Leadership for Children – SoulKids®

Sally Forrest

24^th October 2016

The right skills learned at a young age are priceless and leadership is vital to the future success for all children.

At SoulKids® we encourage each child to bring out their very best and during the programs they take on leadership roles.

One of the main lessons for a leader is that you lead by example – this means how you communicate, how you walk, how you hold yourself - all makes a difference.

Children are given roles where they soon realize the importance of clear communication and of setting a good example in order to succeed.

They are exposed to team activities where the teams are allocated randomly; sometimes they lead and other times they are part of a team.

This is a true test of working with people not like you, people who may have different strengths than you, and people who you may not have picked for your team should you be given the choice.

Negotiation, getting along with others, looking for the strengths in others - are all valuable lessons that children experience and lessons that set the foundation for success in life.

Confident communication, negotiations skills, positive thinking, planning and focus are all vital to success and all lessons that children learn through fun, games, stories and experiential learning.

Once connected with our SoulKids® family there are many exciting opportunities open for children to learn.

We select children to become SoulKids® Ambassadors and they feature on videos inspiring children with the wisdom they have learned and applied in their own life.

We encourage social entrepreneurial projects and work with children to achieve their dreams.

SoulKids® is more than an enrichment class, it is a family for life where children feel loved, comfortable and know that they will be encouraged to step outside their comfort zone and to bring out their very best self to every occasion in life.

Do connect with us to register your child for our upcoming programs or for one on one coaching.

Life-Skills – The Benefits Of Becoming A SoulKids® Mentor

Sally Forrest

17^th October 2016

In 2004 SoulKids® was launched into Singapore with the goal to reach out to as many children as possible.

www.soulkids.org

Our humble beginnings started with a small team of dedicated Mentors who worked with children to teach essential life skills for happiness and success.

The parents of these initial children noticed significant changes in their children and they asked if they could also learn the SoulKids® secrets.

In 2007 SoulKids® Mentor Training was born.

Many dedicated and passionate men and women, from all walks of life, have undertaken the SoulKids® Mentor training.

Over 28 different nationalities have taken the SoulKids® Mentor training and each one enthuses at how effective SoulKids® is.

When adults come on the Mentor Training, little do they realize that they personally will get so much out of the life lessons and activities.

After all a key teaching is that you can only give to another person what you have inside of you- so learning essential life skills and applying them to your own life is the starting point.

So what do Mentors say about the training :

• It’s truly life changing and shows us a way of living life using a positive and supportive mindset.
• Thank you for sharing your specialness, uniqueness and awesomeness with me – you have truly changed my life.
• This training is a true eye opener- what you do is so inspiring and your vision is so clear.
• There are simply no words that describe how lives changing your wisdom is- thank you for being so generous and sharing such wonderful gifts.
• The atmosphere is unlike any training course I have attended- it’s supportive, inclusive and positive.
• I enjoyed the training, the stories and the lessons. Its truly life changing and I am so grateful to you for passing down the wisdom and keeping the truth so simple.
• I am a changed person having found SoulKids®. Thank you for showing me the light and for inspiring me on so many levels. I am thrilled to be a part of your team.
• There is no “agenda” apart from sincerely wanting to bring out the best in every person who attends the program.
• The way the children are taught is awe-inspiring. So much love, care and understanding. All children are included and in one day we witnessed such transformations that I would not have thought possible.
• The stories and games stay with you for life - I love them!

SoulKids® Mentor Training is conducted once a year by the founders Vikas Malkani and Sally Forrest. The next scheduled training is on 19- 23 February and the SoulKids® practical is on 25/26 February where you get to see the full program in action.

The places are limited to ensure one on one attention for each candidate - so please do connect with us to register your interest and to find out more.

We do have international students flying in for this event- so it will be truly special!

Connect with me personally on : sally@soulcentre.org

Self-Confidence – The Greatest Gift For Your Child

By Vikas Malkani, Founder of SoulKids

10 October 2106

What’s the best gift one can give to a child? I asked myself this question one day, many years ago…

Is it happiness, comforts of life, a good education, a supporting family, or fulfilling every desire the child has?

After much contemplation, I decided that the best gift one can give a child is the self-confidence, and the capability to raise their own self-belief when they need to.

