The post with the greatest number of likes at 1 pm PST on Monday, April 15, 2021. We will post a leaderboard on the Shining Moments main page starting March.
You’re more than welcomed to “like” your own entry and invite your friends to do so. (But you won’t be able to vote repeatedly for yourself. Our system is set up to prevent cheating though.) We believe everyone who participates will experience the uplifting power of words and not only inspire others but enrich their own lives too.
The past year has challenged most families more than we could have ever imagined. Kids have had to adapt to virtual schooling, changing lockdown situations, missed team competitions and family visits, their teachers and parentsâ working at home and the anxiety caused by these uncertaintiesâtheir own and those around them. Weâve also witnessed that words are powerful, in both positive and negative ways, and we can decide how we use that power. We want to build a positive community for kids where they inspire each other with stories of moments when their inner strengths triumphed, and in doing so, arouse their peers to act with the inner strengths of cooperation, self-discipline, communication, resilience, cooperation, empathy, and multilingualism.
curaJOY announces our Shining Moments writing contest where contestants have a chance to win $100. We welcome positive Shining Moments from everyone, even if theyâre not interested in participating in the contest. You may download a pdf flier here to spread the word.
Contestants may submit their Shining Moments stories and enter the contest at https://blog.curajoy.com/shining-moments/.
A few months ago, I was consoling a friend who had recently lost all her companions, been shunned out of school, and had rumors spread about them for just being themselves. Since COVID-19 quarantine was still going on, we could only communicate through text. She was thinking of suicide and I was just there, peppering her with reasons why she shouldn’t go, constantly spamming her phone until she would text back to reassure me this was okay. I felt her pain through the blue screen, though I couldn’t hear her sobs. After an hour, she gradually calmed down. After my mother had brought up her website’s new contest, Shining Moments, I decided to enter this story in with her permission.
All of curaJOYâs StrengthBuilder are professionally designed and validated to assess and build resilience and cooperation as well as other key strengths such as communication, confidence, self discipline and empathy. Remind your child that this game is all about practicing and learning. We don’t often get anything right on the first try, but if we keep practicing, we’ll get it eventually. curaJOYâs psycho-educational experts intentionally design scenarios to challenge children and occasionally frustrate them in order for them to grow. These frustrations are necessary for the children to master the necessary life skills and emotional intelligence that are often missing from their schools and real life.
Our proprietary algorithm dynamically adjusts the difficulty of game-based tasks throughout the entire game to be sufficiently challenging yet d not so difficult that uncertainty, confusion, or frustration. If your child is frustrated by certain challenges in StrengthBuilder, you’ll likely see corresponding weakness in your child’s reporting on that area of your parent dashboard. curaJOY games provide realistic, research-based, and often missing opportunities for children to build strengths and grow their social emotional skills. For some children, knowing the benefits and purpose of curaJOY games might be the key to their buy in. For example, you can share that they can practice approaching new friends or stand up to a bully in the game, and the strengths that they build in curaJOY will carry over to real life.
Your words of encouragement go a long way when children become frustrated from their lessons. Itâs ok to take breaks or complete just one scene at a time and come back to the game. Remember, it only takes 15-30 minutes twice a week for children to experience benefits from our program. It’s ok to take a break, and come back to tackle the challenge another day. Afterall, that’s what one of our key strength, resilience, is all about! Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need additional help or recommendations.”
You may login to your account, and reset your childâs password from Account Dashboard >> Manage Children