This Week in Guidance

 

I'd like to take this time to thank all of our students and their parents for helping the puppets solve their problems. The children are learning some great life skills that will help them for a life time. Because last week was a short week I will be doing the lesson on being afraid (see previous entry below on Nov. 24th) with Mrs. Rucker's, Mrs. Keys's, and Mrs. Ricks's classes. This week in Mrs. Meason's and Mrs. Meraz's classes we will be focusing on the feeling of anger. Anger is a normal feeling that everyone experiences at some point in their lives. How we respond to anger, however, is typically learned by observing those around us. In other words, children learn by watching (parents, siblings, T.V., videos, etc.) how others respond to anger provoking situations. One way you can help your child with this skill is to teach them to recognize when they are feeling angry and to label the emotion. For example, if you see that your child is becoming angry because he/she didn't get to buy a toy while at Wal-Mart, you might say "You really feel angry that you can't have that toy." Then you can help them learn how to cope with the feeling by saying "When I feel angry I feel better when..." (I talk about it/think of something else/take a few deep breaths/read a book/do something else/count to 10/sing my favorite song/play outside/draw or color a picture/squeeze some Play-Doh/go somewhere quiet etc.). Once you acknowledge the feeling, if your child continues to whine or cry, you should try to ignore the behavior and periodically continue to acknowledge their feelings. You may need to set a limit with your child if the behavior continues or escalates by offering a choice for example, you could say "If you choose to continue to cry, then you choose to give up (watching a favorite T.V. show; playing a favorite game, etc.)" and "If you choose to calm down and take your breaths, then you  choose to watch your show tonight".  It is important to know that when you state your choices you have to consider your child's age and ensure that the choice is developmentally appropriate. It would be inappropriate to say that a 2, 3, 4 or 5-year-old could not watch T.V. for the entire day, or for a few days. For them, that is an eternity! It is also important to help children learn the physical cues associated with anger by stating "Your face is really red; I bet your heart is beating really fast; You have an angry face" etc. All of these interventions will help your child learn to identify and appropriately cope with their emotions. If you would like further information regarding this topic please let me know. I also have a video "Choices, Cookies & Kids: How to teach your child Self-Control & Self-Discipline" by Dr. Garry Landreth that you can view at school to learn more about how to set limits with your child. Please watch the puppet show under the tab "Puppet Scenarios" with your child and ask him or her to share what they learned from this week's lesson. You may type a comment from your child in response to the puppet's problem. This will provide the perfect opportunity for you to address the topic with your child. Once your child identifies strategies that can be used, you can reinforce the strategies by encouraging your child to try them when they are angry.

This Week in Guidance

 

 

This week I will return to the Blue hallway and we will read the story "When I feel Afraid". Students will learn what to do when they feel scared. The little girl in the story learns that she can talk to someone who cares about her or someone she trusts like a family member, a teacher, the counselor, or the principal. She also learned that it helps to get your mind off of your worries by talking, laughing, or playing with friends; she can think about something that makes her happy; she could read books, draw pictures, play outdoors, take a walk, make something, play games, sing a song, go to a quiet place where she feels safe and take some deep breaths, say a prayer or think about the good things in her life. When she feels scared at bedtime she can use a night light, sleep with a stuffed animal or have mom or dad tuck her in and read her favorite bedtime story. The story also talks about things that scare young children like storms, the dark, watching scaring movies or playing scary games like zombies. As a parent it's important to realize that times are much different than when we were growing up. Children can easily be exposed to information way above their developmental level simply because of changes in technology. Many people now have over 600 T.V. channels and sometimes our kids, for one reason or another watch movies that are PG-13 or even 'R' rated. Remember there is a reason for the ratings (most professionals believe this information is not appropriate for a certain age group). Many of us spend a great deal of time on our smartphones, tablets, computers, online gaming etc. It's easy to forget that most of these programs and games are not appropriate for young children due to the violence, cursing, sexual themes etc. Another thing parents should keep in mind is that 4- and 5-year-olds cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality so they believe these things are real! If you notice a situation in which your child seems scared, please encourage them to practice the skills they learned from the lesson.



