Gateway School Counseling
February 2023 Family Newsletter
Welcome!
About Us
National School Counseling Week
This Month at Gateway
Bullying Prevention Lessons
Here's what you can do at home:
- Take bullying seriously. Make sure your kids understand that you will not tolerate bullying at home or anywhere else. Set rules about bullying and stick to them. If you punish your child by taking away privileges, be sure it's meaningful. For example, if your child bullies other kids via email, text messages, or a social networking site, stop phone or computer privileges for a period of time. If your child acts aggressively at home, with siblings or others, put a stop to it. Teach more appropriate (and nonviolent) ways to react, like walking away.
- Teach kids to treat others with respect and kindness. Teach your child that it is wrong to ridicule differences like race, religion, appearance, special needs, gender, economic status. Try to instill a sense of empathy for those who are different. Consider getting involved together in a community group where your child can interact with kids who are different.
- Learn about your child's social life. Look for insight into what may be influencing your child's behavior at school (or wherever the bullying happens). Talk with parents of your child's friends and peers, teachers, guidance counselors, and the school principal. Do other kids bully? What about your child's friends? What kinds of pressures do the kids face at school? Talk to your kids about those relationships and about the pressures to fit in. Get them involved in activities outside of school so that they meet and develop friendships with other kids.
- Encourage good behavior. Positive reinforcement can be more powerful than negative discipline. Catch your kids being good. When they handle situations in positive ways, take notice and praise them for it.
Friendship Lessons
One way to support your student(s) friendships is to set up playdates. Playdates outside school can be a great way to create new school friendships and strengthen existing friendships.
You can help your child arrange playdates by asking your child whether there’s anyone they’d like to invite to your home. You could encourage your child to invite their friend, and you can talk to the friend’s parents at school drop-offs or pick-ups or other school activities.
Here are tips to help playdates at your home go smoothly:
- Before the playdate, help your child to put away any precious belongings that they might not want to share or that might get damaged. This can prevent any upsets.
- Invite the friend’s parent to stay. Some parents feel more comfortable if they can stay for a little while and get to know you.
- Start with a snack or drink. This can help children feel comfortable with each other.
- Talk with the children about what areas of the house or garden they can use. This can help to prevent tension about what children are allowed to do in your home.
- Be available in case the children need help, but give your child and their friend time and space to learn how to get along with each other.
- Plan some activities. It could be a craft, or a game, and so on. You might not need to use these activities, but it’s good to have them ready in case you sense children getting restless.
- If your child finds playdates tricky, try keeping them fairly short – for example, 1-2 hours.
February Self Love Challenge
Last year we completed a school wide challenge of self love activities. This year, we are bringing it back in a slightly different way! Each week, Kelsey and Ali will send out a list of activities that students can do with their class and staff members can do on their own. If a class completes and activity, they earn a big heart. If staff members complete an activity, they earn a small heart. Each grade and staff member will be assigned a color in the rainbow. When they turn in a heart, it will be added to the rainbow. The group with the most hearts each week (and for the whole challenge) will earn a prize!
Ask your students for more information about how they are showing themselves love this month!
Help at Home
International Month for Building Self-Esteem
Improving Your Self-Esteem:
There are a number of ways in which you can improve your self-esteem.
1. Identify and Challenge Your Negative Beliefs
The first step is to identify, and then challenge, your negative beliefs about yourself.
Notice your thoughts about yourself. For example, you might find yourself thinking ‘I’m not clever enough to do that’ or ‘I have no friends’. When you do, look for evidence that contradicts those statements. Write down both statement and evidence, and keep looking back at it to remind yourself that your negative beliefs about yourself are not true.
2. Identify the Positive About Yourself
It is also a good idea to write down positive things about yourself, such as being good at a sport, or nice things that people have said about you. When you start to feel low, look back at these things, and remind yourself that there is plenty of good about you.
In general, positive internal dialogue is a big part of improving your self-esteem.
If you catch yourself saying things like ‘I’m not good enough’ or ‘I’m a failure’, you can start to turn things around by saying ‘I can beat this’ and ‘I can become more confident by viewing myself in a more positive way’.
3. Build Positive Relationships—and Avoid Negative Ones
You will probably find that there are certain people—and certain relationships—that make you feel better than others.