In other words, if we are able to create a positive and self-confident child, we have done a large part of our work as parents.

www.soulkids.org

Let me give you my reasoning for this. There are 2 subjects I have studied deeply – happiness and success. Every human needs to experience these 2 outcomes in their life, for their life to feel fulfilled and worthy.

I have even written 2 best-selling books on these subjects – The Little Manual of Happiness and The Little Manual of Success. They are available here http://www.soulcentre.org/shop.html

One of my great realizations during my research was that for both success and happiness to manifest, one needs to develop a strong and positive self-esteem and build the capability to raise this self-confidence by choice when needed.

Life presents many challenges, and these storms come when we least expect them; if we don’t have a strong self-belief, we will be emotionally shaken and depressed and thus not able to tackle life with the optimal actions we must. Since actions bring results, without a strong self-confidence we are unable to create or enjoy an optimal life.

All successful children develop high self-esteem, and this is what sees them through difficult times when things and results are not what they expect.

Self-confidence builds resilience.

All happy children also demonstrate high and positive self-confidence. This allows them to protect their own happiness when the world around them does not offer the approval we seek.

Self-confidence builds an inner strength that can easily sail through the external storms of life.

For a happy and successful life, a high self-confidence is essential. The best gift you can give your child is training which empowers them to become a positive and confident child, able to handle whatever life throws at them.

You can start by sending your child to a SoulKids class, and see the positive difference it makes in them.

Check out the latest SoulKids courses here http://www.soulkids.org/events

Or you can gift your child the ‘SoulKids Book of Happiness for Teens’ – by Vikas Malkani, another of my best-selling books written specially for teenagers.

You can purchase it here http://www.soulkids.org/shop.html

Build a self-confident child and you would have given them the best gift you possibly can as a parent.

SoulKids is an award winning training program that provides the complete menu of life-skills that your child will require to create a life of happiness and success. SoulKids life-skills supplement the academic education that a child receives.

Life-Skills for Children - SoulKids®

This life-skills training has been a family journey -  Vidhya Shailesh

3rd October 

About four years ago, while waiting for my "Meditation Made Simple" class to begin, I happened to take a look at the SoulKids® flyer. Always drawn to wisdom, I was intrigued. Back then my daughter was eight years old and I felt she needed some help with her self-confidence. The flyer looked promising and I decided to sign her up for the weekend.

www.soulkids.org

When I told her about it, I realized she was very anxious. I reassured her that it would be a lot of fun. The weekend came and it had a huge impact on her. She wouldn't stop talking about the stories and she was visibly happier. As the weeks went by, she would keep recalling some of the stories and lessons. Her favorite story was the sunflower and the rose because it taught her that she was special. She was clearly feeling more self-assured and knew how to manage her fears.

All the SoulKids® talk at home got my younger son very interested and excited so I signed him up when he was just five and a half years old. This time it was my turn to be nervous - he was after all very small. But once again, I needn't have worried because I had a very happy and excited little boy after the session.

Watching the changes in the children, I decided to go through the mentor training myself. I wanted to be able to support their new learning myself and like every other parent, be the best parent I could be. I knew as the children got older, it was only the nature of issues that would change and I wanted to be able to handle them well.

The mentor training opened my eyes to a whole new way of parenting. I learnt not to hand down my limiting beliefs to my children. They had a potential of their own and I learnt that it was this potential that needed to be brought out.

I certified as a mentor and subsequently started working with SoulCentre®, conducting their SoulKids® programs.

After all these years, my children still get excited every time we talk about SoulKids®. The stories and lessons are often still discussed at home.

SoulKids® has given us lessons for life. And it is one program that we as a family vouch for. We have benefitted from it tremendously as have several other children and adults. I am privileged to be able to spread the teachings to other children through the SoulKids® classes. It has truly been and shall continue to be a family journey!

Thank you SoulKids®.

Coaching for Children - 3 reasons how coaching can benefit your child

25 September 2016

Vidhya Shailesh, the SoulKids® Manager was recently asked for her top tips on coaching and how it can benefit your child.

