WellREDS

I join you in the heartbreak, anger, anxiety, disbelief, despair, and general flood of emotions that comes with news of yet another tragic school shooting. We lift up the Covenant School community and pray that there will be an end to these senseless school violence tragedies. 🙏🏻💔

If your children are aware of the events or if you have chosen to talk to them about this news, continue to check in with them and be vigilant of any emotional or behavioral changes. Children may show signs of anxiety, fear, numbness, distraction, or disorganization in response to tragedies. Encourage them to reach out to me, their teachers, and other school staff if they are feeling anxious or fearful at school. 💙

These events are immeasurably hard on all parents, so please continue to also take care of yourself. Violence in the schools is overwhelming. It is easy to feel paralyzed, enraged, and helpless. If you feel particularly called to explore what you can do when you feel this way, please do not hesitate to reach out. We are happy to provide additional stress management strategies, as well discussing action-oriented outlets for your anger and distress when these tragedies occur. Please also see the letter sent to your email for strategies and additional resources and readings that provide information on working through this with your children. Sending love and light. ❤️❤️❤️

We’re well into November all of the sudden and we have officially entered the season of gratitude! We are so thankful for our incredible REDS community! 🏫❤️

The third graders took an amazing field trip to Shalom Farms last month and have since been honoring and showing gratitude for the earth with their composting project. Shalom means peace…this reminder of the power of mindfulness in nature, an appreciation for our beautiful surroundings, and the added meaning that comes from sharing this with those closest to you has been resonating with me recently and adding some peace to the days. 🙏🏻 🌍

The REDS Reset theme this month is Family and Relationships - A Spirit of Gratitude. We will be focusing on Gratitude for Self - Strengths Search and Self Esteem in our wellness classroom lessons and writing or drawing about these amazing individual traits in our wellness journals. A new, brief small group will emphasize friendships and healthy, assertive communication with all of our 4th and 5th grade girls this month. Social skills games and movement activity small groups across grade levels are also ongoing. I remain available for one:one support for your child and parent meetings as well, of course, so please do not hesitate to reach out anytime! 👯‍♀️📓🏫

This is a busy season and the hustle and bustle of the holidays will be upon us before we know it. Whether things are stable or in a state of change for you right now, here’s hoping that regardless of current circumstance, you have some time over the next few weeks to slow down a bit with your children and the rest of your families to notice and acknowledge what you are most grateful for - for families, friendships, our amazing REDS community, all that the earth gives us, and so much more! 🌎🌱🌳

Looking forward to an amazing season of gratitude with you and your sweet kiddos! 🥰🙏🏻🌱❤️

Photo credit: ._williams

Today I got to visit all K-5th classrooms to talk about and practice mindfulness! 🌱🧘‍♀️👍

We talked about how this concept is both simple and complex and takes plenty of practice. With practice, the benefits are numerous. Research specially on using mindfulness practice with children indicates decreased stress, improved attention and focus, improved emotion regulation, improved social skills, a decrease in testing anxiety, and overall improved sense of well-being and increased compassion. Pretty impressive! 👏

The children were amazing in sharing their understanding of mindfulness and how it might benefit them. Ask your child if they remember the seed planting symbolism from the book we read…When we read the book I Am Peace, we talked about planting seeds of mindfulness, nurturing our practice so that it grows big like the tree in the book, and can become our anchor when riding our waves of feelings. 🌊

We practiced a mindful check in and pretended our thoughts were clouds. We talked about key concepts of mindfulness ~ noticing and being aware of the here and now by paying attention to what’s happening inside our bodies and minds and to our outside surroundings by using our senses. This paying attention is done with a curious and kind mind. ☺️❤️💭

We will continue to nurture this practice and watch it grow and notice the benefits this year. Can’t wait to continue to the journey! There will be ups and downs to navigate, but as we discussed today ~ the expert on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, Jon Kabat-Zinn, says “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” 🏄‍♀️🏄‍♂️🌊

Hi there! 👋
For those of you I haven't met, I'm Claire - the new Wellness Coordinator! 🌿❤️🤸‍♀️🧘

How is everyone feeling about the kiddos going back to school after almost a three month break? Excited? Nervous? Ready? Not sure how your brand new preschooler will handle the transition (or even be able to leave her shoes on?) 🙋‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I would love to chat with you about it ~ or anything else ~ so please come find me tomorrow night at back to school night! I won't have my fabulous three little helpers with me 😉, so I'll be free as a bird 🐦and so very ready to get to know you all. I can't wait! 💯

See you all tomorrow evening and I hope you and your wonderful children are ready for a RESET and a great school year ahead!
🎉🏫📓🔤

Here’s just a little, tiny sneak peek at the makings of the classroom REDS Reset Toolkit! Starting in September, we will be introducing some techniques and tools for coping with emotions, managing stress, improving communication, and resolving conflict. 🧰👏🧘‍♀️

We will provide demonstration and opportunities for practice of various coping strategies to students. All classrooms will have a toolkit on hand for daily use. Everyone is different, so each child might vibe with different tools and exercises! 👌🎯

Students can then "choose their own adventure" when they want to pick a coping strategy whenever they are in need of a little reset. Teachers will use the Reset Toolkit when they feel the class needs a brain break, too. We're so looking forward to seeing these kiddos shine in their growth in self-efficacy and self-agency in problem solving! 🧭🏋💪