If there are people who make you feel bad about yourself, try to avoid them.
Build relationships with people who make you feel good about yourself and avoid the relationships that drag you down.
4. Give Yourself a Break
You don’t have to be perfect every hour of every day. You don’t even have to feel good about yourself all the time. Self-esteem varies from situation to situation, from day to day and hour to hour. Some people feel relaxed and positive with friends and colleagues, but uneasy and shy with strangers. Others may feel totally in command of themselves at work but struggle socially (or vice versa).
Give yourself a break. We all have times when we feel a bit down or find it harder to maintain our self-belief. The key is not to be too hard on yourself. Be kind to yourself, and not too critical. Avoid criticizing yourself to others, because this can reinforce your negative views—and also give other people a (possibly false) negative opinion of you.
You can help to boost your self-esteem by giving yourself a treat whenever you succeed in doing something hard, or just for managing a particularly bad day.
5. Become More Assertive and Learn to Say No
People with low self-esteem often find it hard to stand up for themselves or say no to others. This means that they may become over-burdened at home or at work, because they do not like to refuse anyone anything. However, this can increase stress, and make it even harder to manage. Learn to manage the things you have to do with the things you can say "no" when needed. Practice saying "no" more often and reflecting on how that experience felt.
The Importance of Small Steps
It is very unlikely that you will go from poor to good self-esteem overnight. Instead, you will probably find you make small improvements over a period of time. The key is to look over the long term, rather than day-to-day, and focus on the big picture, not the detail of how you felt at a particular moment yesterday. When you feel good, or you do something good, celebrate it—but don’t beat yourself up if you occasionally slip back into negative patterns of thinking. Just pick yourself up again and try to think more positively. Eventually, this will become a habit and you will find that your self-esteem has quietly got better.
Building Self-Esteem in Your Children
How Caregivers Can Help Build Self-Esteem:
Every child is different. Self-esteem may come easier to some children than others. And some children face things that can lower their self-esteem. But even if a child's self-esteem is low, it can be raised.
Here are things caregivers can do to help children feel good about themselves:
Help your child learn to do things. At every age, there are new things for kids to learn. As your child grows, things like learning to dress, read, or ride a bike are chances for self-esteem to grow. Find new things to introduce your child to.
When teaching kids how to do things, show and help them at first. Then let them do what they can, even if they make mistakes. Be sure your child gets a chance to learn, try, and feel proud. Don't make new challenges too easy — or too hard.
Praise your child, but do it wisely. Of course, it's good to praise kids. Your praise is a way to show that you're proud.
Here's how to praise your child:
- Don't overpraise. Praise that doesn't feel earned doesn't ring true. It's helpful to say, "I know that wasn't your best game, but we all have off days. I'm proud of you for not giving up." Add a vote of confidence: "Tomorrow, you'll be back on your game."
- Praise effort. Avoid focusing praise only on results (such as getting an A) or fixed qualities (such as being smart or athletic).
-Instead, offer most of your praise for effort, progress, and attitude. For example: "You're working hard on that project," "You're getting better and better at these spelling tests," or, "I'm proud of you for practicing piano — you've really stuck with it." With this kind of praise, children put effort into things, work toward goals, and try. When children do that, they're more likely to succeed.
Be a good role model. When you put effort into everyday tasks (like raking the leaves, making a meal, cleaning up the dishes, or washing the car), you're setting a good example. Your child learns to put effort into doing homework, cleaning up toys, or making the bed.
Modeling the right attitude counts too. When you do tasks cheerfully (or at least without grumbling or complaining), you teach your child to do the same. When you avoid rushing through chores and take pride in a job well done, you teach your child to do that too.
Avoid harsh criticism. The messages children hear about themselves from others easily translate into how they feel about themselves. Harsh words ("You're so lazy!") are harmful, not motivating. When children hear negative messages about themselves, it harms their self-esteem. Correct children with patience. Focus on what you want them to do next time. When needed, show them how.
Focus on strengths. Pay attention to what your child does well and enjoys. Make sure your child has chances to develop these strengths. Focus more on strengths than weaknesses if you want to help kids feel good about themselves. This improves behavior too.
