Y-SDA Best Practices: Special Note to Parents
Welcome Parents!
I'm so excited that you and your child (or children) are here with me in Success Dynamics Academy-Youth Edition or Y-SDA, for short.
I know this email is long, but please read it all! You have invested in a solution, and I want you to get the best start you can in here. That starts with a good foundational understanding of what to expect, how to do things most effectively, and why doing things a specific way is the most effective way.
We are going to go on a journey together to retrain our brains.
And when I say "we," I'm not joking! You and I are working together to help your child or children become their best selves.
PARENTS HAVE A SPECIAL ROLE
Creating real change happens when it becomes a part of who we are and how we operate. For kids, that happens more easily when it becomes a part of their family's culture. When each member is engaged, understands, and can reference the lingo in everyday conversation.
Even though this is a program designed for youth, you, as the parent(s), will need to lead out for at least two reasons.
First, children are designed to follow and model after their parents. They don't usually heal and grow past them while still under their care and authority. It's like they hit a glass ceiling until after they leave home. If a child does manage to start growing past his or her parents when young and still at home, it almost always causes friction and discord in the family.
Both of these scenarios point to you as the leader. It's up to you to show them the ropes so they can follow your example. It's the best of all worlds - they can improve, you can maintain authority in your home, and the family dynamic can stay more peaceful.
Second, you will be the "model student" for your child/children to follow and my "teacher's assistant" here in Y-SDA because of this family dynamic. We all know we can't teach something we haven't learned for ourselves, so learning and implementing the material in your own life is going to be your priority.
To create the culture and fulfill your roles well, I recommend that you be at least a week ahead of your child/children in the curriculum and practice the exercises. This is crucial for your child's best learning and growth.
As you already know, children respond much better when parents model "Do as I'm Doing" instead of "Do as I Say." The SDA curriculum and training exercises will be no different in that aspect.
Now, modules are waiting for you in the SDA portal so that you can get started immediately...
..but remember, you get to go at your own pace.
What's the best way to consume and implement the curriculum?
This is an excellent question! The concise answer is practice every day.
I know you want to see great results as fast as possible, and you wouldn't be here if you weren't serious about taking action. Let's talk about great perspectives to have as you get started and what you can do to make this a great start.
#1. Work on the SDA curriculum every day. Success Dynamics Academy for Youth is designed to help your child retrain their brain to see and handle stressful situations, conflict, negative emotions, mistakes, and getting stuck in a completely different way.
This is powerful training, and training takes consistency much more than speed.
Success Dynamics Academy currently has over a year's worth of training. There's plenty to get started on right away, and then more will be unlocked for you each month you are subscribed.
It will be extremely beneficial for you to see Success Dynamics Academy as a journey and not a sprint. Long-lasting results don't happen here with a "cram for the final exam" mentality.
It's much better to start slow, taking in smaller amounts of information daily, than it is to wait until you feel you have a more considerable amount of time to dedicate to learning. That's actually good news since most of us already feel that our lives are way overbooked and we often feel pressed for time.
Here's a basic overview of how the program works.
- Most videos are around 20 minutes or less.
- The worksheets that help reinforce the video training and the exercises that help apply and practice the video training concept or tool are on downloadable worksheets.
- Most of the exercises are designed for students to notice specific principles in their day-to-day life over the course of a week. You may find that observing over 2 weeks is an even better length of focus and application for you.
- Worksheets are "fill in the blank," so you can use them for as many days as you like.
An example of how to work SDA into your life would be to pick which day of the week to watch the videos (weekend days may be a great choice for you). Spend the next 7 days doing the worksheets, awareness exercises, and journaling. Choose a specific time(s) each day dedicated to the worksheet, awareness exercise, and journal time. Groove it into the daily routine, and there you have it!
Replay the videos as often as you want and practice the exercises again as necessary.
#2. 5-15 minutes a day will get you started. 30+ minutes a day will put retraining in full swing! Think about this for a moment. If anyone, child or adult, wants to learn a new skill - a musical instrument, sport, second language, etc. - in most cases, we expect to put in a lot of practice. That's because a new skill takes focus and dedication.
