When a child struggles to make an effort, to push himself, convinced that there is too much to do, he may be quick to give up when faced with a challenge. Most children with poor access to their willpower also find it difficult to tolerate frustration, hold back impulsivity, lack self belief and appear to be unhappy. Not being able to face a challenge holds children back. It prevents them from performing as well as they could on many levels. In most circumstances it is reflected in their poor performance of physical exercise. The C.Q program helps the child to grow out of his habitual position via static and dynamic power exercises. In weekly sessions the child is asked to increase the amount of time spent on each exercise. This process results in the child overcoming the experience of two very strong feelings, which in most circumstances are the main reason as to why the child stops when faced with a challenge;
The first is a feeling of self- pity (‘poor me’), a legitimate feeling to experience and easy to relate to, especially when one is unwell. However, when a child is well and runs into a challenge, this feeling helps the child to stop making any effort and thus prevents him from doing more. The second feeling, is fear, fear from the unknown, again, a legitimate feeling to experience, when facing something new. However, it can prevent a child from continuing. Learning not to stop when the exercise gets hard changes the child’s perception of himself.
A child on the CQ program doing regular static and dynamic exercises will feel the intensity of both feelings mentioned above, developing in just a few minutes. With time, the child starts to realise that he is doing the exercise longer or differently from how he has done in a previous session. It is at this stage the child needs to make a choice whether to continue, or let the feeling overwhelm him and therefore stop. In both circumstances, the child do not experience pain, which is damaging his body, but he feels the intensity of working his muscles. Consequently, when persevering, the child learns that he can make a choice as to how he would like to relate to his feelings; stop the exercise or acknowledge his feeling and carry on.
On the C.Q program the child is encouraged over and over again to stretch the boundary of what he thinks his ability is, discovering that he can do much more than he originally thought he could do.
How does it help?
Once children are able to push themselves, they can transform attitude to academic studies and get physically stronger, I have found that most children show clear transformation in their self-belief of what they can or can’t do in various areas in their life. They also feel more confident and radiate confidence, which has a positive impact on their self-esteem and social life. In addition, they might also show signs of maturity.
© Myrom Kahaner
