Well-being in kindergarten education I

Yosen Karin Barrera Bravo

Integral Well-Being of the Child

IACC Institute

01/11/2020
 Development

Carefully read the following case and analyze the information according to the contents reviewed
during the week and answer the questions below:

Ana is a teacher for more than 15 years, unfortunately she leads a very sedentary life, low level of
physical activity and bad eating habits, she has seen that her cognitive, emotional and social
performance has deteriorated and her self-esteem has been decreasing. For the past few months she
has had to visit the doctor, as she feels her mental health is being affected.

After reviewing the case respond:

1. From the concept of wellbeing and self-care , how would you motivate the above-mentioned
teacher to change her behavior? (2 points).
Ana is a teacher who has been dedicated to her profession for many years, for which her fatigue is
notorious, leaving evidence of a deterioration in low self-esteem, which has led her to have a sedentary
life with a low level of physical activity, with poor eating habits, causing her to obtain a low cognitive,
emotional and social performance. Ana needs help from a doctor as she feels very affected and she
recognizes this. As a future Early Childhood Education Technician, I will provide some guidelines and
strategies that will help the teacher to balance and regain her physical, mental and social well-being.
To begin with, we will answer the following questions : Why is self-care so important? And how does
it affect our productivity?
Taking care of yourself means asking yourself what I need and giving yourself an honest answer, which is
why Ana, the teacher, has consulted with the doctor. This can be as simple as going to bed early after a
long day at work, or as difficult as studying the habits we have created and their long-term effects. This
means that we must take steps to take care of ourselves and our physical, emotional, mental, financial,
environmental and spiritual needs.
Ana, has begun with the recognition that she is responsible for her own well-being and that extends
beyond the individual context to include all those who are important to her, such as her family and her
community. Self-care is any action taken to support our mental, physical and emotional health, it is
relative: just as every human being is unique, self-care is different for each of us. The way you take care
of yourself is not the same way someone else takes care of themselves. Self-care also varies from day to
day. Sometimes we need a moment to be still and reflect, other times we need to move, be with family
and friends and exercise.
After explaining this brief summary, I want to point out to Professor Ana the benefits of her being able to
work on her self-care.

Improve your  With self-care, you will learn to say "no" to things that are
productivity overextended and begin to make time for things that are more
important.
 It makes you better visualize your goals to focus and concentrate
on what you are doing and what is important to you.

Improve your self-esteem
 When we have time for ourselves, time in which we treat
ourselves well and meet our own needs, we send a positive
message to our subconscious.
 A personal message that we are important, improving our
internal dialogue.

We know each other  Practicing self-care requires thinking about what we really like
better to do and need to do.
 The exercise of discovering what we are truly passionate about
and inspired by helps us to better understand ourselves.

You have more to give  When you are good to yourself, you may think you are selfish,
but it actually gives you the resources you need to be
compassionate to others as well.

The most important thing to motivate the teacher is to let her know different strategies that will help her
improve her poor diet, her sedentary lifestyle and her mental health, which have led her to have a low
self-esteem, for this she could follow these tips and put them into practice.

SELF-CARE TIPS
Emotional Self-Care  Keep a journal and be totally honest about your feelings.
When it comes to our  Give yourself time to reflect and recognize what is really not
emotional health, one of the working.
best tips is to make sure we  Take the time to be with a friend or family member who really
are fully connected to our understands us.
emotions.  Accept emotions without judging them.
We may be tempted to reject
feelings such as sadness or
anger, but it is healthy to feel
them, accept them and move
on.
Remember that emotions are
not "good" or "bad". You are
not to blame for the emotions
you feel; only how you
behave in response to them.
Physical self-care
Physical self-care is about
taking care of our physical
body and our health.
Physical activity is vital not
only for our bodily well-being
but also to help us let off
steam and release stress.
Intellectual self-care
Intellectual self-care consists
of exercising our minds,
stimulating critical thinking
and creativity.
Social Self-Care
Connection with other people
is necessary for our
happiness.
It helps us understand that we
 Meditate.
 Laughing, watching a movie or videos.
 Allowing yourself to cry.
 Find channels to express your feelings: painting, dancing,
writing.
 Cooking a nutritious meal.
 Go to bed a little earlier.
 Prepare for the morning from the night before so you can get
some extra sleep.
 Doing yoga. Even if you have never tried it, there are postures
that are perfect for beginners.
 Join a class and learn a new sport.
 Go for a run with your dog (or a friend's dog)!
 Just take a walk
 Read a book.
 Do a puzzle or crossword puzzle.
 Be creative: Write, draw or play a musical instrument.
 Mix up the routine: take a different route to work, go to a new
restaurant or store, or finish our to-do list in a different order.
 Start a hands-on project such as knitting, sewing or crafts.
 Learn to do something new, like using a computer program or
taking better photos.
 Listen to an educational podcast about something new to you.
 Make a lunch or dinner date with a great friend.
 Write an email to someone who lives far away, but whom you
miss.
 Join a group of people who share your interests.
 Stop socializing with those who are not good for you.
are not alone.
It's not just about doing things
with others for the sake of it,
but choosing to do things with
people who really make us
feel good.
 Initiate a conversation with someone interesting.
 Enroll in a class to learn something and meet new people at the
same time.
 Call a friend.
 Going out just to be around people. The energy can be
contagious!

