Sesame Street: Managing Strong Emotions

Sesame Street has been on the forefront on providing content around social emotional learning, covering topics such as exploring emotions, getting along with others and solving problems. They have also created content for children dealing with issues related to the coronavirus. In the video, Belly Breathing with Rosita, Rosita shares her frustration with not being able to play with her friend Elmo. She teaches kids how to calm down by focusing on their breathing.

Also check out the following resources from Sesame Street. If you know of other resources, please let me know!

• Caring for Each Other: videos, online games, printable activities, ebooks and tips on how to talk to your child about COVID-19 and other related topics.
• Sesame Street in Communities: topics include missing friends, managing uncertainty and the and proper hand-washing techniques.
• Sesame Street videos: via Facebook Watch.

How to NOT Go to School

A few weeks ago I shared a picture book about a nine-year-old boy who battles the cornonavirus monster. I have a new title to share, brought to my attention by a good friend and therapist, Deanna Booth. In How to NOT Go to School, Parsley Mimblewood is a home-school kid who sees herself as something of an expert on "how to not go to school. The story follows her daily adventures along with her 11 animals and 7 imaginary friends. Each chapter explores an issue that might be weighing on children's minds at the moment, such as missing friends, dealing with emotions and feeling cooped up. Each short chapter ends with questions that could be great discussion prompts.

The book is available as a free download, although they are taking donations with proceeds going to the NHS, the publicly-funded healthcare system in the United Kingdom. Check it out and let me know what you think!

COVID-19: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, our needs can be organized into five tiers. Our base needs - food, water and shelter - form the base, followed by safety, belonging and love, and so on. The needs lower in the pyramid must be satisfied before individuals can attend to the needs higher up.

Esteem refers to the need for respect, self-esteem and self-confidence. These come from mastering skills, accomplishing tasks and expending our comfort zones, all often occurring through students' school experiences. For students to be available for learning, the lower needs must be satisfied.

Two takeaways:

1. Your relationship with your child is paramount. If getting your child to do their work is impacting your relationship, let it go and come back to it later. Perhaps modify the work or the expectations so it is manageable. Or reach out to their classroom teacher for help.
2. We are here to help! If you are having difficulty buying food, paying rent, etc., please let us know. We can help connect you with community resources, including access to meals through the district (HUUSD Free Meals Form). Also check out the resources I have provided here and here. 

I am always available by email (jstevenson@huusd.org) and phone (583-7876). Unplug (if you can) and have a restful April break!

The Coronavirus Monster

Help! A nine-year-old boy is being held hostage by an evil virus. Everything seems normal until a disgusting monster (COVID-19) appears and changes everything. Will the boy be able to free himself from the monster and save the day? You'll have to read it to find out! Written from the perspective of a 4th grader, The Cornonavirus Monster is a humorous take on the pandemic. The ebook can be purchased on Amazon.com with proceeds going to support No Kid Hungry. 

From the author, "I want to sell it so I can donate money to children who need help with food. I also wish to donate money to find a cure, so I can play lacrosse again and go out to eat delicious food like chocolate chip pancakes."

Mad River Valley Resources

This is a comprehensive list of resources for residents in the Mad River Valley (Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield and Warren). The list is live, so it will be updated regularly as supports are identified. At the top are links to Google Forms for volunteering and seeking help.

• Mad River Valley Emergency Response Team

COVID-19 and Co-Parenting

This year, I have offered two Changing Families groups, one for 4th graders - a continuation from last year - and a second for 5th and 6th graders. The purpose of these groups is to provide students with a place to meet, share their experiences and support each other as they face the challenges of having divorced or separated parents. These groups have continued and we are meeting through Google Meet. While not ideal, it has allowed us to continue these important connections.

I recently polled participants to get a sense of their experiences with distance learning, social distancing, etc. I wondered if their experiences would be more difficult, less difficult or the same when compared to students from intact families. The vast majority felt that it was harder for them. They talked about the challenges of moving between homes, dealing with parental arguments and contrasting parenting styles, all of which is made more difficult by the stress of the pandemic. With this in mind, I did a little research and found the following resources:

• Co-Parenting During Coronavirus: 7 Guidelines to Help Divorced Parents (Fatherly.com)
• Juggling Child Custody & Visitation During the Covid-19 'Stay at Home' Order (VPR)
• Quarantines and Custody Agreements (Today.com)

Lego Build Ideas

Looking for ideas for Lego builds that your child can do independently, beyond kits and free building? If so, check out Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls. This blog, written by the mother of four boys and one girl, provides a wide variety of ideas, from pumpkin launchers to Easter eggs. She also shares some STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities and how to may learning at home fun (or at least a little more so). Please send photos of your child's creations. I look forward to seeing them!

COVID-19: The Oyster and the Butterfly

We are entering our fourth week of distance learning. I will continue to post coronavirus-specific resources and ways to support your child's social emotional learning (SEL) at home. Thus far the focus has been on younger students. Moving forward, I will post information that is applicable across the grades (Prek-6).

The Story of the Oyster and the Butterfly was shared with me by the principal at Moretown Elementary School, Mandy Couturier. Written by Ana Gomez, psychotherapist and author, this interactive book seeks to help younger children understand the coronavirus and COVID-19. I love how the experiences of oysters and butterflies are used to represent how we can deal with challenges and build resilience...we can use our powers! And the "too big, too hot, too cold" emotions continuum is similar to the Zones!

I would love to hear your experiences using this book. And do not hesitate to reach out if I can help in any way: jstevenson@huusd.org and (802) 583-7876.

COVID-19 Time Capsule

I recently came across some great time capsule ideas on the internet. Creating a time capsule could be a fun family activity, a way for your child to document their experiences and reflect on them in the future. The first is from Parkview Health. They provide a list of potential items to include (i.e., Lysol wipes, a list of shows you have been binge-watching on Netflix, a recipe for hand sanitizer) and a humorous pandemic-themed Mad Lib.

The second was shared with me by a Fayston parent. It is a paper time capsule, created by Long Creations. Click on the image below to access the capsule in Google Drive. I would suggest having your child complete one page per day.

Growth Mindset: Resources

In my last post, Growth Mindset: Flexibility, I introduced what is commonly referred to as a Growth Mindset. I talked about how having this mindset can help students learn and overcome adversity, such as what we are experiencing right now. A few parents reached out asking for resources on how they can instill this mindset in their child. I will be covering the growth mindset stances - resilience, perseverance, flexibility, empathy and optimism - in separate posts with guidance for families. 

In general, picture books are great teaching tools. While it may be tempting to just read the book from cover the cover, pause occasionally to ask probing or connecting questions. "How would you feel if you were in a similar situation?" "How is the character feeling? How can you tell?" "Have you ever faced such a problem? If so, how did you deal with it?" Before reading, start by having your child make predictions based on what they see on the cover and reflect on their prediction afterwards (i.e., "Did it match your prediction?"). And definitely save time to discuss the book at the end. 

Here is a great list of books that relate to growth mindset: 

These are popular titles among teachers, so your child will likely have had some of these books read a loud to them already. That being said, most children enjoy being read to even if they have heard it already. Please let me know if you are interested in any of these titles and I will figure out a way to get it to you.