I found a great article that I thought I would share. It's a quick read but has lots of good tips on helping kids (and parents!) manage through the current situation.
Parenting During a Pandemic tips from American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) CLICK HERE In our house, I have found the "Special Time In" that is mentioned in the article has been helpful to manage emotions during this time. The premise is that even though we have been spending all day, every day with each other, it is important that we carve out time for each individual child and hangout 1:1 (without screens or other distractions). The article suggests that the adult choose the time and the child chooses the activity. It's always fun to see what my kids come up with. During our 1:1 time the past few weeks I have: -played Barbies -made mashed potatoes -played cientos (hundreds) games of Uno -planted flowers -went on a bike ride -colored -gave a hand massage -read a book -listened to a book -made a keychain -danced to Ice Ice Baby and lots, lots, more! The 1:1 time has made such a positive impact in all the members of our family and has helped to decrease anxiety immensely. Have you made any changes in how you spend time as a family or individually? If so, have you noticed any changes? I hope you are well. Fondly, Mrs. Dimbleby 💚
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4/21/20
Here we are in the middle of April break! I don’t think a school break has ever felt so needed! Over the past several weeks I have seen parents, teachers, administrators, school support staff, community members and students work so hard and diligently to find a foothold in all these changes and find a new normal. It is exhausting work but so very rewarding. Through all of this, I have had to repeat the following phase numerous times… “Be gentle with yourself” That has been my mantra recently. I have said it to myself, my kids, my friends, my colleagues, even strangers! It is a simple saying but it’s meaning is pretty profound. It is giving yourself permission to take a breath, permission to not have to do everything all at once, permission to feel all the emotions that come during challenging times, permission to stop judging yourself. I firmly believe that we are all trying our best to adjust to the circumstances and whether that means creating a color-coded schedule or cuddling up on the couch to watch the new Trolls movie… it is all OKAY. Do what you need to do to keep yourself and your family healthy (mentally and physically). Right now I feel like everything is a balancing act. Some days you will need to feed your brain with words, mathematics, and learning how to write in cursive (I have two third graders at my house) . Other days you will need to take a 3 hour walk in the sun. It is all OKAY. Some days you will need to read a book from cover to cover. Other days you will need to watch Netflix until you get the “are you still watching” message. (Thanks for always being concerned for our wellbeing, Netflix). It is all OKAY. Some days you will need to write an entire list of things to accomplish for work and check every single thing off (I’m a Type A personality!). Other days you will need to play BINGO with your extended family on Zoom for a couple of hours. It is all OKAY. The key is balance. Be gentle with yourself. If ,at the end of all this, you and your loved ones are safe, loved, ,and mentally and physically well… that is what truly that matters. We can figure out the rest later. I hope you are well. Mrs. Dimbleby So... what is up with all this snow?! 2020 is certainly taking us for a ride this year, huh? As the saying goes, “This too shall pass”. To look on the bright side, at least we don’t have to make up this snow day in June 😜. This week I have had the opportunity to participate in many online meetings, as I’m sure nearly all of you have as well. This is all new territory for me. I am pretty “old school” and even texting is out of my comfort zone so pivoting to a mostly online platform has been out of my wheelhouse (for now!). One of the topics that has come up in my house a lot this week is online meeting etiquette. I literally had to tell my 4th grader, “No bedrooms, no bathrooms” for his class meeting on Thursday. We designated a space in our house that has a neutral background so that other family members aren’t walking around in the back. We also had to have a conversation about how our dog, Odie, doesn’t need to join every meeting. (I think Odie is second guessing this whole togetherness thing.) I totally get it… kids are excited to share a virtual window into their worlds. It’s like a ‘show and tell’ of the very best kind every time they get to join a meeting. However, I had to remind my kids that just like in school, our focus has to be on the person speaking. In school we wouldn’t just grab a cool toy (or pet) and start playing with it or showing others. It distracts our friends and ourselves from the class community and for the purpose of being together. This was basically our experience with the first few virtual meetings with my own kids 😂: In my last blog post, I discussed Standard Operating Procedures (aka S.O.P.s) . Learning how to participate in virtual meetings is a great example of when S.O.P.s come in handy. The following is one example of a Code of Cooperation S.O.P. that Kindergarten Woodside teacher, Mrs. Patton, developed with the help of her class this week: I love the clear and explicit language as well as the pictures that go along with it. At the beginning of each meeting, the class will review the expectations until it becomes a well established routine.
