Roché V. Aswegen - Educational Psychologist

25/04/2025

Let's talk about....

Emotional Intelligence. When the brain and the heart meet, it can often be a difficult to navigate daily life. Here's what you need to know to better your emotional intelligence.

14/02/2025

Happy Valentines Day!

09/02/2025

Let's talk about Love Language!

It's that time of the year again - love is in the air! But what does love mean to you? How do you express and choose to receive love? What is your love language? What is your partner's love language? What is your child's love language?

When it comes to receiving love, it's normal to want what you want. But do you know what that is? Does your partner? Of course, I wouldn't want a new car if all I asked for was some quality time.

Here are some references to help you get started in determining what your love language is!

04/02/2025

As we jump head-first into February - here are a few quick reminders to keep in mind!

Too often we are our own worst enemies. So take this month, the month of love, to show YOURSELF a little love.

Remember - The little voice in your head influences your thoughts and actions! If you say you can't, you'll believe you can't, and you won't. This month, take a little time to speak kindly to yourself.

30/01/2025

Let's talk about Separation Anxiety!

Separation Anxiety is something I see a lot of. Not only in children, but in many adults as well. The idea of someone we love leaving, even for a short time, can feel overwhelming. The thought alone can result in us feeling anxious. And as we all know, once you start feeling anxious it often snowballs and becomes difficult to manage.

Now imagine a loved one leaving whilst you are in an environment which you're not 100% comfortable in, e.g. school. Wondering if your friends are there or not, wondering if your class is open, if bigger kids might be hanging around, etc. These thoughts affect our kids more than we realize. Navigating separation anxiety at the morning drop off can be challenging! Here are a few points to be aware of.

20/01/2025

Let's talk about Emotional Regulation!

Emotional regulation, and dysregulation, is something we all engage in on a daily basis. It's also something which we teach our children, even when we are unaware that we are teaching them.

As parents, teachers and psychologists, we play a crucial role in the development of emotional regulation of children. We do this through modeled behaviour, open communication, providing of a secure environment and teaching coping strategies.

Here are some of the basics! 👇

10/01/2025

Let's talk about transitions!

A transition refers to the process of moving from one state/ condition/ activity, to another. For example, when a child is playing outside and it's time to come in to bath.

Transitions can be difficult at times, especially with younger children who at times may display "defiant" behaviour with responses like "no!", "I don't want to!" or "I'll do it later".

Approaching transitions with playfulness can assist in avoiding the *alarm system in the brain* - resulting in children remaining calm and ensuring they feel safe and secure in the transition to the next activity.

The alarm system in the brain refers to a network of brain structures which detects threats, much like a smoke alarm in a house. This sensitive system can be easily triggered and isn't always rational when determining if a threat is real or not.
Children, in particular, have difficulty with this response because their young minds are still in a state of development. As a result, what may seem like a simple transition to us as adults, can trigger a fight, flight or freeze response from a child - resulting in what may appear as an overresponse to us.

The use of playfulness can thus be helpful when a transition is necessary. Rather than simply asking/ telling a child to do something - try adding a little fun! To help you get started I've created a few examples!

13/11/2024

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06/11/2024

Who's collecting these awesome little Checkers miniatures?? 🙋🏼

As a psychologist, and a mom, I absolutely adore them. They're great for loads of activities! Here are a few ideas of how you can use them with your little ones...

*Sorting* - sort the items into groups based on their use or colour e.g. all the food items together.

*Matching the pairs* - match items which are the same to encourage attention to detail and visual discrimination.

*Spacial Orientation* - place the items in different positions such as on-top, under, next to, etc and ask your child to discuss it's position to encourage spacial awareness and identification.

*Mathematics* - have your child "go shopping" and then count the items at check-out. You can keep this simple with 1+1 or make it a challenge by telling them to add and then divide the items up among family members. Get creative with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

*Data handling* - start tallying items and make graphs indicating how many of each you may have.

*Phonological awareness* - discuss the sounds in each item's name e.g. trolley. Starts with a "t", ends with a "y". What other sounds can you hear in the word?

*Pretend play* - go "shopping" together! Pretend to be a shop assistant or work at the tills!

*Writing skills* - make a shopping list.

*Speech* - ask your child to describe an item for you to figure out e.g. it comes in a box, it's orange, it's round, it's juicy, it starts with a "n".... it's a naartjie!

These are just a few of the MANY creative ways you can incorporate these mini's into everyday learning and play.

05/11/2024

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24/08/2024

This 🙏🏼

Thank you for this phenomenal information!

"Let's take the pressure off kids. There is NO rush. I really wish preschools would wait to introduce letter formation workbooks until kids are developmentally ready to draw diagonal lines 👉🏼⁠⁠
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As you can see from the x-rays, 3-year-old hands are not fully developed.

Most children don't have fine motor strength or control until closer to age 5.⁠⁠
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Kids need a lot of practice developing dexterity and muscle control. Try these activities instead:⁠⁠
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• play dough⁠⁠
• bead work⁠⁠
• lacing⁠⁠
• using pipettes ⁠⁠
• squeezing sponges⁠⁠
• scribbling and free drawing ⁠⁠
• legos ⁠⁠
• origami + paper airplanes⁠⁠
• painting ⁠⁠
• sensory play ⁠⁠
• stickers ⁠⁠
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When we honor the development of children, learning feels more fun and natural = less stress for everyone!"

22/03/2024

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Sometimes kids need physical space when processing big emotions. The language of empathy can be communicated in many ways... what would you add to this list?