Kgolo Mmogo Booklet | Page 64

I can help my child by encouraging him or her to go to school. I can talk to my child about the importance of going to school, about future plans and about problem-solving skills. I can encourage my child to make friends and to play happily. Happiness is part of good health, and so is fresh air and exercise. I can encourage my child to help others, and to help in the home. Caring for others is part of good health too. HOMEWORK: * Ask the mothers to take 15 minutes per day to play with their children. * Give a list of possible activities they can do with their children, for example, they could bake a cake together, they can play with a ball outside, they can play hide and seek, etc., as long as it is fun activities, but they must set aside time just to do this together. * The facilitator asks the group to give feedback on this experience at the next session. o FIVE-MINUTE BREAK o Introduction to topic, "Communication: Talking and Listening". o Broken Telephone: - The facilitator whispers a message to one member of the group. This member must whisper it to the next person until the message is whispered to everyone. The last person must say the message aloud. o The facilitator must debrief the Broken Telephone exercise by saying the following: - This shows how easy it is to misunderstand another person. It also indicates how easy it could be to misunderstand what your child is telling you. o It shows how people hear only what they want to hear. The facilitator leads the discussion by asking the following questions: - o How do you talk to your child? - What makes your child to not listen when you talk to him or her? Give the theoretical background of "Communication: Talking and Listening". COMMUNICATION: TALKING AND LISTENING To make it easier for your children to communicate with you, your communication must convince your children that you care enough to listen. Tactics that make proper communication difficult - Nagging, criticising, threatening, probing, ridiculing and lecturing may be meant well, but they reduce rather than improve communication. - Parents need to become effective listeners. Communication should be aimed at mutual respect: this means that both children and parents allow each other to express their beliefs and feelings honestly, without fear of rejection. Becoming an effective listener requires concentration, establishing "eye contact" and a posture that says, "I'm listening". - Parents also need to respond to non-verbal messages of their children, e.g. an angry look, a broad smile, or a sad and tearful - Examples of responding to a frown, "Your frown seems to say that you disagree". Statements acknowledging non-verbal face. messages invite children to express their feelings. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: As a p ractical exercise, use the children's thermometer to identify the mothers' emotions after the session. HIV Intervention Programme for the ENHANCEMENT OF CHILDREN'S RESILIENCE 61