptance - This requires great courage but accepting the children as the way they are can help you in keeping them happy. How important is it for you to put your child needs ahead of yours and therefore learning to be selfless?

Appreciation - It is something that everyone craves for. All human beings want approval. It is very important to appreciate children publicly and criticise privately. Children creates problem because they want attention. A parent has to be assertive within limits and pursue possibility.

Additional tips to help parents

A mental shift will help a parent to understand that the child is doing you a favour as you get the chance to be called mother or father.

A parent has to do everything for their children out of love and there should be no game or business-minded nor anything in return.

If a parent tries to be possessive and not detached, the children will feel alienated.


Remember children learns what they live, so be role model

Be caring parents, not scaring parents.

Marks are not the criteria of intelligence of the child

Pressure creates resistance

Each child is unique and is born with some special talents.

The duty of parent is to provide the infrastructure to child for time planning, setting goals, read books and help them bring up their talents.

Not right to criticise your children and do not compare child

Only appreciate motivates and criticism never helps.

Parents should be participative here with children and be friendly.

Be a friend with your child, then you will believe or trust in her/him.

To control the mind of your child, enter his heart by being friendly.