This Week in Guidance

 

 

 

This week students learn about the power of their words. Students are encouraged to use "Magic Triad" or kind words.  They learn that they have the power to choose which words they use and that those words can hurt or help others. Helpful words are words such as "Good morning", "Hello", "Let's work together", "I'm glad we're friends", "We can take turns", "I like your smile" etc. Hurtful words are words such as "You're not my friend", "You're shirt is ugly", "We don't want to play with you", etc. Students learn that everyone makes mistakes and sometimes uses hurtful words and when we do we should apologize. When students hear hurtful words, they should say "Words are not for hurting. Please don't say those things" or "Those are not Magic Triad words, please don't say those things." They also learn that they can tell a grown-up or get help if needed. Please encourage your child to use Magic Triad words and praise them when you hear them using kind words. If you happen to use an unkind word, serve as a model for your child by saying "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, those were not Magic Triad words." If your child seems hurt by something someone said, acknowledge their feelings by stating "You felt sad/mad/scared when he/she said....." This will help your child learn to recognize his/her feelings and to start to understand how their own words can affect another person's feelings. When you say something kind to your child and they smile it is just as important to acknowledge that feeling as well. You might say "You felt really happy when I said....." We all know that words affect our thoughts, thoughts affect our feelings and feelings affect our behavior. When someone says something kind it usually leads to a pleasant thought that makes us feel happy. When we are happy we tend to engage in more healthy behaviors. Let's help our kiddos develop a healthy self-esteem and good social skills by encouraging kind words!

This Week in Guidance

 

This week we will be focusing on the feeling of anger. Anger is a normal feeling that everyone experiences at some point in their lives. How we respond to anger, however, is typically learned by observing those around us. In other words, children learn by watching (parents, siblings, T.V., videos, etc.) how others respond to anger provoking situations. One way you can help your child with this skill is to teach them to recognize when they are feeling angry and to label the emotion. For example, if you see that your child is becoming angry because he/she didn't get to buy a toy while at Wal-Mart, you might say "You really feel angry that you can't have that toy." Then you can help them learn how to cope with the feeling by saying "When I feel angry I feel better when..." (I talk about it/think of something else/take a few deep breaths/read a book/do something else/count to 10/sing my favorite song/play outside/draw or color a picture/squeeze some Play-Doh/go somewhere quiet etc.). Once you acknowledge the feeling, if your child continues to whine or cry, you should try to ignore the behavior and periodically continue to acknowledge their feelings. You may need to set a limit with your child if the behavior continues or escalates by offering a choice for example, you could say "If you choose to continue to cry, then you choose to give up (watching a favorite T.V. show; playing a favorite game, etc.)" and "If you choose to calm down and take your breaths, then you  choose to watch your show tonight".  It is important to know that when you state your choices you have to consider your child's age and ensure that the choice is developmentally appropriate. It would be inappropriate to say that a 2, 3, 4 or 5-year-old could not watch T.V. for the entire day, or for a few days. For them, that is an eternity! It is also important to help children learn the physical cues associated with anger by stating "Your face is really red; I bet your heart is beating really fast; You have an angry face" etc. All of these interventions will help your child learn to identify and appropriately cope with their emotions. If you would like further information regarding this topic please let me know. I also have a video "Choices, Cookies & Kids: How to teach your child Self-Control & Self-Discipline" by Dr. Garry Landreth that you can view at school to learn more about how to set limits with your child. Please watch the puppet show under the tab "Puppet Scenarios" with your child and ask him or her to share what they learned from this week's lesson. You may type a comment from your child in response to the puppet's problem. This will provide the perfect opportunity for you to address the topic with your child. Once your child identifies strategies that can be used, you can reinforce the strategies by encouraging your child to try them when they are angry.



This Week in Guidance

 

