Each week, members of the Student Support Team at Lowell are here to provide you with resources that can help bring steadiness to your lives during these uncertain times. Each edition of The Calming Corner will have information for the whole family that can provide balance, social-emotional support, and entertainment into your home.

Your house has now turned into a classroom, an office, a gym, but most importantly, still remains your home. Each day may look different and routines are shifting but that is okay. We hope that the resources provided in this newsletter will give you an alternative to academic content and support learning beyond the “classroom.”

"The time is always right to do what is right."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

Talking to Children About Race

With everything going on in the world, our country, and our city, communicating with your child can be intimidating and overwhelming. During this time, in order to effectively communicate, it is important to listen, to learn, and to prepare yourself to both answer and ask questions with your child. Here are several resources to help facilitate these important conversations with your child.

Talking to Kids About Race - National Geographic

Talking to Children After Racial Incidents - UPenn

How to Talk to Your Children About Protests and Racism - CNN

CNN and Sesame Street will be holding a "Town Hall: Standing Up to Racism" this Saturday at 10:00AM. More information about this televised program can be found here.

Children's Books to Support Conversations About Race, Racism, and Resistance (adapted from The Conscious Kid).

1. All Because You Matter - By, Tami Charles (ages 4-8)
2. Separate is Never Equal - By, Duncan Tonatiuh (ages 4-9)
3. The Day You Begin - By, Jacqueline Woodson (ages 4-8)
4. Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library - By, Carole Boston Weatherford (ages 9-12)
5. Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop - By, Alice Faye Duncan (ages 9-12)

If you or a family member are in need of any extra support or resources during these times, please reach out to the Student Support Team.

Parents Helping Parents

Online Support Groups are free, confidential, and anonymous. These groups serve as a safe place for parents to express frustrations and concerns about their children and families and get advice from other parents who understand.

Parental Stress Line

You don’t have to keep doing it alone. Parents Helping Parents can help. Confidential and anonymous 24 hours/day, 7 days/week across Massachusetts. Call 1-800-632-8188.

Even though we're all practicing social distancing, it's important to keep active and do something inside or outside each day especially as the weather gets warmer! Whether it's taking a walk in your neighborhood, doing yoga, or just having a dance party!

DIY Tie-Dye T-Shirts! Adapted from Care.com resources

Materials:

• White, 100% cotton T-shirt (or other cotton item)
• A tie-dye ink kit or several colors of Rit dye.
• If not using a tie-dye kit, you will need a squirt bottle, rubber bands, and rubber gloves.
• Gallon-sized zip plastic bags.
• Water
• Paper towels or rags for any spills!

Project Preparation:

1. Get set up: If you purchased a new T-shirt, machine wash and dry it first (but don't use fabric softener or a dryer sheet). We recommend doing this activity outdoors!
2. Prepare your ink: If you bought a kit, set up the inks according to the directions. If you bought liquid dye, prepare according to the package instructions and put the ink into the squirt bottles.
3. Prepare your shirt: Spray the shirt with water to dampen it. Twist the shirt and wrap with rubber bands to secure it in your desired pattern.
4. Ink the shirt: Squeeze ink onto the sections! Once you've finished dying, place each shirt in a sealed plastic bag for 24 hours to let the ink set.
5. Rinse: After 24 hours, put on a pair of rubber gloves, remove the shirt from the bag, and rinse it in cold water (without removing the rubber bands) until the water runs clear. Then remove the rubber bands, rinse again, then machine wash and dry the shirts on the hottest setting. Do not combine the shirts with any other clothing for the initial wash.
6. Enjoy!

For more tie-dying details, including specific patterns, click here.

And don't forget to check out the PE teachers' weekly Smore for the Virtual Field Day!

Practicing Mindfulness can be very soothing. Some apps include Mindful Powers (available for Apple and Android devices) and SOS Method (available for Apple and Android devices). Headspace is another great app.

Each week we will add a new clip from Mindful Moments for Kids by Kira Willey. This week practice the Be a Bumblebee breathing exercise with your kids.

Yoga is another great Mindfulness activity that can be done individually, together as a family, inside or outside! Check out the 20-minute video clip Tallulah the Owlet - A Cosmic Kids Yoga Adventure!

And for other fun ways for kids to practice mindful breathing, we love the book "Alphabreaths" by Christopher Willard. This week we will practice the "Join Your Breath".

Here are some more conversation starters for your next family mealtime:

1. What is something that many, perhaps most, adults do that seems really silly to you?

2. What is the most fun you've ever had doing something outside in the rain?

3. If you could create the ultimate roller coaster, what would the ride be like?

Make your own Calm Down Corner in your home! At school, our classrooms have Calming Corners where we can all take a break. This handy guide gives strategies to create your own!

Week of 4/5/20

Week of 4/12/20

Week of 4/19/20

Week of 4/24/20

Week of 5/3/20

Week of 5/10/20

Week of 5/17/20

Week of 5/24/20

Week of 5/31/20

Kelley Cochrane - School Psychologist

Brian Connors - Behavior Specialist

Melina Jacovides - Guidance Counselor

Crystal Johnson - Social Worker

Greg Roberts - Team Chair

If you have any questions and you're not sure who to ask, reach out to one of us!

• Guidance Counselor: melina.jacovides@watertown.k12.ma.us
• School Psychologist: kelley.cochrane@watertown.k12.ma.us
• School Social Worker: crystal.johnson@watertown.k12.ma.us
  

We're here to help:)