Guidance and Counselling
COVID-19
It's a new school year, with some of us back at school in person, and others of us back at school from home. It's a year full of new opportunities as well as new challenges. Covid is still a major concern, and keeping us all safe is our top priority. We are constantly striving to find creative ways to balance the chances to interact with each other and the need to stay safe.
This disease is serious, and needs to be taken seriously, but no need to panic or overreact
This disease is easily spread, so appropriate steps will help keep everyone as safe as possible
We are very fortunate here in Vermont, and we want to keep it that way. We focus on the big three things we can do, as well as others
Practice social distancing (6 feet is recommended)
Wear a mask (when inside, and outside when you can't maintain the correct distance
Wash hands frequently, whenever leaving or entering a new location
Carefully consider any travel or visiting plans
Cover coughs and sneezes with a sleeve or tissue
If feeling symptoms, avoid contact with others and call your primary care provider
If we all work together we’ll limit the duration of this problem to the shortest time possible!
We're Here to Help!
During this time of in school and at home learning we are here to help throughout. You can contact us at any time by email or phone, and we’ll respond as soon as possible.
Paul Hoak
Mary Mihuta
PAUL HOAK - Office Hours
I am available during school hours on all weekdays, for in person as well as remote students. Students and/or parents please feel free to email me at any time. I will respond as soon as I get your email, and if you'd like to talk let me know and I'll call you as soon as I can. You can also call, leave a message if you get my voicemail.
If any student would like to set up a regular time to check in I'm happy to do so. If you'd like to just send me an email when the mood strikes, that's fine too.
Parents, if you think your child(ren) would like to receive an email or a call from me but isn't likely to ask, let me know, and I'll reach out to them. My goal is to support students and families in any way I can.
Take Care of Yourself
I imagine we all would love it if these new circumstances would just end, but it appears we will be in it for some time still. If we all work together to make the best of it we will maintain a strong support network that will benefit us all.
Remember to enjoy yourselves! Make sure to make time for things that are fun, things that leave you feeling good about yourselves. We are dealing with a difficult situation, but it’s not the whole picture, life goes on. If we understand what we are dealing with, and take the steps we can, we will get through this together. Remember, if you are having difficulty, let us know so we can help with the adjustment process.
If you would like information or additional resources, please let us know.
Resources Available in Our Community
The valley's food pantry serves our community and distributes food items twice a month. No family or individual is turned away!
SEVCA supports low-income families in Windham and Windsor counties of Vermont with a variety of services from fuel, to food, to housing.
Internet and Data Changes
Some local internet and mobile phone carriers are offering free internet to new customers or unlimited data during COVID-19. Check with your providers!
Anxiety videos for kids
If you think your child might be experiencing anxiety or is overly worrying, feel free to contact us.
FUN WEBSITES
Below are some websites that I've tried and seem good. Many others that I visited either didn't work very easily, or were so full of ads that it was hard to get past them to the content you wanted. These are ones that I found to be user friendly and enjoyable.
Jigsaw Puzzles
onlinejigsawpuzzles.net
These are really nice puzzles, photos of lots of different scenes. You can click on "free puzzles online" or any of the other categories as well. Click on the puzzle you want to do. Once on the puzzle, at the top, there's a place where you can choose the difficulty of the puzzle, from 12 - 216 pieces (it's usually set at 40 pieces, just click on this bar and you can select up or down as you want).
You can also create your own puzzle. Click on any puzzle, and after you select "play this puzzle" and get to the puzzle screen, at the top right you'll see "create puzzle." Click on this, and it lets you upload your own picture and make a puzzle out of it.
Multiple Puzzles
digipuzzle.net
Click on "kids." There are several kinds of puzzles. Select the type of puzzle you want to play. ***When you get to a puzzle, DON'T click on "go" or "start" or "continue" or whatever else shows next to the puzzle, that is asking you to download an extension, and not part of the game. Ignore it, it's not something you want. Just play the game. Many of the sites that I visited have multiple games, but only some of them seemed very user friendly. This site has lots that work well.
block puzzles
word searches
swap puzzles - click on a piece, then click on the space you want to move it to. I couldn't find a way to know where the edges are, so I'd have to periodically move blocks of pieces to different places, but this was part of the fun as well.
memory game
hangman
jigsaw puzzles - these pieces often need to be turned. Click on a piece and keep clicking until it turns with the correct side up.
connect the dot pictures - these are pretty simple, for younger ages.
