Parent Support

Resilience describes the ability to continue to bounce back and perservere through difficulties. Resilience is not a quality or characteristic that people are born with, but can be developed over time. If you desire to improve your resilience and also improve the resilience of your family, this guidebook is for you. The guidebook can be read, or listened to. Chapters are read 15-minute digestible chunks. Here is the link to access this resource: 

The Parent Guide To Resilience  

The 2020 school year globally has revealed many of the shortcomings in the world, and in our culture. We have seen racism run more rampantly this year. The deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd ignited protests and a call for change in our country. Seeing the news admidst the pandemic and deaths of Black Americans can be very overwhelming for yourself and your student. At Repetto, we are determined to instill into each of our students the understanding that every person has value and an inherent worth. However, we cannot do this alone, and need you as parents to do your part at home with your student to continue this conversation. Take a look at the PowerPoint presentation to see what we are doing as a school, and what you can do to support your student to start the process of creating a future of respect, tolerance, equity, and social justice.

It is not surprising if both students and parents are feeling stressed and sad. Parents and students, you may be concerned with falling behind academically. But the truth is feeling overwhelmed with stress and with sadness play a huge part in negatively impacting one's ability to learn. There can be stress related to the quarantine and the practice of social distancing, but there can also be stress and frustration with not being able to go out and being around family 24/7. Sadness can be from not interacting with your friends face to face, as well feeling hopeless about a situation that is out of our control. All these things can decrease motivation and the desire to learn. The best way to be a learner, is to minimize stress and sadness. You can refer to the CA Surgeon General's Playbook for managing stress during COVID-19 for ideas and helpful checklists. The following are suggested help manage stress and sadness from becoming too overwhelming.

• Acknowledge how you feel and overly communicate how you are feeling and concerns especially if stressed and sad. 

• Structure your day. Refer to the At-Home daily schedules section for guidance. More importantly, have a purpose or a goal you want to achieve each day. This can be reading a book, completing chores, completing portions of an assignment, etc. 

• Go outside multiple times a day for walks (weather permitting and complying with the social distancing recommendations of 6 ft.). Exercise and Sunlight have a mood elevating effect.

• Practice mindfulness or being aware of the present. This can be enjoying taking a shower, focusing on the heat of the water, the scent of the shampoo or soap you use. You can also practice mindfully eating, developing the inner food critic in you to notice all the different flavors and textures you can taste. Watch YouTube videos at 0.5 speed on making origami. Do a Guided Meditations from the UCLA Mindfulness Center

• Try and complete 99 Coping Skills

• Utilize apps like Headspace and Calm

• Schedule a Facetime/Google Hangout play date with friends

• Access the Virtual Relaxation Room

• Limit the amount of time you spend reading the news or discussing the news related to COVID-19.

• Read the F.A.C.E. C.O.V.I.D. ebook and watch this YouTube clip

• Lastly, practice gratitude every day. We are truly living in a time when we really don't know what tomorrow will bring. Most people regret that they didn't savor the good moments enough when they had the chance. Enjoy the good points in your day.

If you or someone else you know are feeling depressed, hopeless, and thinking of suicide please contact 911, and the Suicide Prevention Hotline at: 

• Call: 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or

• Text: 741741

For additional resources, please refer to the AUSD Social-Emotional Resources for Parents and Students and the CA Surgeon General's Resources for Emotional Support and Well-Being website.

The best thing to do is to stay connected to the Alhambra School District main page to get the most up to date news that the district is planning in response to school dismissal. Please stay in touch with your students teacher.  Your teachers will be releasing their lesson plans soon for the next couple of weeks. 

Below is a link to helpful resources to continue to support learning for your student:

• AUSD Summer Learning Resource Page

• Fun Family Activities Pack (14 page document)

• https://www.commonsensemedia.org/resources-for-families-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic 

• AUSD Student/Family Resource page

• PBS, KCET At-Home Learning

• Arcadia Unified School District Educational Resources

To take a break from learning, you may want to consider doing one of these brain break activities.  

As kids and parents alike are now restricted to remain at home, here are some active indoor activities you can engage you and your kids in:

• Cosmic Kids Yoga (multiple Yoga storytelling activities)

• GoNoodle

• Move to Learn.

• Kidz Bop Dance A-long (they do an hour long daily dance break, where kids can learn moves to their favorite songs.

Exercise has been a proven method to effectively manage stress/frustration/anger, and elevate mood. It's important that kids have this outlet daily to maintain their emotional/social health.