Knights News
What's Springing Up at Stone Ridge!
Dear Parents,
Spring has sprung, and with the arrival of March, we are delighted to bring you the latest edition of our school newsletter. As the days grow longer with the time change, join us in celebrating the season of renewal, growth, and the wonderful accomplishments within our school community.
Embarking on the Quest of Spring: A Season of Renewal and Change for our Noble Knights
As the ides of March unfold, so unfurls the vibrant canvas of spring, heralding a time of rejuvenation and transformation within the hallowed halls of our kingdom. Behold, as the budding blossoms and the emergence of greenery symbolize the renewal of life, mirroring the growth and valorous deeds of our noble Knights. In this season of metamorphosis, much like the chivalrous tales of yore, we, the Knights of our esteemed academy, embrace positive change, cultivating an environment of continual learning and gallant development.
As the time change sets our clocks forward, envision it as the sounding trumpets heralding a new dawn—a call to arms for fresh beginnings and the forging of bonds. Let us, in the spirit of camaraderie, welcome these opportunities with optimism and enthusiasm, embarking together on a noble quest through the changing landscape of March. May our Knights boldly bloom and thrive in the grand tapestry of this medieval journey.
Wellness Wednesday
St Patrick’s Day: Guided Mindfulness Activity: Discussion about the things, personal qualities, and people in our lives that make us feel lucky to be us: March 6th
Four leaf clover: Deep Breathing Technique: March 13th
Asking for Help (BoysTown Skill): March 21st
Women’s History Month activity: Reflection/Positive Relationship Building; Thinking about the women in your life who inspire you and who you look up to: March 27th
Counseling Corner
What is SEL?
Social-emotional learning (SEL) helps improve kids’ academic performance, curtail bullying, reduce dropout rates, and build character. Well-implemented SEL programs positively affect students’ success in school. Studies show that social-emotional skills—such as problem-solving, self-regulation, impulse control, and empathy—help improve academics, reduce negative social behaviors like bullying, and create positive classroom climates. Social-emotional skills also help kids successfully manage everyday life. They help students focus, make good decisions, and become supportive members of their community well beyond school.
How does SEL affect children with Autism or other health impairments?
Children with autism have a difficult time recognizing and regulating emotions. This makes having social awareness or making responsible decisions difficult as well. Social emotional learning (SEL) can help children with autism develop an awareness of emotions and build social relationships. Most children begin emotional development at birth by expressing emotions, reading facial expressions and continue to develop skills of empathy and relationship building as they grow. Children with autism have a harder time with this development which includes having a difficult time understanding their own emotions. Depending on where they are on the spectrum some children might be able to express their feelings but are unable to describe what it is they are feeling.
What SEL activities can you do at home to help your child?
SEL can help children understand how to recognize facial expressions (for example, whether to pay more attention to certain areas of the face than others) as well as develop the vocabulary to express what they are feeling. Try watching a movie together without the sound. Point out various facial expressions and ask your child how the character might be feeling. Try identifying the same emotion multiple times by using synonyms. For example, if your child says two characters look happy, help them brainstorm other words for happy such as joyful or calm.
Anger and fear are two emotions that children with autism have a hard time recognizing even as they grow older. SEL can help children learn more about these emotions, how to express them, and find calming strategies that work for them. Encouraging emotional development should occur naturally in everyday interactions, whether it be at home or school. Parents can mirror positive emotions so their child can see not only the expression for themselves, but also gain an understanding of empathy. For example, when your child is happy you can mirror this emotion by smiling to help your child associate the expression of smiling with the feeling of happiness. Wisdom: The World of Emotions (iOS, Android) App, features activities specifically designed for teaching children social cues. Some of these activities include identifying emotions through facial expressions, body language, and voice intonations, practicing how to introduce yourself to someone, and how to respond to nonverbal cues. Examples of the nonverbal cues questions: Your friend keeps looking away from you while you are talking, what do you do?
Emotional regulation is another social emotional skill that can be very challenging for children with ASD. According to the Child Mind Institute, mindfulness is emerging as a helpful emotional regulation tool for children with special needs such as autism spectrum disorder. In the article, Dr. Amy Saltzman explains that mindfulness studies documented a decrease in anxiety and improvements in attention, and the students “were less emotionally reactive and more able to handle daily challenges and choose their behavior.” Here are mindful activities parents can start to use with their children at home: Breathing exercises, Meditations, Mindful Movements, etc.
