Parent Perusals
October 4, 2018
A Note from Kimberly
Pictured to the left is my youngest daughter touching a Starfish. After a visit to the aquarium, I was asked SO MANY questions about starfish! "Why do they do this, why do they live in the water, can I have one as a pet?" This girl was intrigued by these creatures! I answered them to the best of my ability, but I am by no means an expert on starfish! A few times I said, "Well, God made them that way and well, Mommy doesn't know." The questions and comments didn't stop. I'm so thankful for You Tube! I went on a search for starfish videos and we found some amazing ones on You Tube that we watched and I enjoyed watching her fascination over these sea creatures and the learning that was going on in her mind.
I came across the article below from Sesame Street and it resonated with me. I've taken the pressure off myself as a parent to know all the answers because I don't. I could have dismissed my little one and turned her attention to something else, but I'm glad that I didn't because taking the simple step to find some videos for her to watch actually intrigued her more about sea life. The vast learning that took place in her mind was incredible!
I want my girls to know how to seek out answers and to remain curious. Next time your child asks you a question that you don't know the answer to, I encourage you to find the answer together. Not only are you spending quality time together, but you are supporting learning and modeling critical thinking skills.
Her fascination continues! Last week she came home with the library book she checked out. Can you guess what it was about? Yes, Starfish!
There are a lot of great reads and information shared in this week's newsletter to help support you as a parent and keep you informed on ways to support your kids. Check out the information about ESC-20's Family & Community Engagement Symposium on Friday, November 2nd! It's a great day of inspiration, learning and connecting with others!
As always, reach out to me anytime I can help! ~Kimberly
The Magic of Not Knowing the Answer
Why can’t dogs fly? Do flowers eat? How do mountains grow?
Little children have big questions about the world… and they’re not afraid to ask them! As a parent or educator, this may feel overwhelming or even scary. What if children ask a question you don’t know the answer to?
Here’s the good news: you don’t have to know the answer. In science, one of the best things you can do is find out the answers by exploring together.
The next time kids ask a question you don’t know the answer to, try to:
1. Confess!
Let kids in on the fact that you don’t have the answer. You can respond with, “I don’t know—let’s find out together!” Then, look up information online or at the library.
2. Plan
Make a plan for finding out the answer. Give kids a chance to come up with the plan by asking, “What can we do to answer our question?” Perhaps it involves asking someone else.
3. Investigate
Once you’ve come up with a plan, try it out, modeling how to be a great scientist:
- Make observations
- Explore with all of your senses
- Talk about what you notice
- Write down your findings
- Have fun!
Taken from Sesame Street in Communities
BEYOND ALL LIMITS!
The Symposium is a one day event that is full of learning and connecting with others.
Cost: $15 (lunch included)
Time: 8:30 a.m.--2:00 p.m.
35 Exhibitors On Site
Breakout session topics include:
- Bullying
- Smart Parenting with Smart Phones & Social Media
- College Awareness 101
- Positive Behavior Supports for the Home
- RtI & Section 504
- Six Easy Ways to Support Your Child's Literacy
- What Parents Need to Know about Human Trafficking
- New Opportunities in Adult Education & Literacy
- Eating Healthy on a Budget
- Effective Family Engagement: Disrupting the Cycle of Generational Poverty
- Success with Children with ADD/ADHD
- STAAR
- Warning Signs of Mental Illness
- Opportunities to Enrich your GT Child at Home
- Parental Rights for Children Receiving Special Education SErvices, AND
- MORE!
Check out the Symposium Webpage!
Click HERE to view the GRID of Breakout Sessions.
UTSA Institute for P-20 Initiatives
Partners Resource Network
This month's newsletter contains information on upcoming webinars, community events and lots of good reads!
Parent Coordination Network
This month's newsletter has extensive information on Bullying Resources, Learning Disabilities Awareness Month, Help with Reading Issues, Transfer of Rights, and more reading and academic resources!
Know the Real Cost of Vaping
Vaping is increasingly becoming more popular and it's important that parents are aware of what they are and the effect they can have on your kids.
Did You Know?
Many vapes contain nicotine--the same highly addictive drug found in cigarettes. Vaping nicotine can change your brain and lead to addiction.
Check out the Real Cost of Vaping HERE.
What Parents Need to Know About Suicide Prevention and Resiliency
Fostering resiliency is the first step in suicide prevention. Resilience is the process of adapting to adversity, trauma, or stress. Resilience is an important part of healthy development for kids, enabling them to emerge from challenging or stressful circumstances with a positive sense of themselves and their future. Developing resilience begins with healthy and supportive relationships with caring adults such as parents or caregivers and teachers. These relationships can be a source of strength when children are learning to overcome any sort of obstacle, challenge, or stress. Resilient youth have a sense of control over their futures, initiate problem solving, and reach out for help.
Here are some additional tips for what parents and caregivers can do:
- Build resilience in your children by supporting them through failures and setbacks, helping them to see these as opportunities for learning and growth.
- Praise your children for their hard work and perseverance, not just “easy” successes and good grades.
- Model for your children what it looks like to take care of yourself and maintain a hopeful outlook. How do you manage your own challenges and stress? Do you have positive coping methods? Are you able to keep things in perspective and manage your own challenging emotions? We may feel overextended and like we don’t have time for ourselves, but self-care is key in both having more to give to your family and children, and also sends a message about how to manage life’s stresses. What you do can be more powerful than what you say.
- Support your child through events that might be stressful or traumatic by helping your child to get in touch with their body’s experience. We know that when traumatic events occur, “the body remembers.” The event is stored in the body and the ability to self-regulate emotions can be enhanced by being in touch with the body. Build sensory awareness with your child by developing “sensation” vocabulary with words like “jittery,” “goose-bumpy,” “tickly,” “calm,” “shaky,” or “tingly.” This can be a fun activity by making a “sensation treasure chest” by filling an empty box with 10-12 objects of different textures, weights, and sizes. With their eyes closed, have your child pick and object and guess what it is based on how it feels. Ask your child how the object feels on their skin (tickly, cool, heavy, etc.). Developing this awareness can be helpful in regaining equilibrium after an upset does occur.
- Don’t be afraid to talk about suicide with your child. Talking about suicide will not “put the idea in their head.” Instead it will help your child learn that there is space to talk about any feelings they may have, no matter how distressing, and that they can reach out to you.
- If your child expresses suicidal thoughts, remain calm, focus on their well-being, do not judge, reassure them that they will not always feel this way, provide constant supervision, remove any means of self-harm, and most importantly, get help as soon as possible by accessing school or community resources, taking them to the nearest emergency room, or calling 911.
Essential Questions for Concerned Parents
Read the full article HERE.
Family Engagement Program Manager, Education Service Center, Region 20
Email: kimberly.baumgardner@esc20.net
Website: www.esc20.net/parentresources
Location: 1314 Hines, San Antonio, TX, United States
Phone: 210-370-5431
Facebook: facebook.com/escregion20
Twitter: @ESCRegion20