Counselor's Corner
News and information from Mrs. Livingston
Student Monthly Challenge
As I look back on the year past and reflect, I find that I accomplished some of my goals and fell short on others. But, my successes and failures are what make me the person that I am. Despite any shortcomings, I am happy and blessed and satisfied. And, I want to constantly try to keep making myself and my life the best they can be.
Josie Cluney said, "Each day is a new day, a new opportunity to work towards making your life the way you want it." Is your life the way you want it? Or, are there things that you could change about you or that you do to make your life just the way you want it?
My challenge this month is to tell me what you want your life to be like and what you will do this day or week or month or year to work towards making that happen?
Encouraging Words...
Every success begins with the decision to tryl
Grieving
5 Ways To Be and Have a Happier Kid
1. Read Aloud Every Day
Reading aloud is one of the easiest and most lasting gifts you can give to your child. From the lilt in your voice to the characters you bring to life, your child will have clear and positive reading experiences from the earliest age. Reading aloud from a variety of genres—news articles, picture books, poetry or novels—will encourage your child to embrace text in all forms. Reading aloud is also tremendously beneficial in developing literacy skills. The Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research found that reading aloud to children every day puts them almost a year ahead of children who do not receive daily read alouds. Plus, the coziness of being together and falling through the pages into a story is a wonderful way to bond with your child.
2. Keep an Inspiration Journal
Help your child start recording their own story by keeping a written record of her daily inspirations, discoveries, questions and experiences. Don’t forget to write down the concrete moments, when she saw the ocean for the first time or spent the night in a tent in the backyard, or what she noticed traveling on the subway. Someday those will seem like big moments of memory. By taking the time to write down ideas and experiences, your child will become a close reader of the world who seeks beauty in small moments, and will also learn that her words and experiences are important, and valued.
3. Sing
Music brings emotion and creates community. Your child doesn’t care if you are a Broadway star or an amateur shower performer, singing together is one of the most fun activities in a child’s life and she thinks you sound great. For babies, lullabies, songs and rhymes are the precursor to lifelong literacy. For older children, songs introduce complex ideas and vocabulary. For all children, song brings mundane tasks to life and is a great tool for memorization (such as making a song to remember a phone number or to get a chore done more easily). The songs you sing together will carry forward to the next generation of your family.
4. Be Co-Explorers of the World
Dedicate time every week to learn something new with your child. Not only will this show him how much you value the pursuit of curiosity and learning, it also levels the playing field, allowing you to relate to each other’s struggles and celebrate mutual triumphs along the way. Take a dance class, a self defense seminar or a gardening workshop with your child and grow together. As time goes on the skill you learned will be a bonding experience that ties you together wherever you are in the world.
5. Create a Family Mission Statement
This is a wonderful opportunity to discuss what you value as a family, and to build a strong family narrative that will ground your child when making small and large decisions in her independent life. Make your child’s opinions and ideas central in this exercise. Ask your child how she would want others to see her family and understand it. Decide together how you can record the mission statement, where you will display it, and how you will translate the ideas into concrete action.
Community Resources
Triple P Parenting
When it comes to raising kids and teenagers, everyone has an opinion. There are so many ideas out there. So how do you know what’s best and what works?
Community Partnership of the Ozarks, Missouri Foundation for Health, and 16 partner agencies are taking the guesswork out of parenting, by supporting parents and caregivers in Greene County with the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program®.
Triple P gives parents simple tips to help manage the big and small problems of family life. Problems like toddler tantrums or teenage rebellion. Self-esteem issues. Bedtime battles. Disobedience. Aggression. Triple P can help you deal with them all – and more! And Triple P is one of the few parenting programs in the world with evidence to show it works for most families.
In Greene County all seminars will be offered free however some providers may charge a fee for other Triple P programs (be sure to check with your provider). Go to: http://www.triplep-parenting.com/us-en/find-help/more-triple-p-regions/positive-parenting-in-the-ozarks/?itb=7467fc45e24ec8d8b9023385c2a6066d
Under the “Find a Provider” banner, you’ll see the full range of Triple P programs offered in Greene County. You can then click on the “Find a Provider” banner to locate a Triple P provider near you.
Winter Recess and Inclement Weather
Please remember that students still go out side for recess when the weather is cold. Please dress them appropriately. Layers are best; and don't forget hats, gloves and scarves.
Recess guidelines are:
For wind chill or temperatures below 30 degrees, students do not go outside.
For wind chill or temperature from 30-32 degrees, students can go outside for a maximum of ten minutes.
For temperatures above 32 degrees, a full recess can be given.
For information regarding inclement weather and school cancellation, click here.