Welcome Back!
The Social Work Corner
Dear Parents,
It's hard to believe, it's already September and school has started again! We are so excited to see all of your smiling faces again! We will be providing you with a monthly newsletter packed with resources you can use with your family. We hope you will find them helpful. This month's focus is "Back to School". Whether you are in person or remote we are hoping to provide some strategies to help make the transition back a little easier!
Mrs. Vincent and Mrs. Martinez
Elementary and Primary Social Workers
Articles for Parents:
Helpful tips for remote learning success!
Free Parenting Workshop
This will be especially useful if you're worried about your child's virtual learning and the countless power struggles it may lead to!
In this year's Positive Parenting Conference (which runs ONLINE every year), they have the "Self-Driven Child" masterclass by the expert neuropsychologist Dr. William Stixrud.
In this free class, Dr. Stixrud will give you all the tools you need to help your child take charge of their learning.
Helpful Videos about Wearing Maks
Mindfulness strategies for helping kids wear masks.
Telling someone who feels anxious in the moment about wearing a mask to take a deep breath to calm down, may cause more harm than good. Being that traditional breathing techniques may actually be counterproductive right now since everyone is wearing masks, I wanted to provide some other “grounding” techniques. So here is what I came up with. The whole point of this is to try to get away from the anxiety-provoking thoughts (which again is only a thought) and to connect with our bodies more by using our senses. Most of these can be adjusted to most age groups (including us grown-ups):
- Feel your feet-Literally concentrate on the feeling of your feet against the floor. You can even gradually rock back and forth. Feel connected to the Earth.
- "Draw" figure 8's on your thigh under your desk.
- Look around the room for something that is your favorite color and focus on it for a few seconds. A more expanded version is the Five Senses Exercise. The goal is to calm your mind by using your five senses to focus on your environment instead of your thoughts. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...
5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste.
This activity is often referred to as high 5. By using your senses it slows down your breathing and brings you back to the present moment instead of your mind being a million miles away. Attached you will find an explanation of how to do this activity with your child and then a worksheet for you to fill out and try it out!
Finally, spend some time every day, discussing something that you are grateful for! Understanding gratitude and reinforcing everything that makes us happy goes a long way!
Written by:Nicole L. Coogan, LCSW
Mindfulness For Kids
A great mindfulness practice tool for parents!
Focus on Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Feelings Thermometer
Need Assistance: We are here to help!
Elementary:
Michele Vincent- Social Worker
Email: vincentm@gcufsd.net
Phone: 5164781400
Twitter: @vincentlcswr