Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!
Cheers to a terrific 2020!
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Education is a journey | Quick reads for families of PreK-12th grade students
Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!
Cheers to a terrific 2020!
This time of year can be magical but it is also filled with a long list of “to dos!” Families are trying to fit everything in; decorating, cooking, visiting loved ones, sharing cards and oh yes….shopping for every single family member!
As you can imagine, teachers are fighting the battle to try to embrace and honor all the wonderful holiday traditions while at the same time working desperately to keep everyone calm and focused in the classroom! From Kindergarten to Seniors, everyone is busy thinking about something else besides school. The younger students are excited and distracted and rightfully so! The older students are finishing papers, studying for exams and maybe waiting anxiously to hear from colleges. Can you say anxiety producing? My stomach is in a knot just writing this blog!
While your child is still in school and until that holiday bell rings, try to maintain their usual schedule as much as humanly possible! This is the time of year that all of us need to get enough sleep, eat well and try to get outside a lot. Kids really crave routine and even though they might fight you, it is key to stick to what they know and expect. Sure there will be school concerts and all types of holiday celebrations but we do not have to do it all! Keep your sanity and give yourself and your kids some down time too. I am personally craving a good cry watching the movie “Love Actually” while fitting in a little wrapping (back to that never-ending list).
I know that teachers love the holidays but they are also trying to keep the learning curve moving forward! So let’s all breathe a bit more and enjoy the moment. Whatever holiday traditions your family celebrates, it will all come together and it does not need to be perfect! In the meantime, while school is in session, try to keep the routines in place so your child keeps learning and working at school and also discovers the joy of the holiday season!
Have a great week!
Laine
It is hard to believe that as we head towards the end of 2019, mental health issues or concerns can still be seen by some as a weakness or stigma. To me there is literally no difference between physical health and our mental health – both in strengths and struggles. I cannot begin to tell you how difficult it is as an educator and as an administrator when you have to discuss with a family their child experiencing a struggle in the classroom. Whether the issue is social-emotional and/or academic these conversations have to be thoughtful and productive. It is interesting to me for families sometimes can be more receptive to seek help academically for their child. On the other hand, when asked to have their child/young adult meet with a mental health professional for possible outside school counseling and/or testing it can sometimes be met with worry and resistance. Of course that is understandable for I think most parents want to do their absolute best for their children and often if the struggle can be worked through with additional support such as a tutor – alleluia! But a child and/or young adult growing up has many layers as they develop. It seems so important that the message they clearly receive and understand from the adults in their life is the importance of taking care of yourself both physically and mentally. Currently everywhere you turn there are articles and reports focusing on the rise of anxiety, stress and depression in our children. To me it seems we are at a critical time where we need to address it as a nation. Many families and schools are working on putting supports in place to help students learn the tools necessary to find strategies to manage their emotions, worries and/or fears. But is that enough? It seems time for our nation’s leaders to form a diverse and knowledgeable task force to get down to the root cause of the significant rise in anxiety and make helpful learning scaffolding to be put in place starting at the elementary school level. Also, we need more ways to help entire communities to support families and their children. This will not be a quick fix. The first step is take away any stigma in having a mental health issue. We take our kids quickly to the doctor when they are not feeling well physically but why the hesitation if they need emotional support or counseling? I sometimes feel everyone of us could benefit from a professional in the mental health field leaning in and listening. NBA star, Kevin Love wrote about his own experience and was honest and direct about facing his own panic attack on the court. It is a must read for parents and young adults alike. I would imagine for many, reading how a highly trained athlete can face mental health challenges would be liberating.
Please click on the link below to the link, “Everyone Is Going Through Something” by Kevin Love.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/kevin-love-everyone-is-going-through-something
I hope you found this article helpful and eye-opening. Let’s make 2020 the year where we find solutions to help our kids with these debilitating issues and not worry about what the “perception” will be to their friends, family or wider community.
Laine
Laine started as an Early Education teacher, and taught in elementary classrooms for more than 20 years before becoming a school Principal.
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