Counseling Connection

With Mrs. Cordova, Young Elementary Counselor

September 5th, 2023

First 3.5 weeks of the 23-24 school year! ✅

I have loved having our students come to me for our guidance lessons this year! It gives them an opportunity to really grow the social-emotional area of their brain in a less academic setting. I really think the kids have enjoyed it as well! 😀

Guidance Lessons

Last week I got to see Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade! It was SO much fun! We talked about the many different jobs a School Counselor has, but the most important is to be a safe space for all students!

For our next lesson at the end of the month we will work on skills that help us to be great learners. Ask your child(ren) what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like when they are using these skills in the classroom!

This week I will get to meet with 3rd-5th grade for our first lesson and I can't wait! I will introduce myself, give them a little refresher on what a School Counselor's job looks like, as well as give them a chance to tell me what they would like for me to know about them.

For our next lesson in 3rd grade, we will practice focusing our attention and listening. These skills are major game changers when it comes to learning as much as we can at school!

In 4th and 5th grade, we will define the word "empathy," and how it involves respecting others and how we should treat them. We will practice seeing another person's perspective by "walking in their shoes." 👟🥾👞👢

EAGLES CAN!

During Homecoming week will will also be running our very important community canned food drive to benefit our local W.A.R.M. food pantry. Of all the things we do this week, this could be the MOST IMPORTANT!

At Young Elementary, we want to encourage our students, staff, and families to make a difference in our community! We will be collecting non-perishable food items during the week of September 11th-15th. What a blessing it will be to help meet the needs of our community. Please consider donating.💙

We will hold some friendly competitions on campus to encourage participation 😃

The first class to reach 100 cans will receive a popsicle party!

The first class to reach 250 cans (they can do it!) will receive a popcorn party!

The class with the most cans collected will win a pizza party!

I cannot wait to see the impact our campus can make to benefit W.A.R.M.!

START WITH HELLO WEEK

We will celebrate "Start with Hello Week" September 18th - 21st! During this week we will work to ensure that we create a culture of inclusion and connectedness! We strive for every student and adult in our building to have connections with others. We will celebrate this week with activities each day- check them out below! Remember, Friday, September 22nd will be a student holiday.

Ideas for Family Fun/Activities and Connection

Check out these fun ways to connect and spend time with your children/family!

Have you visited the newly renovated Harmon park lately? Lots of fun activities and even a zip-line!
Make homemade play-dough with this easy to follow recipe! https://livingwellmom.com/easy-homemade-playdough-recipe/
Learn how to do shadow puppets
Have a paper airplane flying contest
Visit Lake Bridgeport
Play "the floor is lava" together (there are tons of different character versions on youtube that my kids love!)

👇 See more ideas below 👇

Community Resource Spotlight

Wise Health Systems

Wise Health Systems has an amazing community outreach program. They offer several support groups for those struggling with grief, illness, caregiver support, and more. They also offer Parent Cafes at the beginning of every month where they discuss a variety of topics having to do with the ins and outs of parenting!

See full event calendar here.

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Suicide Awareness Walk

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Caregiver Support Group

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Parent Cafe

Coping skill

Each newsletter I will share a skill which can be used to help when having a strong feeling. It is good for kids to know and practice ahead of time some skills they can use to help them calm down when they are having "big" feelings. And BIG feelings can happen anywhere! I love the idea of having strategies that can be used or adapted in any situation. If your child struggles with these strong feelings, go through this list with them (when they are calm) and see which ones they feel like might work best for them. Practice in the calm moments so that when the big feelings come, they can refer back to what they have already practiced and know.

Younger kids may do better with a visual reminder- such as holding up your five fingers to remind them to count to 5 or modeling the deep breaths you want them to take. Just like any skills, the more we practice, the better we get 💪

Before you know it, hopefully you will start to see a difference in the way your child responds to their feelings!