Wise Choices

The Super Six Heroes Kit

In the past the vast majority of children were taught to be moral or to behave appropriately through discipline, deprivation, punishment giving consequences, guilt and shame. To the contrary, brain research now demonstrates when we are emotionally distressed we have no access to the neural pathways of the frontal brain, where we store models of behaviour, simply stated: we react rather than respond. We learn to be moral in the same way we learn to read, by creating pictures of appropriate actions on the frontal brain: Through role modelling, the language of encouragement, reflection on their behavior supported by consistent, systematic repetition of actions.

The Super Six Heroes Kit uses six steps to develop moral capacity by building the neural architecture in young children assisting them to make wise choices and act virtuously to develop the character of the child.

The ‘Super Six Heroes’ tales are characterised by six simple stories, each one is introduced in a separate book - that relate to the difficulties facing Ben when he has been too rough in playing with his favourite teddy bear Eddie Bear. His actions resulted in his bear loosing its arm. The stories depict how he can go about solving this problem and learn how to be gentler in playing with his bear.

The adult can use the six steps to help to train the child’s heart and mind to deal with an ethical or moral problem. They are not so much about what to do but more importantly how to go about solving the dilemma. You may think that it is not possible for young children to learn how to solve such problems; however, I have been amazed at how young children can grasp these ideas and apply them in their lives with the facilitated support of adults. The six steps have been designed based on the synthesis of research, doctoral studies and applied experience.

The stories help children learn a foundational process to resolving ethical dilemmas through a step-by-step progression of questions and ideas they can use in just about any situation they face. The six super-hero characters help them remember each step. These characters come from the ‘Land of Light’ and each appears and disappears in a particular colour (coloured light form) related to a particular step. The child can call upon the colour of each character to summon their help in solving their problem. The analogy of the colours of the rainbow is used to not only help identify and remember the characters and the lessons they teach through the visual aid of colour. A rainbow is also something beautiful in nature which can disappear as quickly as it comes.

When this process is introduced at a young age it helps to develop habits of thought, heart and action associated with the appropriate behaviour that naturally emerges and can be reinforced in a child’s day to day activities.

‘Excel Kids’ provides you with the tools to guide children’s behaviour and to learn how to develop the missing virtues associated with appropriate emotional and social behaviour.

The Super Six Heroes Kit is available to purchase to support your child’s learning journey.

Four training units are available as self-paced learning or for webinars or face to face workshops.

1. Creating Emotional Safe Environments

The first unit helps you to identify the missing virtue in the child’s behaviour and use the first three characters to help learn the first three steps required to reflect on actions.

2. Wise Choices

The second unit helps to reframe in three steps what actions need to be taken to learn a new way of responding that is socially and emotionally appropriate and how to go about these choices.

3. Parenting Wisdom

The third unit helps you to understand and apply three well researched steps that if you can apply just these three steps, you will see a significant change in a child’s behaviour. These steps help to reinforce the learning covered by the program for children

4. Workbook

This unit helps you to personalise a considered plan of action to address those most difficult behaviours exhibited by your child. You will design a set of tools and strategies to educate the child in a new set of more appropriate behaviours and work out what virtues you need to acquire to be more supportive to the child learning a new virtue.