The children who experience coaching at SoulKids® really do enjoy their “me“ time and also enjoy their new focus and points of action as a result.

www.soulkids.org

TIP #1

Coaching provides a platform for a child to speak one-on-one with their coach. It provides a safe, friendly and happy environment where the child can discuss any issues they might be faced with. Children develop a personal relationship with their coaches and know that they can speak with them freely without being judged. In this way, seemingly minor issues can get addressed way before they become too big.

TIP #2

Once a personal/friendly relationship has been established, coaches can guide the children using tested methodology and help address specific issues. Coaches focus on the natural strengths of the children and guide them towards success. Coaching focuses on building a child’s self-esteem and boosts their sense of self-worth. Children become more receptive and learn when the environment is positive and nurturing. Their mindset changes and they understand how they can create change for themselves.

TIP #3

Coaches can also provide specific tasks and set time-bound goals for the children. Once the children understand that they are accountable, they follow through with appropriate action. The tasks are manageable, achievable and help the children take responsibility for their own growth. An ongoing relationship ensures that the learning is sustained and continuous guidance is provided for their overall growth. The child's emotional and mental well-being is the coach's highest priority. 

Life-Skills – Enrichment Classes – Support Your Child

September 19th 2016

SoulKids offers essential life–skills that support your child to succeed in life. Academic training is provided in all schools, however this is not enough for a child to really succeed in today’s world.

www.soulkids.org

To be truly happy and successful in life the following skills are needed :

•  Communication skills

•  Presentation skills

•  Behavioral skills such as how to deal with emotions

•  An understanding of ones strengths

•  An understanding of areas that need support

•  Leadership

•  How to be a team player

•  Self-belief

•  Self-confidence and self-esteem

•  An understanding of how to bring out the best in ones self

•  An understanding of how to bring out the best in others

•  Authenticity and honesty

All of these skills are learnt at SoulKids through fun – games – stories and experience.

Imagine having these skills and being able to apply them. These skills really do create a well-rounded, happy and balanced child.

SoulKids prepares children for the future and this starts from the age of 6.

Children who attend SoulKids from a young age really do mature into confident, self assured adults, who bring out the best in themselves and in others.

SoulKids Mentors stay in touch with its graduates and so children know that they always have a trusted friend they can turn to – for any issues that may arise on their journey of life.

This is truly the best gift you can give to your child.

Mentorship programs are also available for children from the age of 10, to support them during the critical teenage years.

Interview with SoulKids® Mentor - Jesmin Tan

Sally has been out and about interviewing the newly graduated SoulKids® Mentors. She recently met up with SoulKids® Mentor Jesmin Tan.

www.soulkids.org

Sally Forrest: What brought you to SoulCentre® & SoulKids®?

Jesmin Tan: I was searching for a quality program to engage my son for the school holidays as I did not want him to just have fun and not gain any real learnings. While searching for such a program on Google, I came across SoulKids® and was instantly interested.

SoulKids® was a good balance for him to have fun, mix with different children from various nationalities and at the same time learn how to increase his emotional resilience through the practice of a positive mind-set.

S: What was your experience of the SoulKids® Mentor Training (for adults) and the SoulKids® Weekend (for children)?

J: The Mentor training with Vikas Malkani was mentally intense but it was a fantastic experience. The sessions were presented in a systematic manner with simple but powerful lessons and statements which provoked self-reflections. The training also helped me to focus on what was important and what to be mindful of as an adult and parent.

Many stories were shared which made the learnings even more impactful. Being able to put in practice what was learnt in the mentor training with the kids for the SoulKids® weekend was also an eye opening and awesome experience for me.

S: How has SoulKids® benefited you as an individual?

J: By attending the SoulKids® Mentor Training and the weekend with children, I have definitely become more reflective, mindful when I am parenting and more importantly I am also learning to walk the talk. I keep an open mind and am being positive in my day to day engagements.

S: What is your most important lesson from the SoulKids® training?

J: My most important lesson has been - Every individual has the potential to reach their best, as long as they believe in themselves, get a great mentor to guide them, learn and take action.

S: What are your hopes / dreams and visions going forward?

J: A commitment that I will be a better parent and individual. I also want to be able to share my experience and journey of SoulKids® with others in order to help them achieve their personal best.