Preschoolers need to learn to appropriately label, cope with, and express their emotions. Typically, children this age act out their feelings and/or cry when they feel overwhelmed or experience intense feelings because they do not have the ability to use abstract terms to express themselves. As children mature they will eventually be able to master this skill, however, it's important to be patient, model healthy behaviors, so our children will know what to do, and encourage our children to practice. One way we can help our children is to teach them to identify and label their feeling when we notice that they are upset and show them how to cope with emotions by modeling appropriate behavior, for example, "That really scared you; when I feel scared I watch a funny movie; talk to a friend; listen to music" etc. While children often know what they are not supposed to do in a situation, they have no idea how to help themselves. For example, they may realize that if they get mad and throw a toy they will not be able to play with the toy for awhile, yet they don't know what they should do when they get mad to help calm down such as take a deep breath, go to a quiet place, etc. This week's lesson will focus on learning to identify the feeling of "fear" and learning how to appropriately cope with and express this feeling. They will learn the following strategies: 1) talk to someone they trust or who cares about them such as their parent, grandparent, teacher, or an older sibling, 2) talk to community helpers such as nurses, doctors, police officers, and firefighters, 3) talk, laugh, and play with friends to get their mind off of the fear, 4) think about other things that they enjoy such as baking cookies with grandma or playing at the park with dad, 5) look at and/or read a book, 6) draw a picture about what is scaring them, how they feel or about something they enjoy doing, 7) play outside or take a walk, 8) play a game, 9) sing a song, 10) go to a quiet place where they feel safe, 11) take deep breaths, 12) say a prayer, 13) think about the good things in their lives, or 14) use a night-light at bed time. As a parent, you may have other ideas and options for your child. Please take time this week to talk to your child about the feeling of fear and what they can do if they feel afraid. Also, please keep in mind that children this age are unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality. They really believe the monsters they see in movies are real! Please monitor the movies and games your child plays and views. There is a good reason for the ratings that are used on these products, most experts in our country believe they are inappropriate for children of certain ages. If your child is often fearful or anxious, think about what they may be watching on T.V. or playing on X-Box, or seeing/hearing an older sibling or adult play or do. If you have any questions regarding this issue please feel free to send me a private message or give me a call at school. I would be happy to help.



Red Ribbon Week

This week we will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week. I will be coming into the classes and conducting lessons on tobacco prevention and keeping our bodies strong and healthy. Students will meet two new puppets "Ciggie" and "L.J". They will also get to see and/or touch a model of the human lungs (a healthy one and an unhealthy one) and a model of the human mouth (with yellow teeth and an unhealthy tongue). Each day we have a superhero theme: Monday, everyone is encouraged to wear Red to kick off the week and we will be visited by some local heroes from the fire department to "wash out drugs!"; Tuesday, students can wear black, like Batman; Wednesday they can wear green as we celebrate having strong bodies like the Incredible Hulk; Thursday they can wear red, blue or black like Spiderman as we celebrate not getting caught in the web of drugs; and on Friday they can dress up as their favorite superhero. I believe students are never too young to start drug and alcohol prevention and that the most appropriate way to get started is with the concept of keeping our bodies healthy and focusing on tobacco prevention because I believe this is the most common substance students are first exposed to and that tobacco is a gateway substance that can lead to other chemical use. Here are some interesting facts about cigarettes: Did you know that cigarette tobacco contains over 4,000 different chemicals some of which include formaldehyde (used to preserve dead bodies) acetone (used in fingernail polish remover), arsenic, lead, ammonia, carbon monoxide and 43 known carcinogens? One in three adults smoke with over 1 billion people worldwide. One out of every five deaths is caused by tobacco. The average smoker will lose 14 years of their life due to smoking. Almost 50,000 non-smokers die from diseases caused by second hand smoke each year in the U.S. Please, educate your child about the dangers of smoking and encourage your child to keep his or her body strong and healthy. If you are a smoker and are ready to quit, there are many different programs available to help. Follow the link below to get started!
OK Tobacco Helpline

Tips for the "First Day" Jitters

Preschoolers are very curious about their world. They are learning to play with others and have reached the age when they are becoming more independent. This can be both a difficult and exciting time for parents. Attending preschool helps children learn the social and academic skills necessary to begin a successful school career. However, some parents and children may have anxiety about this new experience for a number of reasons. There are several things parents can do to help make this important transition a success. Like adults, when students know what to expect, they are less anxious. Reading a story about the first day of school helps the child learn what to expect and gives them the opportunity to express their concerns with their parents. It also gives parents a chance to express confidence in their child's ability to have a great experience. If parents are overly anxious about the first day of school their children will pick up on this and may develop fear and anxiety about the separation. Be sure to talk about school in a positive manner and reassure your child that he/she will be safe and that the teacher is there to help. If parents remain calm and confident on the first day of school, their children will be more calm and confident. Visit the school website so that you and your child can become familiar with the staff and school environment. The website also keeps parents informed of current events and valuable information. If you are concerned that your child may have extreme anxiety, please let me know. Your child may need a transition object such as a family photo, blanket, or small stuffed animal for a few days to help them feel safe and comfortable. Establishing a consistent daily routine for awaking, meal times, going to school, homework, playing and sleeping is very helpful. I am confident that within a few days and with continued regular attendance you and your child will successfully adjust. I look forward to working with you and your child!