Huron City Schools is providing Sources of Strength to include in the school buildings and community tools supporting Social Emotional Learning. Keep an eye out on related information, support and activities that targets:
Family Support
Positive Friends
Mentors
Healthy Activities
Generosity
Spirituality
Physical & Mental Health
Stay tuned!
Write your story and path for this day, week, month, school year with the TIGER CHARTER:
Use the formula to your left and start your narrative, help your child and/or family with one as well.
How do you want to feel as a parent, student, friend, etc (accepted, brave, hard working, successful, happy, confident, etc)
To feel this way, what can/will you do....what do you need...
When your day, relationship, school year, etc is not so great, what can/will you do, what do you need, etc.
We are our thoughts! Part of Social Emotional Learning is self awareness and self management. Exploring our thoughts and breath are both powerful and always with us. How do we use our self talk to help direct us to doing our best. Explore positive self talk and words that can be our little coach/cheerleader when we need a boost. This video from Child Mind Institute , Understanding Thoughts for Elementary School Students demonstrates the power of our thoughts. Check out the video and this parent skill sheet to resource and share. https://childmind.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Eng_Understandingthoughts_Elementaryschool_Caregivers_Tip-Sheet.pdf
The Hand on Heart is a simple practice fit for all to help slow down a racing heart so we can release any unnecessary energy, jitters preventing us from feeling and performing at our best. Give it a go.
Book titles available for teens, tweens, elementary and early listeners including some classics.
Perfect your Mountain pose, learn the Washing Machine & Positivity Tapping! Fun, quick videos! Highly recommended.
This is an awesome image as faith over fear helps us grow into the best version of ourselves. What better image is there during our current time of uncertainties. The Hey, Sigmund resource has countless articles for parents of children and teens. Enjoy. And, share your favorites. SS
A short video on perseverance for all ages. Keep on moving!
Start each day and put your hand on your heart, smile and say out loud a positive self affirmation, i.e. "I've got this!"
Being supportive is a character muscle to practice as a parent, spouse or friend. Thanks to Character Lab for their tip on how to listen instead of trying to problem solve, fix things instead of acknowledging and allowing the feeling to be felt & expressed. Read their short article and video clip on how to better engage with someone who would benefit from your open ears and open heart.
This resource from Calm has some wonderful tools that we can all practice for our own well being and tools for our children and teens.
Scroll through the website for all kind of different tools to practice calm activities from soundscapes, sleep stories, mindfulness and meditation for all ages.
Below find other meditation apps for kids.
Tappy: a free app fidgeter for all ages. Includes feeling identifier.
Something for everyone in the family to explore and practice different ways to find calm from different forms of art, sound and movement. Click the Virtual Calming Room and explore or check out some of their links below:
color+create https://district196org.finalsite.com/about/calm-room/coloring-create
sounds + music https://district196org.finalsite.com/about/calm-room/sounds-music
visual relaxation https://district196org.finalsite.com/about/calm-room/visual-relaxation
guided practices https://district196org.finalsite.com/about/calm-room/guided-practice
cosmic kids yoga https://www.cosmickids.com/
Choregraph a dance https://artsexperiments.withgoogle.com/living-archive/?token=1585527387
Emotional Freedom Technique/EFT/tapping
a safe, easy tool to find calm when feeling worried, anxious, overwhelmed, unfocused
practice, share & teach your family
have your kids practice on their stuffed animals, dolls and/or have them draw a face/body and show where the meridian spots are to find calm
when reestablishing rules and routine in your home, keep it positive i.e. communicate the expectations and rules with what you want to see versus what you don't want to see.
include the whole family in establishing your rules and routine.
keep a daily schedule posted somewhere and use visuals. Younger kids, as well as older kids, are visual learners. Have an artist in the house? Have them draw what the daily activities are throughout the day. Older kids can post their schedule on their phones or in their work space, bedroom or family shared space.
keep the daily routine balanced with positive social connections, helping each other, starting a gratitude list (what you and your family are thankful for), begin each day looking for positives, build in fun & silly activities throughout the week (heart); exercise/movement, healthy food, hydrating and healthy sleep routine and self care (body); school work, practicing a new skill or improving on a skill/hobby, reading, building activities, puzzles, etc (mind) and quiet activity, mindfulness, drawing, music, etc (soul).
start each day with a positive thought, note something your grateful for and set an intention as a family and/or individually.
End each day looking at what went well and set an intention for the next day.
parentswithconfidence.com/everyday-ways-to-nourish-a-childs-mental-health/
To add to your tool box for mental wellness. Two of the five apps are free. Scroll down and find Smiling Mind and UCLA Mindful for the free apps.
Stop, Breathe & Think has about 30 free sessions and has a user friendly free mind and body check in that offers suggested sessions to fit your mood.
Use these sentence starters during one of your daily or weekly routines. Make it a purposeful 15 minute plus practice for growth.
www.verywellfamily.com/conversation-starters-for-kids-4160004
While we practice identifying and regulating our own emotions we can encourage our kids/teens to identify their feelings. Studies show that when children are able to identify and understand their emotions, they are able to regulate them.
Use videos/movies such as Inside Out, adapt games such as Emotions Charades, use feeling charts, art and journal prompts to help explore and express feelings.
Provide feeling check in points and have a plan in place on a list of ways to cope, work through hard feelings or find that simply sharing and validating feelings helps let them go.
Download Stop, Breathe & Think app. (link provided) It offers a free check in and offers free meditations, breathing exercises for all ages. It also has an option to use on Alexa where you can prompt the mindful tools.
Mind Yeti has 3 - 5 minute mindfulness sessions to help elementary and middle school students to help get their minds ready for whatever they need to focus on, both at school and in life. The link here provides 19 videos to explore. There's also an Mind Yeti app that schools and families can access with both free and upgrade resources. Enjoy.
Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat. Count to 10. Recognize the emotion(s). Let go those that don't serve you. Like a parade emotions and feelings do pass by and don't have to linger. We can be in charge of our thoughts and emotions.
Thanks to Confident Parents Confident Kids for their content on building social emotional skills in our students.
This article highlights:
creating optimal work/study spaces with your student or for your student to do on their own
ways to increase confidence and self motivation
build autonomy and habits that will carry them through homework success.
The first few days of school and even beyond can leave students with a mix of emotions making it a challenge to get out the door. A routine of tapping with positive affirmations and slow, deep calming breaths can help conquer the early jitters and take on the day. *Make sure to practice with clean hands.
Grief is difficult to put the feelings into words. The wake of a loss be numbing and/or full of heavy emotions that can come and go and look and sound differently from one person to the next. Shock and disbelief. Confusion and hurt. Sadness and Anger mixed in with a lot of why's, if only, what if, I wish... Support, time with others, time alone, creative outlets to express hard feelings, self care are not always easy to find, accept, put in place. Lean on others as the days, weeks, months go by. Check in with yourself, others to find some relief when you can. A couple resources below to share. Please email/call Mr. Kucbel for more support, resources.
< < < One place to start is to attend PTO meetings and consider joining the organization. All are welcome. Childcare provided. Scan code. < < <
Inquire about parent cafes organized throughout the school year. Information above.
Interested in exploring parent programs we can include in Huron? Contact Sandy Schuh, the school social worker at Woodlands Elementary School for more information.
Contact Sandy Schuh, LSW for ways to be a part of parent and family advocacy in our community.