The world is highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Education, as we’re all aware, is one of the industries heavily hit.
Students undergo online learning activities from their homes. And aside from classes and homework shifted to the online realm, peers socialising on school grounds and outside of school hours are limited due to the government’s previous large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) and the current restrictions on community activities (PPKM). However, it’s not just students adjusting to the new normal condition – parents are too.
Many pros and cons in education arose. Therefore, the importance of making and maintaining connections between parents and their children are very necessary during this pandemic.
How can we overcome this eerie period while maintaining our mental health? Global Sevilla School hosted another webinar event entitled “Mindfulness: Creating Connection Between Parents and Kids”, held on Saturday, 27th March 2021 for every family to enjoy.
Superintendent of the Global Sevilla School, Michael, conveyed creating positive relationships and closeness between parent and child plays an important role in the learning process, especially through remote schooling.
“It’s as a secure attachment to parents to help improve cognitive, emotional, and social development of children. Healthy parental involvement in their children’s daily lives helps ensure that their children can perform better emotionally and academically,” Michael added.
This event was held in collaboration with the Mindful Project founded by Hendrick Tanuwidjaja, the first certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher in Indonesia. Hendrick presented ways to simply apply mindfulness through the five senses that we use every day.
Global Sevilla School’s Psychologist Alva Paramitha, certified for Therapeutic Playskill Therapy under the UK PTI and APAC (The Academy of Play and Child Psychotherapy) accreditation, joined the webinar as well.
“One of the ways that we can care about our mental health is by implementing Mindful Living, which is a simple daily routine practice that can be done to overcome and help maintain mental and physical well-being,” said Alva.
Moreover, Yuli Tan led the Cooking Class and Mindful Eating segment of the webinar. As someone who is exploring further knowledge on Ayurvedic Food in India, Yuli briefly introduced her session by stating that Ayurvedic or Ayurveda is a health system focusing on body, mind, and energy through food, lifestyle, and the process of rejuvenation.
“Ayurveda can provide a lot of input regarding what foods are suitable and balanced for each individual, how to prepare and cook these foods in the right way and how to avoid combinations that can cause toxins in the body,” Yuli explained.
Founder of Namaha Yoga Indrawati Widjanarko was also present. She clarified that
“Yoga is for everyone and yoga has something more than just doing a movement.”
Hundreds of participants from various regions such as Bali, Bandung, Surabaya, Jakarta, and others attended this four-part event. Parents had the opportunity to gain new knowledge and a great overview of parenting that’s applicable in their respective families.
Global Sevilla School was founded by the late Nurcholish Madjid (known as Cak Nur), who dreamt of building an educational institution capable of integrating character development and academic achievement or reliability.
The school always focuses on educating children using balanced education – balancing cognitive, psychomotor, and affective growth through reliable academics and continuous character education. Mindfulness is applied as a character-building method to help students concentrate and learn to control themselves, manage pressures, and develop compassion.
Global Sevilla School has two campuses, namely in Puri Indah, West Jakarta and Pulo Mas, East Jakarta. The curriculum implemented is a combination of the National Curriculum (KTSP and Curriculum 2013), the Cambridge International Curriculum and the International Primary Curriculum.