Self-care is different and unique for each person. Your self-care plan should be tailored to your needs.
You don't have to tackle everything at once. Identify one small step you can take to start taking better care
of yourself. Then, schedule time to focus on your needs. Even when you feel like you don't have time to
do anything else, make self-care a priority.
When you care about all aspects of yourself, you will find that you can operate more effectively and
efficiently.

2. Explain the importance of soft skills and possessing optimal mental health, as per Ana's case (3
points).
Technical knowledge is available in multiple media and we are all aware of the speed at which it changes.
On the other hand, Soft Skills are timeless, although difficult to acquire, they play a very important role in
organizations, as they are key pieces for an individual to relate properly with the rest of the people, either
inside or outside the workplace. They are also the factor that determines what is done with the Hard
Skills, since it is not only what has happened to you, what you have learned, the amount of information
you have collected... but what you can or do with it, and this is managed with the Soft Skills.
We must keep in mind that Ana is a teacher who is training future professionals who will face the work
environment throughout her life, it is very important that her mental health is healthy and effective.
It is essential that the teacher has a good development of soft skills, since this enhances her integral
development, enabling her to: communicate correctly and effectively, be part of a group, approach from
different points of view, generate ideas and innovations in the different contexts in which she actively
participates. With the development of these skills Ana will be able to become an integral person, which
will allow her to perform competently in social and work areas. It is also very important that Ana has
good mental health, as today more than ever, mental health should be considered fundamental to overall
health, because without it, people cannot achieve optimal overall stability. For the same reason, mental
health and social well-being should be considered as fundamental areas of the human being, since part of
the human essence is our capacity to think, express our feelings and interact with other people. When
these abilities are violated, not only the individual but the entire community is affected. Thus, the
promotion, protection and recovery of mental health are vital for the full development of individuals,
communities and societies.

3. What healthy lifestyle habits would you use to improve Ana's overall health? Justify your answer
according to the contents reviewed during the week (4 points)
We call healthy habits all those behaviors that we have assumed as our own in our daily lives and that
have a positive impact on our physical, mental and social well-being. These habits are mainly nutrition,
rest and the practice of properly planned physical activity.
Taking into account the following:

Eating habits: Nutrition is the science that is responsible for giving us the necessary knowledge to feed
us correctly and that no deficiencies occur either in the short or long term, Food is therefore the one that
will give our body the essential supply for:
 Build and renew your cells and tissues.
 Maintain its internal functioning processes (respiration, digestion, metabolism).
 Obtain energy to be able to work, play sports, etc.
Rest: Daily rest is vital to keep the body and mind in good condition throughout the day. Without a
doubt, a good night's sleep is synonymous with health. Surely you have experienced that horrible feeling
of being tired, irritable, with a headache during the day because you slept little or badly the night before.
Getting the right amount of sleep is essential for everyone. It is recommended to sleep between eight and
a half and nine hours a night to replenish the energy expended during the day.
Active lifestyle habits: From any point of view, it seems evident that physical exercise, physical activity
and/or sport are conditioning elements of quality of life and therefore of health and well-being, since there
is sufficient scientific data that conclude that physical activity, carried out regularly, is a healthy behavior.
The idea that in order to achieve a better quality of life, what is required is not a system that fights
diseases, but a continuous and systematic prevention program through physical exercise. Other benefits of
physical exercise practiced regularly and in the appropriate measure to our conditions are: improvement
of sleep, reduction of body fat level, improvement of muscle tone, etc. But, in addition, by integrating
systematic physical exercise into our lives, we also obtain psychological and emotional benefits, such as:
improved self-esteem, increased self-confidence, compensation of excess tension and stress, reduction of
depressive and anxiety states, etc.
 Bibliography

IACC (2020). Well-being in kindergarten education. Part I. Developmental psychology of

childhood. Week 1.