Monthly Assemblies
This new school year the Guidance Department is bringing social-emotional learning to the whole school. There will now be monthly assemblies presented to each grade once a month. Here students will learn through discussions, role plays, books, video clips and more. Our area of focus in September was on Communication, both verbal and non-verbal. The lower grades focus was understanding the relationship between feelings and body language. For instance, someone who is happy may smile, while someone who is mad may frown or cross their arms. The upper grades were able to go further and reflect a bit on how their body language is impacting their communication with others. They discussed miscommunications that have happened based on their facial expressions or body language not matching their words.
Next month we will take this idea of communication a bit further and work on building strong friendships.
Guidance Department
Ms. Kump and Ms. Callender
School Mental Health Campaign
Our school School Mental Health Campaign will continue this year thanks to our school Mental Health Consult Latiana Wilson. For those of you that do not know, this means that once a month I will be sharing resources from Ms. Wilson. These resources may be about bullying, study tips and healthy habits. Be sure to check back each month to see what is new. The first resource has 7 Bullying Intervention Tips for Families
- Increase Communication
Begin discussion that has to do with the social and online lives of your children as often as possible. Ask specific questions that can create important discussions (e.g., instead of “How was school?,” try “What was lunchtime like at your school—who do you sit with, what do you do and what do you talk about?”). You have to ensure your conduct shows how genuinely interested and open minded you are, and must not in any way see you as trying to control or invade privacy.
- Monitor Behavior
You can get to see your children under different situations by being watchful during social gatherings, volunteering at school and participating in extracurricular activities. If in any case you realize that your children are overly aggressive, vulnerable to peer pressure or show other behavior that gives you cause for concern, talk to them about your concerns and correct the behavior. Keep watch on the warning signs associated with bullying behavior (e.g., fear of attending school, social withdrawal, avoidance of or preoccupation with technology) and you can always believe that your instinct will intervene when you feel like your children are deviating.
Click the link below to check out the rest of these useful tips.