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March 2025 Thank you to MCPE for the addition of 10 MP3 players! Thank you to NCTA for replenishing our hand fidget tools & headphones!
March 2025 Thank you to MCPE for the addition of 10 MP3 players! Thank you to NCTA for replenishing our hand fidget tools & headphones!
We appreciated the support of MCPE (Medfield Coalition for Public Education) and NCTA (Norfolk County Teachers Association)! They funded our grants to update and expand the Sensory Tool Lending Library for Memorial School,. The Sensory Tool Lending Library at Memorial was created in 2023 with a MCPE grant!
August 2024
August 2024
Preparing for the start of school tips!
Several days prior to the start of school:
Begin school bedtime routine
Begin school wakeup time routine
Begin school breakfast routine
Create visuals of routines
Include some exercise in the morning routine
Validate and normalize feelings
Remind child of past success managing something new
I am looking forward to the 2024-2025 school year! Don't hesitate to reach out!
Kbockhorst@email.medfield.net
June 2024
June 2024
Feeling Stressed? Try some of these Memorial student favorites!
Deep Breaths: Lazy Eights and Roller Coaster Breathing
Imagine a Calm Event: Playing basketball or being at the beach
Count: Forwards, backwards or by twos!
Relax Your Muscles: Start by tightening your muscles first - then relax your legs, then stomach and then shoulders.
Positive Self-Talk: Be your own coach or cheerleader - "I can do hard things!"
Talk to an Adult: Share your feelings
SPRING 2024
SPRING 2024
Look at all the ways Memorial students are powerful! Students made a paper chain, after decorating each piece with pictures and words regarding what makes them feel powerful.
November 2023
November 2023
Happy November! The school year is well underway with more established routines and connections. However, for some of our students, this time can be more difficult than the start of the school year. The novelty of school/new grade has worn off, daylight hours are shorter and outdoor activities are less. It is not uncommon to find that small setbacks may elicit big reactions from your child.
Learning to accurately identify the Size of the Problem and make the Size of the Reaction match is a lifelong skill. Leah Kuypers developed this framework as part of her Zones of Regulation curriculum.
Tiny Problem - (ex.- Don’t get the seat want)
Tiny Response - Ignore & move on
Little Problem - ( ex. Get cut in line)
Little Response - Handle on own (ex. “It bugs me when you cut. I wish you would wait your turn.”)
Medium Problem - (ex. Repeated teasing)
Medium Response - Need adult help - upset, tearful
Big Problem - (ex. Broken bone)
Big Response - Need special adult help (ex. doctor, police) - yelling & crying
Huge Problem - (ex. tornado)
Huge Response - Need multiple special adults to help -stay with adult
*Visual credit Valerie Steinhardt
September 2023
September 2023
Welcome to Memorial! It is exciting to have the Kindergarteners join the First Graders in the building today. Please know that it is not uncommon for students to be anxious about school. Transitions are hard and school days can be very tiring for our young students. The following tips may be helpful:
Establish evening and morning routines. These help children know what to expect, give a feeling of control and help with healthy eating and sleeping.
Make a visual check-list of the routines.
Include some simple exercises in the morning routine. Doing jumping jacks or dribbling a basketball can help reduce stress.
Validate your child's feelings and remind them of a time they learned to enjoy something they were at first hesitant about.
Don’t hesitate to reach out!
kbockhorst@email.medfield.net
Guidance services are focused on the CASEL Competencies: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills and Responsible Decision Making.
Guidance lesson are focused on the CASEL Competencies: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills and Responsible Decision Making.
"The Color Monster" - Self-Awareness
Introduction to Zones of Regulation -
Self-Awareness/Self-Management
“A Bug and A Wish” -
Problem Solving with Peers Lesson/Relationship Skills
"Just Ask" - Be Different, Be Brave, Be You!
Self-Awareness/Social Awareness
Thinking Thoughts and Feeling Feelings
“We Thinkers! Social Thinking Series - book 1
Self-Awareness
The Group Plan
“We Thinkers! Social Thinking Series - book 2
Self-Awareness & Social Awareness
Thinking with Your Eyes
“We Thinkers! Social Thinking Series - book 3
Self-Awareness & Social Awareness
Body In the Group
“We Thinkers! Social Thinking Series - book 4
Self-Awareness & Social Awareness
Whole Body Listening
“We Thinkers! Social Thinking Series - book 5
Self-Awareness & Social Awareness
Getting to the Green Zone -
Zones review and self-calming strategies
Self-Management
Self-Calming for Anxiety -
Talking Back to the Worry Bully
Self- Awareness/Self-Management
Self-Calming for Frustration and the 5 B’s
Self-Management
Boss vs. Friend - “The Recess Queen”
Self-Awareness & Relationship Skills
Including Others - “We Are Not Friends!”
Self-Awareness & Relationship Skills
Hidden Rules & Expected and Unexpected Behaviors
“We Thinkers! Social Thinking Series - book 6
Self-Awareness and Self-Management
Smart Guess - social problem solving
“We Thinkers! Social Thinking Series - book 7
Social Awareness and Relationship Skills
Flexible and Stuck Thinking
“We Thinkers! Social Thinking Series - book 8
Self & Social Awareness
Size of the Problem
“We Thinkers! Social Thinking Series - book 9
Self-Management
Sharing an Imagination
“We Thinkers! Social Thinking Series - book 10
Relationship Skills
Classroom teachers invite me in to provide whole class lessons, selecting from the above topics, as bests matches the classroom needs. First grade teachers always have the option to select from K lessons for review.
Family permission is needed for participation in small groups, with the exception that students may occasionally be invited to attend a Lunch Bunch or Snack Pack as a guest. Families can opt out of having their student be a potential guest by completing this form, that was shared with families in the weekly emails at the start of the school year.
These pro-social groups focus on self-awareness, reciprocal communication and social awareness. Classmates are often asked to be guests at lunch bunch.
This group will focus on some strategies from the book Helping Young Worriers Beat the WorryIng by Dr. John Irvine and from the workbook What to Do When You Worry Too Much by Dawn Huebner.
This group will focus on developing tools for managing frustration, utilizing excerpts from the workbook What to Do When Your Temper Flares, by Dawn Huebner, and The Zones of Regulation, by Leah Kuypers.
The focus of this group is to teach students the importance of impulse control and strategies for managing feelings and behaviors. All lessons will utilize the “Stop - Think - Choose” model. The group will be activity based utilizing strategies from several workbooks including Impulse Control by Tonia Caselman, Ph.D. and Helping Young People Learn Self-Regulation by Brad Chapin, M.S., LCP, LMLP, and Matthew Penner, MSW, LMSW.
With family permission, a student may have individual guidance check-ins to support the student to successfully manage their school day.
Thank you to MCPE for generously funding a classroom Sensory Tool Lending Library at Memorial!
Thank you to MCPE for generously funding a classroom Sensory Tool Lending Library at Memorial!
Sensory tools are helpful for all students and provide them with opportunities to receive organizing sensory input that will assist with behavioral and emotional regulation to support learning throughout the day.
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