If we are serious in our commitment to getting good at it, even master it, we make time for daily practice.
Retraining our brain with new ways of thinking and handling challenges is no different. Get a daily practice regimen in place, and you'll see much better results more quickly.
The goal is that they learn to use these exercises all the time to improve and redirect their thought processes and emotional navigation. They won't start there, of course, but the sooner you create a culture of daily practice, the quicker they will create an improved way of thinking and responding to life's roller coaster.
#3. Doing this first for yourself will also help you understand what kind of pace to set for your children. It's like when starting a new exercise program and the guidelines tell you to have your doctor actually do the exercises before giving you the green light to proceed. Experience is better than plain knowledge. Your experience is going to be extremely helpful to your child's success!
Honor yourself by making a start - you and your family are worth the time and effort!
What's the best way for me to work this program for my child?
My recommendation for best practices here in Success Dynamics Academy for Youth is for parents to complete the posts currently in "The Parent Place" and the "Welcome!" module (either in Y-SDA or Adult SDA) before inviting their children to begin. This will be very beneficial to you in at least 2 different ways:
#1. You have the opportunity to get a good look at what I'm about before starting your children in my program.
#2. You achieve that week's head-start on the curriculum and become the "teacher's assistant," so your child's first look is now your review.
Steps to take first:
Hop into the portal and click on the "The Parent Place" tile.
There are 4-5 Steps for you (and your spouse) to take in each video training post.
1. Download the pdf(s) worksheets located under the video.
2. Read my commentary under the video.
3. Watch the training video.
4. Fill out the worksheets, do the exercises, and complete journal prompts for each training.
5. Post any of your questions or comments in the "The Parent Place" tile. ("The Parent Place" is only available in SDA for Youth).
Do these steps for each training video or application step in "The Parent Place" and in the "WELCOME!" module in either Adult SDA or Y-SDA. Once you have completed these modules for yourself, you are at least a week into the program and, more importantly, have some understanding under your belt. This is a great time to start your child in Y-SDA. ( Of course, skip the parent video with them. )
Then stay at least a week ahead of them in the curriculum.
NOTE FOR PARENTS ENROLLED IN ADULT SDA: At this time, modules 1-3 and the "Tips & Resources" tile are virtually the same for both Adult SDA and Y-SDA. If you are an Adult SDA member, I recommend you do your work in the adult program. This way, you can fully participate in all SDA areas for yourself and keep moving forward in the adult program when the two memberships go in different directions. I will send an email to let you know when the programs are shifting focus from one another so that you can adjust to listening to Y-SDA to stay ahead of your child.
Not in Adult SDA? According to the feedback I have received, parents have loved having both programs. They feel they are making progress for themselves in Adult SDA and can concentrate more fully on just being the parent in Y-SDA. If you have not enrolled in Adult SDA, I highly recommend it, but if Y-SDA is your best first step, getting started here is awesome. No matter if you have one or both programs, once you have completed the "WELCOME!" module and completed the parent training in Y-SDA, feel free to start your child on their training.
Together is a family affair.
I recommend doing the following SDA activities together as a family:
- Watching training videos, especially with children 13 and younger. Yes, it will be a review for you, but I think you will find reviewing is a good thing.
- Reading my letters and commentary, located under each video, so everyone understands the approximate length of time to take on the exercises.
- Filling out the worksheets. You will understand more what works best for your family and where your children are in their ability to do this completely on their own.
Whew, you made it to the end! That's it for now. You'll be hearing from me again soon, but it will probably be a considerably shorter email ;). I know this can be a lot to take in here initially, but remember, I'm here to help! Make sure you have me added to your safe list, so you get my emails.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to post them in the SDA "The Parent Place" comments box or send me an email.
Ready to get started? Dive right in. I've designed these presentations to take you through, in order, one piece at a time. You can start slowly and add more time to this as you feel comfortable.
Do you have a little time right now? Here's the login:
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Let's get started on helping your child become their optimal self!
Best,
Coaching for this game we call...LIFE
Life Coach / Energy Psychology
Emotional Health | Stress Resolution | High-Performance[email protected]
www.peggynazer.com
