Raising Resilient Kids: Essential Life Skills for Five-Year-Olds
by Lola Spencer (Foster Carer and Parent)

Discover the crucial life skills every five-year-old needs to thrive in this practical and heartwarming guide for parents and caregivers. Raising Resilient Kids is packed with expert advice, real-life stories, and actionable strategies to help your child develop emotional intelligence, social skills, responsibility, and a growth mindset. Whether you're a parent, foster parent, or educator, this book provides step-by-step guidance on nurturing confidence, independence, and resilience in young children.

Inside, you'll learn how to:

• Teach emotional regulation and help children manage their big feelings.
• Encourage strong friendships and essential social skills.
• Foster creativity, problem-solving, and a love for learning.
• Instill responsibility, accountability, and patience in everyday life.
• Build self-confidence and nurture a positive, growth-oriented mindset.

Written with warmth and insight, Raising Resilient Kids combines expert knowledge with practical tools to empower your five-year-old to tackle challenges, embrace new experiences, and grow into a capable, confident individual. Perfect for parents, foster families, and caregivers seeking to set their children up for success, this book is a must-read on your parenting journey.

Introduction

Hello, My name is Lola, and while I'm not a professional child psychologist or a licensed parenting expert, I've had the immense privilege of caring for many children over the years. As a mother to my own children and a foster parent to many others, I've experienced the joys, challenges, and surprises that come with raising children from all kinds of backgrounds. I wrote this book to share the practical life skills that I found to be essential for the five-year-olds in my care-skills that can make a world of difference as they grow.

When I first became a foster parent, I was filled with excitement, but I'll admit, there was some nervousness, too. Each child came into my life with a unique story, their own needs, and their own ways of seeing the world. I quickly realized that while each child's circumstances varied, there was a common set of skills they all needed to thrive: emotional regulation, social interaction, confidence, resilience, and a sense of responsibility. These weren't just skills for surviving tough days-they were the foundations for a happy, balanced life.

This book is a collection of those experiences, insights, and methods that I've tried, adapted, and learned from over the years. I've included many real-life examples, because I believe that sharing stories helps us see these lessons more clearly. Some of the stories come from my own children, others from the foster children who have shared my home. Each story is different, but I've come to learn that the skills behind them are universal. I'll walk you through practical, down-to-earth ways to teach these skills to your own child in a way that works for real life.

You don't need a degree or a special talent to teach these skills-you just need a little patience, a lot of love, and the willingness to learn and grow alongside your child. Parenting is a journey for us, too. I hope that by sharing my experiences in Raising Resilient Kids, I can give you some useful tools and ideas, as well as the reassurance that you're not alone in facing the many twists and turns of parenting.

So, whether you're raising your own children or opening your home to foster kids, I hope this book offers you guidance, encouragement, and a few ideas that make your days a little smoother. Thank you for joining me on this journey-I'm honored to share it with you.