Usually when we are developing S.O.P.s and expectations at school, we write them in an affirmative form, stating what we will do instead of what we won’t do. For example, “Walking feet in the hallway” as opposed to “Don’t run in the hallway”. Keeping in that same format (but having a little fun with it), I developed a list of virtual meeting “Do’s” that you might find helpful as we gear up for Week 5 of distance learning: Do…
Do you have any virtual meeting tips for students and parents? If so, comment below. Fondly, Mrs. Dimbleby What great weather we had this weekend! I hope you all found some time to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. Our family decided to tackle the garage this weekend and spent about 4 hours cleaning and organizing. It felt good to be productive and to get things back in order. In fact, that is what today’s blog post is about… order. Actually, as it relates to social-emotional-behavioral wellbeing instead of “order” we use the terms “structure” and “routine”.
Each new school year, teachers spend the first weeks of school teaching students about the routines, or as we call them at Woodside, S.O.P.s (standard operating procedures). S.O.P.s are the step by step instructions on how to perform a task. In order for a classroom to function, the class community needs to know how to move around the room and progress throughout the day smoothly and with independence. Teachers have S.O.P.s for morning routines, joining at the rug for morning meeting, sharpening pencils, walking through the hallway, etc. We teach each of these routines explicitly at the beginning of the year and review them often to ensure that students know exactly what we are expecting them to do. When these routines are ingrained in students, they have more cognitive workspace available to learn and grow in other ways. This is especially true with elementary students as their executive functioning skills are still developing. Basically what that means is that if routines are well established, kids can think about other things instead of worrying about the everyday “stuff”. The past couple of weeks I have been thinking about S.O.Ps at the Dimbleby house. Our school day routine was well established (give or take a few bumps here or there because we are humans after all 😉). My kids knew where to find cereal for breakfast. They knew when and how to get dressed, My kids knew that their folders and lunch boxes would be waiting on the counter and that they had to put them in their backpacks. They knew they had to be out the door at 7:50 so that they would be ready for the bus at 7:55. Now, we are trying to figure out a new routine, new S.O.Ps, if you will. We are all working and schooling from home so we had to figure out how to make it all go smoothly. That meant figuring out what S.O.Ps I could keep, which ones I had to change, and which new S.O.P.s I had to teach. When developing an S.O.P. you start from the finished product and work backwards. You need to ask, what incremental steps are needed to get to the desired end? I think the “biggie” on everyone’s mind was trying to figure out what distance learning would look like for us. I really wanted my end product to be that the kids would have a home base at the dining room table. It allows me to be close by to answer questions and it also allows me to have a spot to do my own work. Heading into week 4, our distance learning morning routine S.O.P looks something like this:
While only 3 steps, this routine took a lot of time and practice to establish. However, when I say it’s time for school, my kids know what is expected and can independently move through those steps. This has added a sense of normalcy to our family. In times of uncertainty, I find it helpful to rely on routines and structure. Like the roots of a tree, I know that a strong foundation will help keep us steady even if the wind is testing the strength of the branches above. What S.O.Ps have you established in your homes the past few weeks? Feel free to share as I know many of us could benefit from hearing the experiences of others. Thanks for visiting today. I hope you are all well! 💚 Mrs. Dimbleby Dear Parents and Students,
Thank you for visiting my site. I am really missing my Woodside Community! I know that we are all trying to get used to connecting virtually and navigating this new temporary type of “school”. I am hoping that many of you will visit my site weekly to take a look at resources, articles, blog posts, etc. geared towards helping support our kids to maintain “the Woodside Way” (safe, respectful, responsible) while at home for the next several weeks. If your family is anything like mine, we are really trying to get used to: -the adults working from home -the kids "schooling" from home -being together ALL the time -physical distancing from friends and family -being bombarded with news on tv, radio, internet, etc. and that's just the tip of the iceberg! It is not easy. (Is that the understatement of the year, or what?!) When things start to feel overwhelming I have a simple strategy to help calm my mind and body. I use it with students as well as my own kids. The strategy is called “Take 5”. -Put your hand out in front of you -Use the pointer finger from your other hand to *slowly* trace your fingers starting at the thumb -Inhale as you trace up your finger -Exhale as you trace down your finger The website, Blissful Kids, has a well written article on the Take 5 strategy here: https://blissfulkids.com/mindfulness-for-children-take-five-exercise/ I hope you all have a wonderful week and that you stay healthy and happy. 💚 Fondly, Mrs. Dimbleby |
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