Social emotional skills take time and practice to learn, especially for children with ASD. The support you give your child will strengthen their confidence for taking on challenges to learn something new about themselves and others. Visual and interactive activities will help children with autism build their self-awareness, social awareness and build positive relationships.
All Things Health
Health Guidelines for SRA Students
Keeping your child home from school is sometimes necessary due to illness or injury. A child should NOT attend school under the following conditions:
Temperature of 100 degrees or more
Communicable disease
Discharge of the eyes or ears, diarrhea, vomiting, or a persistent cough
Rash, especially with fever or behavior change, until the physician/health department has determined that the illness is not communicable
Mouth sores, associated with drooling, until the physician/health department has determined that the child is noninfectious
A child may return to school providing:
Fever has returned to normal without the aid of fever reducing medication after 24 hours Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea has stopped
Stage of contagion for communicable disease has passed
Required waiting period following diagnosis and treatment has passed
Family Resources
Emergency Resource list
https://www.foothillfamilyshelter.org/uploads/files/FFS-How%20to%20get%20help.pdf
Connect IE: Search bar for free and low cost services like medical care, food, job training, and more.
Upcoming Dates
Upcoming Dates
March 8th, 2024: SEL Day
SEL Day is a global, grassroots campaign for social-emotional learning to support children’s academic recovery, mental health, and well-being. Since its inception in 2020, #SELday has reached over 40 million views. In 2023, over 4,000 SEL champions representing all 50 U.S. states and 87 countries made 11,000 commitments to showcase, promote, advocate, and support SEL. Advocacy efforts have resulted in SEL Day proclamations in fifteen states, a letter of support from the White House, and a bipartisan resolution for SEL Week introduced in the Senate. The purpose of SEL day is to demonstrate and celebrate best practices, raise awareness with new audiences, engage policymakers and stakeholders, and support educators and administrators. For more information, go to https://selday.org/. Here is a quick video about SEL day!
March 17th, 2024: St. Patrick’s Day
Bring out your green! St. Patrick’s Day—observed every March 17—is packed with parades, good luck charms, and all things green. The event started as a religious holiday, but over time it’s become a celebration of Irish culture. St. Patrick was a real person, but some of the traditions associated with him and the holiday are actually myths. For instance, you’ll often see the four-leaf clover on St. Patrick’s Day. However, according to legend, Patrick used a three-leaf clover, or shamrock, as part of his teachings. Even though it's possible for a shamrock to grow a fourth leaf, a four-leaf clover is just considered a symbol of good luck. Leprechauns are actually one reason you’re supposed to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day—or risk getting pinched! The tradition is tied to folklore that says wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns, which like to pinch anyone they can see. Some people also think sporting the color will bring good luck, and others wear it to honor their Irish ancestry. No wonder green decorations can be seen all over—the Chicago River in Illinois is even dyed green each year to celebrate the holiday.
Parent Mental Health Forum: Suicide Awareness on March 16th - Meeting will be Virtual!
Attention all parents and guardians! Stone Ridge Academy will be hosting a parent mental health forum on March 16th to address student mental health; specifically, suicide awareness. We will be exploring the warning signs of suicide risk, the language students use versus the language we are encouraging students to use to express needs and wants, and the policies that we have at Stone Ridge Academy which includes the steps that we take to support students, assessments, and resource links. Please join us to discover what you can do to support your child and feel free to ask any questions at the end of the virtual meeting. Thank you for your support!
Mental Health: Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, A World of Opportunities
Developmental disabilities is a broad term that encompasses many different disabilities that are lifelong including Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, hearing or vision loss, intellectual disabilities, and other learning disorders. According to the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD), the purpose of this year’s theme is to celebrate people and work together to remove obstacles, building a community that’s committed to creating a world where everyone can do well and succeed. Check out the resources below to learn more!
Support for Future Employment for Developmental Disabilities/Regional Center Resources:
https://www.chhs.ca.gov/home/cie/
Additional resources for Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/03/01/governor-newsom-proclaims-developmental-disabilities-awareness-month/
"The Future Of the World is In My Classroom" Ivan Welton Fitzwater
IT'S TIME TO SPRING FORWARD!
Just a heads up – this weekend, the clocks are changing. At midnight, time will skip forward, giving us more daylight. Let's roll with this time adjustment, see it as a chance for a fresh burst of energy and productivity. Every moment counts, and together, we'll handle this shift in our daily routine.