August 2021: Launch Edition! 🚀
In this edition: our new workshop for PSLE parents, how to talk about stress, and a fresh new look for the app
Dear friends and supporters of Bramble,
We’re ending off the month of August with a bang, as Bramble has officially launched! 🥳
Workshops 👩🏻🏫
On 19 August, we held our first workshop on the topic of Preparing for PSLE: Understanding & Managing Your Child’s Stress. Combined with our second session on 28 August, we are honoured to have been joined by more than 250 parents from 15 primary schools! Together, we discussed the 3 R’s of managing stress: Recognising the signs, exploring Reasons, and Refining your plan. ♻️
These workshops give us the chance to engage directly and candidly with parents – answering their questions and helping them fit positive communication into their daily lives. Our hope is to do more than just pass on head knowledge, which is why we’ve been incorporating lots of role-play and realistic demonstrations into our sessions. Here’s some awesome feedback we’ve received so far:
“A reminder that my issues are real and not uncommon, and that there’s a method I can try to get through the madness”
“The ideas … turn a negative feedback loop into a positive one.”
“The live role play definitely works much better than a recorded role play. we can feel our own emotions literally playing out”
“Very relatable examples, and it clicked to my experience - that triggered self reflection”
Of course, we’re also introducing the Bramble app as a take-home activity, to help bridge the gap between theory and real-world application!
If you’re interested in attending one of our workshops, we have an upcoming session hosted in collaboration with SGFamilies on 9 September at 8pm 🤗 Click below to register.
App developments 📱
Guided conversation about stress
This month, we developed and tested one new conversation: Managing Exam Stress. It seemed only fitting, with both exam season and our “PSLE stress” workshops around the corner.
Stress is a common feeling, but not a very common topic of conversation between parents and kids. We’ve found that while some parents think their kids aren’t stressed enough about the right things, others fear that their kids are unable to cope with the mounting stress from school. 😣
That’s where our guide, Rosie the Reindeer comes in. She helps parents and kids explore 1️⃣ signs of, 2️⃣ reasons for, and 3️⃣ strategies to handle stress. (These match up well with our workshop’s 3 R’s!)
What did we learn?
Parents who felt the most stressed about their child’s schoolwork derived the most value from this conversation.
20 minutes is a good length for one conversation, but in that time, we can’t explore stress in full depth
Kids had the chance to state the main cause of their stress, but their thoughts and feelings were not explored fully
We realised that stress is not a “one and done” type of topic, therefore this conversation need not cover everything there is to do with stress
Instead, we decided that this should be the first of multiple conversations (an “introduction” before going in-depth!)
There are some parents who have already tried many stress management strategies with their kids (from timetable adjustment to mindfulness)
They’re searching for fresh ideas that fit into their specific situation
Parents felt dissatisfied when the solutions we proposed were too generic or limited
4 out of 7 kids selected “fear of disappointing or getting scolded by parents” as their main stressor 🤔
This has given us inspiration to develop a new conversation structure, specifically about managing expectations and how to deal with disappointment!
You can look out for that in the month to come…
Latest update available 🍎⏯
Fresh new look
If you download our app right now from the Google Play or App Store, you’ll realise that Bramble has a fresh new look!
From now on, users will be greeted by our resident guide, Sunny the Snail. Our hope is that when users open the Bramble app, they’ll also figuratively open the door to this safe space where honest feelings can be openly discussed.
For first-time users, we also wanted to create a more seamless registration process. To do this, we mapped out a “User Journey”, asking ourselves: What information do parents need at this point? How do they feel when they are on this page?
Preview conversation
We developed a short preview mode, in which parents can get a taste of what a Bramble conversation contains before they actually use it to speak to their kids. This was based on your feedback, as several parents expressed the desire to “recce” the app first 👀🗺
Library of topics
Last but not least, we’re proud to introduce our new library, where users will now be able to browse and choose from an ever-growing range of subjects.
Right now, we have 4 available conversations: 2 about schoolwork, 1 about screen time, and 1 about stress! We plan to continue releasing new materials on a regular basis 😁
If you have any requests for topics you’ve been struggling to talk to your kids about, feel free to download the app and leave a comment in our dedicated suggestion box! 💡
During this period of busyness and excitement, we cannot forget to extend our deepest appreciation to everyone who has been supporting Bramble along the way. 🙏🏻❤️ We couldn’t have made it to this launch without your feedback and encouragement!
Wishing everyone a safe and healthy month ahead!