This year we will have a Festival du Voyageur theme for Winter Fun Day on February 18. All students will participate in a variety of activities with their class that day. Inside activities may include beading, Metis dot painting, Metis storytelling, and learning about jigging. All students will participate in outdoor activities that day so please ensure your child is dressed appropriately. As per Covid guidelines, we will run activities in classes/cohorts.

Our Parent Advisory Council (PAC) will be meeting virtually on Tuesday, February 8 at 2:00. The PAC has been busy fundraising for our playground project and planning staff appreciation events. The PAC also works with the principals on such things as safety planning, school planning and priorities, and several other school initiatives. Please consider joining the PAC. It is a great way to get involved with your child's school. If you would like more information send an email to our PAC president Sara Richards at woodlawnelementarypac@gmail.com or one of the principals. We would love to see you at the next meeting.

Karen Fraser and Tara Reimer

Raising a Confident Child

As pandemic disruptions continue, we may worry about kids losing ground — on academics, on behavior, on social skills. There’s a lot we can’t control, but one important thing we can do for children during this challenging time is focus on keeping up their sense of worth and teaching them to have self compassion and self confidence. It’s the foundation for all kinds of development.

Right from birth, children learn and acquire new skills and develop confidence to use them. Kids need to trust in their own capabilities but also know that they can handle being unsuccessful. It is through the experience of mastery and rebounding from failure that kids develop a healthy self confidence. As a parent there are a few things that you can do to help your kids feel capable & build confidence:

1. Model confidence yourself: Allow your child to learn through watching you tackle and accomplish a new task with optimism.

2. Don’t get upset about mistakes:Help your child see that it is ok to make a mistake. This will teach them that making mistakes is ok and that you can learn something from them. The message you will send them is that we don’t need to let fear of making a mistake stand in the way.

3. Encourage them to try new things: Instead of only focusing on things that they already excel at, encourage them to step out of their comfort zone. Attaining a new skill will make kids feel capable and confident.

4. Allow Kids to fail: It is natural to want to protect your child from failure, but kids learn through trial and error. When kids fall short of a goal it helps them learn that failing is not fatal and that they can always try again with more effort the second time around.

5. Praise Perseverance: Learning to not give up after the first sign of frustration or a setback is an important life skill. Confidence and self worth are not about succeeding all of the time, they’re about being resilient enough to keep trying even when things are hard.

6. Help kids find their passion: Allow your child the ability to explore his/her own interests in order to help develop a sense of identity.

7. Set goals: Kids feel strength when they achieve a goal. Work with your child to create goals that are achievable in the future.

8. Celebrate Effort: celebrate effort, not only success. Kids need to hear that you are proud of them no matter what, and especially for trying.

9. Expect them to pitch in: Even though they might complain, kids feel more connected and valued when they are counted on. Expecting them to do age-appropriate jobs around the house will encourage responsibility and teach them time management skills.

10. Embrace imperfection: Kids need to know that perfection is unrealistic. Help kids see that whether it’s on TV, a social media feed or in a magazine the idea that others are always happy, successful and perfect is a fantasy. Remind them that imperfection is human!

11. Set them up for success: While challenges are good for kids, they also need opportunities to be successful. Get your child involved in activities that make them feel comfortable and confident.

12. Show your love: Let your child know that you love them no matter what! Kids need to know that you are their biggest fan - win or lose, fail or succeed. Even when you're mad at them. Make sure your child knows that you think they are great - not just when they do great things.

If you would like to talk to a counselor about your child, please feel free to email or call either of us.

Katrina Hamilton

khamilton@hsd.ca

Sandy Caners

scaners@hsd.ca

Source:

Child & Mind Institute. (N.d.) 12 tips to raising confident kids. https://childmind.org/article/12-tips-raising-confident-kids/

We try to get outside as much as we can. When the temperature with the wind chill is between -25 and -29, we will go out for a shortened recess of 15 minutes. When it is colder than -29 we do stay inside. We ask parents to make sure their children are dressed warm and prepared to go outside. Warm mittens, neck warmers, toques, and ski pants help to keep them warm and dry. We also ask that you put your child's name on these items as they often get misplaced and end up in the lost and found.

The HSD Parent Portal is a communications tool designed to enhance and increase parent/guardian involvement in the education of their children by providing secure online access to their child's student information. With a single username and password you can access data for each of your children attending an HSD school. If you have not received the Access ID along with setup instructions for your student please call the school office at 204-326-6110.

Please take a few minutes to review the student information and contact information for your child. It is important that the school has current address and contact information for your child in case it is necessary to reach someone during the school day. Changes can be made through the parent portal. Parents can access their child's report cards, attendance information and permission and consent forms through the Parent Portal.

For additional information please click on the button below.