When you click on a puzzle type, if you click on the >> it will change to a different puzzle.
Find the Hidden Object Puzzles
highlightskids.com
This was the best of the sites I visited. Click on "games." Click on the puzzle you want to play. Click on the objects you find and they are highlighted. The colored ones are easier from the standpoint that you have the color references as well as the shape of the objects. Some of the black and white ones are pretty hard.
Origami
origamiway.com
click on "easy origami" to start. Once you get the hang of it there are several other categories to choose from such as: airplanes, animals, birds, and so on.
Email me
Let me know about your experiences with these sites. Tell me if you liked them, or if you didn't, if you have any questions about them, or if you have any others you'd like to recommend. Also let me know if there are other kinds of sites you'd like and I'll see if I can find some good ones. Also just email me to say "hi" if you'd like.
phoak@tves.k12.vt.us
Fun things to do
What do you see?
There are lots of things to see in this picture. Everyone's brain is different and people see different objects. Take some time to look at the picture, then email me phoak@tves.k12.vt.us to tell me what you found. At the end of the week, I'll email you to let you all know what you found together!
Toothpick Puzzles
Arrange toothpicks in the order shown
Move 3 toothpicks to make exactly 3 squares.
Add 2 to make 5 triangles
Remove 2 to leave exactly 2 squares
Move 4 and leave exactly 10 squares
Remove 2 to make exactly 6 squares
Email me and let me know how what you figure out, or if you want clues or have questions. Let me know if you want more (there's easy, medium, hard, and tricky).
phoak@tves.k12.vt.us
6 Bits Puzzle - Car Race
Seven drivers were in a race. Using the clues, figure out which order they come in, what color car each driver had, and what happened to them. Some clues are helpful early, some not until the end. It's helpful to set up a grid for your information.
Names beginning with "S" came in 1st and 3rd
The driver of the green car wore outdated clothes
Hank drove a brown car
Weasel came in 4th
The orange car beat the person who hit the wall
The blue car was faster than the yellow and purple, but slower than the brown and green
The yellow car came in 4th
Speedy did not drive the blue car
Slim did not win the race
Weasel got bad gas
The driver of the red car got a bug in his eye
The winner wore outdated clothes
The person who got lost came in second
Murph drove the red car and beat Bruiser and Alf
Alf came in behind the person who lost a wheel
Slim broke his walkman
Driver Color What Happened
1 ____________ ___________ ____________________________
2____________ ___________ ____________________________
3____________ ___________ ____________________________
4____________ ___________ ____________________________
5____________ ___________ ____________________________
6____________ ___________ ____________________________
7____________ ___________ ____________________________
Let me know when you get the answer. You can also email me if you have questions, want some clues, or if you just want to say "hi." phoak@tves.k12.vt.us.
Code Phrases
Each letter stands for a word that starts with that letter. Combined with the number, it's the only answer that fits. Example: 4 L on a D = 4 Legs on a Dog.
Tip #1 - Don't go in order, jump around. If stuck, go to a different one.
26 L in the A
54 C in a D (plus 2 J's)
18 H on a GC
4 Q in a G
3 B M (S H T R)
24 H in a D
60 M in an H
60 S in a M
365 D in a Y
1 W on a U
2 W on a B
3 W on a T
1 W on a C
29 D in F in a L Y
2 E and E on you F
5 T on each F
10 F on both H
50 S in the U S
4 S in a Y
4 Q make a D (so do 10 D and 20 N)
12 N on a C
7 D in a W
12 M in a Y
2 H are B than 1
25 P on this P
Email me when you get them, or if you have questions, or want clues, or if you just want to say "hi." phoak@tves.k12.vt.us. Feel free to make up your own and send them to me so I can share them with others!
How many squares can you find.
Hint: it's useful to identify a size, and come up with a system for counting all the squares of that size, then move to another size.
Email me and let me know how many you've found, or if you have questions or want clues, or if you just want to say "hi." phoak@tves.k12.vt.us.