The Mustang Press
March 23, 2020
From the Principal.......
Dear Mustang Families,
GIVE YOURSELF GRACE!
I have heard from so many parents and families trying to figure out what to do with their kiddos at home. I am amazed by how many truly are so concerned about their kiddo falling behind or what they should be working on at home to continue learning. There are lucky kiddos to have such loving parents! If only all kiddos had advocates like you!
While I wish there were great research based ideas on what to do with kids during a pandemic, there just isn’t! But we do know a lot about developing children, transitions and change is hard for all ages! And consider the trauma this season has caused as well, we all are grieving the normal we once knew. Give yourself, your kids and your family GRACE!
A few things I do suggest (having no sense of what I’m doing here either) but things my experience as a teacher and a mom lead me to believe...
- This is a time to focus on your mental health and your kids. Consider your most important skill you can teach your kids now is to grow socially and emotionally. Help them name their feels! Talk through situations you didn’t have time to before and EMPATHIZE with your children. They just might learn to empathize with you too.
- Give your kids CONTROL in every opportunity even if it’s so small. Kids need CHOICE and to feel like they have power still. Offer choices that you’re okay with at the time. “Do you want to play this or that” or “Do you want a green plate or a red plate?” If they are pushing back on something, give them more choices you’re okay with but still keeping your boundaries. Boundaries are healthy and make kids feel safe but they also need control. So hard!
- Kids need a ROUTINE! Make a visual representation listing your routine, but from my experience I would suggest to avoid writing specific times for your schedule because who feels at a loss if you don’t get them to do X by whatever time.....You! You feel the loss, they don’t. If the schedule is more frustrating to you consider just a routine so you have built in flexibility. Maybe your kiddo is playing so well with their sibling, don’t interrupt that so you can get them to do school work next.
- Modeling FLEXIBILITY is so powerful! Teachers have to be flexible everyday to accommodate so many things and look how flexible you had to be to have your kids home all day and work from home etc. This is a life skill that’s so important,so if today your school work or your plan just isn’t happening, try it again later or longer tomorrow or hey maybe outside is a better spot for reading!
- Find JOY! Kids love a calendar to know what’s coming next. Spending time outside in this beautiful weather has brought joy this week. Having my adult daughter and son here with me while we're in quarantine brought joy as we laugh trying to put together a 1000 piece puzzle.
- Know your kids LOVE LANGUAGE and love them that way well. This can be tricky to know your child's love language but it's so important to feed their needs. I learned early on that my son's love language is time and my daughter's is words of affirmation. When they were young, once I knew how to speak their language, I saw positive results in their behavior.
Notice I have nothing to say about “academics”... your kids are learning SO much right now. Don’t feel any pressure to push your kids into uncharted academic territory. Every kid around the world has been interrupted this spring. Don’t make this time about a power struggle to learn another grade level. Teachers are very aware there will be impacts on how we teach and where we pick up when we get back into those classrooms someday. Gosh I miss my Mustangs so much I’m tearing up writing this, but right now may you see how powerful your home is as their classroom. It’s always been their first classroom and their most important. May you know your child’s teacher is out there hoping they are loved and well more than anything else. They are missing your children so much.
St. Helens will release information about supplemental learning soon. But even then... there is no pressure or expectations harder than what you put on yourselves. If you are worried about being a good parent or a good teacher... chances are you already are!
Grace to yourself. Grace to your kids. Grace with humanity right now. Be kind to yourselves and your kiddos today ❤️
Sincerely,
Lisa Tyler
#McBrideBelieve
St. Helens Breakfast/Lunch Program Update
Resources posted on our Facebook
Here are links that I have added to McBride Facebook Page during the week. Watching for new posts on McBride Information Station will be where things will go when I see them, however I will send everything to you all on Fridays in our newsletter to update all of you.
100 Activities to Do At Home During the Closure
DreamBox Learning - Online Math
Have Fun Teaching Relief Packs
Sites to use during the Closure
Virtual Tour of Disneyland rides
Taste Safe Slime
Bonus Break Bingo
Fitness Dice Activity
Fun Fitness Dice Activity!
(Thank you Credit: Kelly Moung PE teacher @ LC)
Fun Ways to Learn From Home
Indoor Scavenger Hunt
Outdoor Scavenger Hunt
30 Day Lego Challenge
Calm Activities
Snacks at Home
Learning Websites
Atlantic White Shark FB
Remote Learning Resources
Our District-wide goal is to have supplemental remote learning resources available for our students by April 1st. This work will in no way be intended to replace the learning that would happen in the classroom. The purpose will be to provide engagement and opportunities for students to sustain their skills.
Mustang Running Club
Hey Mustangs! With this extended school closure the First Grade Running Club will be unable to make our next destination goal this year the way we originally planned unless we work together to make it!. So…Let's keep moving Mustangs! First Grade Running Club would like every Mustang to join us in adding up the miles we are walking, running, or hiking. Families are more than welcome to help as well. Keep track of how far you walk, run, or hike and then let me know by email or using the google form link below. (If you use the McBride or High School track, each lap is a quarter of a mile.) I will post updated totals on McBride’s Information Station on Facebook. First grade was headed to Disneyland (1,016 miles) and has already logged 236 miles. Together, as the Mustang Running Club, we can make it there and beyond!
Or, email Mrs. Griffin kendrag@sthelens.k12.or.us. Be sure to include your Mustang student’s name(s), grade, teacher and total miles (round to the nearest ½ mile please).
ZOOM
McBride Information Station
Important dates and messages are posted on McBride Information Station.