News from Wheelock

January, 2024

Dear Wheelock Families,

Happy New Year! At the end of 2023 I started teaching classroom lessons and this will continue until the end of the year. I wanted to give a you a taste of some of the things students are learning. Here is a sample of the lessons your child may receive.

1) Healthy friendships and friendship boundaries-Students will learn about the characteristics of a good friend and what to do if a friend crosses a boundary. An example of a boundary being crossed would be when someone says they don't want to play or tries to tell another person what to do.

2)Responsible decision making-Students will learn how to be independent problem solvers after reading the book "But It's Not My Fault" by Julia Cook. They will learn the difference between blaming statements and responsible problem solving statements.

3)Perspective taking-Students will learn how to see things from another person’s point of view. Perspective taking is a very important skill and the first step in promoting empathy and preventing conflict.  For example; the basketball game is getting too silly and loud. How do the players feel? How does the coach feel? These are the types of scenarios that will be reviewed.

Stay tuned for more lesson examples! It has been a pleasure getting into classrooms and teaching these important skills to all students.

Stay in touch!

April Bouzan

abouzan@email.medfieldn.net

November, 2023

Dear Wheelock Families,

September and October went by in a flash! It is so hard to believe the holidays are around the corner. This can be such an exciting time of year, and also overwhelming. There are a lot of expectations and over-stimulation and this can lead to feeling out of control, and cause children to have a hard time regulating thier emotions. I talk a lot about emotional regulation with students, but it is important that they understand how their brain works before they can access calming strategies. I am sharing two videos with you today: one that gives a tour of the brain, and another that shows a hand model of the brain and explains how the brain works. I have found these to be very useful tools in helping students take control of their own feelings and emotions. I hope you do too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6vqSehMYQQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRmnVmELMn8

As always please reach out with questions or concerns.

April Bouzan

abouzan@email.medfield.net

September, 2023

Dear Wheelock Families,

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! I am so excited to be back for my second year and to see everyone's smiling faces. This is such an exciting time but can also be quite stressful! In my time as a school counselor it has become clear to me that the first few days of school can be a "honeymoon period". Once all of the students realize they are coming back to school every day, and the start settling in, some big emotions might start to come out. Here are a few tips for ensuring a smooth transition:

1) Stick to a consistent nighttime and morning routine. Kids do best when they know what to expect and I cannot stress enough the importance of enough sleep.

2) Refrain from asking too many leading questions when your child gets home from school. Instead of "who did you play with?" or "what did you do in math today?", try "tell me 3 good things that happened today!".

3) Remember that your child's perspective may be skewed. If the come home and say "I had the worst day ever!" rest assured this is not true. Try to get them to focus on the positive and understand what the real issue is.

4) Stay in touch with your child's teacher if you have concerns.

5) Give your child a few weeks to settle in. If at that point they are still having a hard time, feel free to reach out!

Here's to a wonderful 2023-2024 school year!

April Bouzan

abouzan@email.medfield.net

June, 2023

Dear Wheelock Families,

As the 2022-2023 school year comes to a close, I just want to take a moment to say how grateful I am to have completed my first year as the guidance counselor at Wheelock. It has been such a pleasure to get to work with so many amazing students. I am sad to see my third graders move up to Dale Street, but also so proud of all of the growth they have made this year. The same goes for all of the second graders! 

Summer is such a fun, exciting time to be a kid, but it is also a time when structure can be hard to maintain. Here are some simple tips for maintaining structure and routine throughout the summer in order to ensure a successful transition back to school in the fall:

1) Set up a few routine things each day. This may be a standard morning routine, a time during the day when reading is done, or a consistent bed time during the week.

2) Continue to foster independence throughout the summer-Have regular chores such as making the bed, feeding the pet, or watering the flowers.

3)Consider a visual schedule for the day.

4) 

May, 2023

Dear Wheelock Families,

It is so hard to believe how close we are to finishing the school year! One thing that students are working on at this point in the year is empathy and perspective taking. Having empathy allows someone to be a kind and helpful friend to others. Being able to see things from someone else's perspective can jumpstart empathy. Here are some ways to teach kids empathy and perspective taking:

1) Talk about characters' feelings in books and movies. Then ask your child if they can relate to that character.

2) Model empathy by validating your child's feelings and then telling them about a time you felt that way.

3) Help your child to process problems with friends by asking them what the other person or people in the situation might be thinking or feeling.

4) Encourage active listening and question-asking when having a conversation.

5) Always encourage kindness because you never know what kind of day someone is having.

Tip of the month: We are getting close to big transitions for our 3rd graders. Scroll down to my post from February for some tips on how to reduce anxiety.

As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns.