Let kids help and give. Self-esteem grows when children get to see that what they do matters to others. Children can help out at home, do a service project at school, or do a favor for a sibling. Helping and kind acts build self-esteem and other good feelings.
Random Acts of Kindness Week
Random Acts of Kindness Day® is February 17, 2023.
Random Acts of Kindness Week is February 14-20, 2023.
The work to create a kinder world never ends. There is no limit on the amount of goodness we can put into the world, but we need your help! We invite you to join the annual Random Acts of Kindness Day (RAK DAY) celebration on February 17, 2023 and help #MakeKindnesstheNorm
If you would like to participate in the Random Acts of Kindness Week or Day with your child, here are some random acts of kindness you can choose from:
1. Go through old clothes and toys and donate to those in need.
2. Write a thank you card to someone in your life.
3. Go outside and pick up trash around your neighborhood.
4. Help clean up around the house without being asked.
5. Compliment someone in your life.
6. Volunteer in the community.
7. Smile at everyone you see.
8. Offer to help a neighbor with something they need.
9. Say 'hello' to someone new.
10. Spread joy by looking up jokes and sharing them with loved ones.
For more information, please visit:
Black History Month
1. Read a book together: There are tons of great books about historical black figures, black culture, and racial injustice. A few to explore are "Separate is Never Equal", "Ghost Boys", "My Daddy, Martin Luther King Jr.", "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy", "Don't Touch My Hair", "Mixed Me", and "Skin Again".
2. Watch a movie or video: Some movies and videos that educate about and celebrate black lives are "Hair Love", "The Princess & The Frog", "Hidden Figures", "Fruitvale Station" (for adolescents +).
3. Cook some African or American Southern food: One great way to explore different cultures is through food. Find a local restaurant that serves either of these foods or find some recipes to try on your own. Some black owned restaurants here in Omaha are Okra African Grill, Smokin Jay's BBQ, A Taste of New Orleans, Caribbean Delights, and Big Mama's Kitchen. There are many more so go explore!
Middle School Registration
Middle School Transition
The 2023-2024 School Selection Forms should have been sent home with your child this past month and were due to your child's teacher by January 27th.
School assignments will be finalized through the month of February so in March, you will be able to find out what school your child was assigned based on your requests or home attendance area. More information will be provided in March and April if you feel you need a Student Transfer Request form to request a different assigned school.
At Gateway, we will begin prepping our students for their middle school transition during our weekly guidance lessons starting in April and continuing through May.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding Middle School transition, please do not hesitate to contact us! We are happy to support you and your child!
Winter Clothing Support
We have plenty of brand new winter coats and would be happy to supply one to your child if they need!
NEW! Family Workshops
Before we schedule our first workshop, we want to hear from you! Please fill out the following survey to help us pick a topic, day, & time for our first workshop.
Panera Bread Program
This year, Gateway Elementary is participating in the Panera Bread Day-End Dough Bread program. Through this program, Panera, LLC is proud to share their unsold bread and bakery products with 501 (c) (3) non-profit organizations in addressing the need for food distribution in efforts to help fight food insecurity in communities.
This opportunity is made possible by the Midtown Neighborhood Alliance. Midtown Neighborhood Alliance, a nonprofit organization of 17 neighborhoods in Midtown Omaha has partnered with Panera, LLC for over 15 years. The partnership has allowed for various organizations and schools to receive Panera food for families. Gateway is one of the participating schools. We are grateful for this program.
If your family needs any additional support with food, please contact either Kelsey or Ali using the information below.
Introducing Sammy, Gateway's School Dog
Please contact Mrs. Buglewicz-Miller with any further questions or concerns!
Resources
Nebraska Family Helpline
1-888-866-8660
Safe 2 Help
531-299-SAFE (7233)
Your Life Your Voice
Call: 1-800-448-3000
Text: "VOICE" to 20121
Chat: yourlifeyourvoice.org
Email: YLYV@boystown.org
Download the "My Life My Voice" app!
Contact Us
Ms. Ali McGovern
Email: alison.mcgovern@ops.org
Phone: (531)299-9529
Mrs. Kelsey Buglewicz-Miller
Email: kelsey.buglewiczmiller@ops.org
Phone: (531)299-6939