April Bouzan

abouzan@email.medfield.net

April, 2023

Dear Wheelock Families,

This month I am providing you with information about the friendship problems and boundaries lesson I am presenting to students in second and third grade. By this point in the year students are more comfortable with each other and have created more defined friend groups. This can lead to some issues and disagreements. We have been focusing on five boundaries that can be crossed in a friendship with resources obtained from the Responsive Counselor ( https://theresponsivecounselor.com/):

1) Joking-Joking can be fun but can also cross a line where jokes become mean

2) Touching-Touching such as a high five can be playful, but touching can cross a line if it becomes hurtful. For example, pushing or shoving.

3)BFFs-Togetherness vs. Exclusion-Best friends are great to have, they can have so much fun together! However they need to watch out for potentially excluding others.

4) Do This-Idea vs. Control-It is okay to give friends encouragement and ideas, but not to tell them what to do. For example, play soccer with me or I won't be your friend anymore is an example of control.

5) Chit Chat-Positve vs. Negative-Friends need to be careful that if they are talking about someone to another friend that they are keeping it positive. Talking behind someone's back is definitely crossing a friendship boundary.

Students are also learning to use I-Messages when they feel that a friend has crossed a boundary. For example I feel sad when you push me, even if it's by acciden or not hard. Could you please not do that anymore?

Tip of the month: When your child comes home saying they had a conflict with a friend, try not to panic! Remember that all students at this developmental stage are figuring out how to best play with and get along with their friends.

As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns.

April Bouzan

abouzan@email.medfield.net

March, 2023

Dear Wheelock Families,

This month I am beginning to roll out lessons about healthy friendships. Typically in the Spring students start to have more conflicts with friends. They have known each other for a while, and spend most of the day together, so issues are bound to come up. Students are learning that several things are key to healthy friendships:

1) Support and encouragement-Friends need to lift each other up instead of bringing each other down. We support friends when they are sad and also when they have accomplished something great like a good news phone call!

2) Loyalty and trust-Friends stick up for each other, have each other's backs, and don't make promises that can't be followed through.

3)Friends let friends be themselves-Kids shouldn't have to worry about what their friends think of them or if their friend is judging them. They should be comfortable being who they are. 

In the April update I will provide more information on friendship boundaries and problems. 

Tip of the month: It's actually completely normal for kids to have conflicts with their friends. Give your child the tools to help solve their problems first. If that doesn't work, then they should seek the help of a trusted adult. 

As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns.

April Bouzan

abouzan@email.medfield.net

February, 2023

Dear Wheelock Families,

I find that this time of the year I begin to see more students dealing with anxiety and worry. Below are three strategies to try if your child is experiencing anxiety at home.

1) Externalize the worry-Picturing worry as an animal or a creature and giving it a name makes it so much easier to tell worry to disappear and go away. Having a visual is extremely powerful for kids. They can picture the worry on their shoulder and say "go away Bernard; not today!".

2) Schedule worry-Pick 10 minutes a day where worries can be talked about. This is a time for your child to tell you everything that is on their mind. 

3) Use logic-Often times kids (and adults) worry about things that are simply not true. We say things to ourselves like "no one likes me" or "I am the worst at math". Help your child to understand what they are saying. It is impossible that NO ONE likes them and that they are the WORST at math. Logic can help remind us what is true.

Tip of the month:

Be aware of how you are reacting to your child when they are worried. If you match their level of worry, it might make them more anxious. Try to stay calm and patient and then some of the above strategies may be attempted.

As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns.

April Bouzan

abouzan@email.medfield.net

January, 2023

Dear Wheelock Families,

Happy New Year! This new year brings new guidance lessons to Wheelock. These next two months we will be focusing on self-management. Students will have the opportunity to learn about mindfulness strategies, ways to calm down worry, or regulating strong emotions like anger and frustration. Below are the books we will read to enhance learning about these topics. 

Tip of the month:

Winter can be tough with the short, cold days. A great way to beat the winter blues is to practice gratitude. Just saying three things you are thankful for every day can lift someone's mood. Try it as a family!

Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns. 

All of my best,

April Bouzan

abouzan@email.medfield.net

December, 2022

Dear Wheelock Families,

It is so hard to believe that December is upon us! This can be a time of year filled with many emotions for kids. Excitement and joy come to mind, but also anxiety and disappointment. I am sharing some tools that I use to help students stay calm in the face of big emotions.

1) What is the size of the problem? When kids are upset it can be helpful to guide them to the actual size of their problem. A small problem should result in a small reaction. Putting the size of a problem into perspective for kids can calm their big feelings.

3) Grounding-Mindfulness can be a very useful tool. Grounding is an exercise that can be done in the moment to bring a very upset child back to a state of calm. Grounding is an exercise that uses our five senses. You can ask your child to name 5 things they can see, 4 things they can touch, 3 things they can hear, 2 things they can smell, and 1 thing they can taste. Grounding can also be done by asking a child to identify objects in the room for each color of the rainbow.