Character Counts

*The intention of this newsletter compiled of some quoted information is to inform parents/caregivers about the Character Trait of the Month for April, DILIGENCE, and to highlight what students will be learning during our SEL lessons. Resources and at-home activities have also been compiled for parents throughout this newsletter. SEL lessons may vary depending on classroom needs and Teacher request.

September:RESPECT: https://app.smore.com/n/s7nub

October: RESPONSIBILITY: https://app.smore.com/n/46kup7

Novemeber: CITIZENSHIP: https://app.smore.com/n/xtakg

December: HONESTY: https://app.smore.com/n/asb9z

January: FAIRNESS: https://app.smore.com/n/qgf54

February: CARING: https://app.smore.com/n/d0w3x

March: COURAGE: https://app.smore.com/n/suc29

April: DILIGENCE: https://app.smore.com/n/rbh0fu

May: TRUSTWORTHINESS:

June: INTEGRITY:

Social and emotional learning (SEL) provides provides an array of benefits. Not only can it increase students’ academic achievement, but SEL activities can build students’ self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. All of these skills are important for students’ academic, social, and eventually, professional lives.

This month, Woburn Elementary School Adjustment Counselors will be teaching students about the importance of DILIGENCE. We will have interactive discussions and will do a guided activity together. *Lessons and activities may vary from school to school*

The word Diligence comes from diligo, a Latin word meaning "to love earnestly." The more you care about something, the more effort you put it into it.

DILIGENCE is pursuing a task until it is finished well. The opposite of DILIGENCE is Laziness, doing a task poorly or not at all. Diligence is like an investment, which means that what you put into into something determines what you will get out of it.

1. Diligence is the quality of working carefully, persistently and thoroughly with a lot of effort.

2. Diligence is focusing my effort on the work at hand.

1. Being Careful: Paying attention to details to do the job right.

2. Putting in Effort: Trying your best, not just doing the minimum.

3. Sticking with it: Continuing a project until it is done, rather than stopping halfway.

4. Don't give up: If a puzzle is hard, keep trying instead of walking away.

• Completing Detailed Chores

• Cleaning a room thoroughly, not just quickly, or taking care of pets daily.

• Keeping toys organized.

• Marble Jar Task

• A game showing that doing tasks immediately ("filling the jar") is better than procrastinating.

• Praise your children when they work hard at something.

• It sounds simple, but this reinforces their need to work with purpose. It encourages them not to give up and not shy away from difficult activities.

• Purposefully choose activities that will require diligence to accomplish.

• This ensures your children will need to show diligence to get the job done.

• Setting up dominoes requires motor skills that will seem difficult to a five-year-old but simple for teens.

• Choose challenging activities accordingly.

• Ask your kids questions like, “How does it feel when you finish your homework before dinner?”.

• Prompts like this will get them to open up about why seeing things to completion is good.

• Remove distractions.

• Asking children to focus on a task while leaving obvious distractions in place sets them up to fail.

• For example, don’t ask one child to do homework in a room where his or her sibling is watching TV. Move them to another room and tell them that working hard on schoolwork will free them up for leisure activities faster.

• Always do you best
• Strive for excellence
• Be willing to risk failure to accomplish a higher goal
• Be self disciplined
• Learn from your mistakes and failures
• Look at the big picture
• Think long term
• Set goals and stay focused
• Don't give up just because things seem difficult
• Do not leave things unfinished
• Do not procrastinate

• “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
• “The expert in anything was once a beginner.” – Helen Hayes
• “There is no substitute for hard work.” – Thomas Edison
• "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." - Thomas Edison
• "Effort is between you and you. Nobody else." - Unknown
• "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." – A.A. Milne
• "The best way to predict your future is to create it." – Abraham Lincoln
• "If you can dream it, you can do it." – Walt Disney
• "Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned." – Peter Marshall
• "Fall seven times, stand up eight." – Japanese Proverb
• "The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle." - Steve Jobs
• "Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose." - G.K. Nielson
• "Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement." - Matt Biondi
• "Perfection is boring. Constant improvement is beautiful." - Misty Copeland
• "Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." - Joshua J. Marine

1. Successful people get that way by being lucky. Agree, or disagree? Explain.

2. If I try hard and don’t succeed it’s not my fault. Agree, or disagree? Explain.

3. Does attitude have anything to do with success? If so, what?

4. How do your expectations about yourself affect what you will accomplish?

5. What do you think causes some people to give up and stop trying? Do you ever do that? Why, or why not?

6. Have you ever felt that pressures from your peers prevented you from accomplishing something you wanted? Have you ever been affected by negative comments people have made about your abilities? What can you do about these kinds of external pressures when they get in the way of your success?

7. What is diligence? What is discipline? What is perseverance? How would you rate yourself in each of these areas? How could you improve?

8. How could you personally benefit by becoming a more diligent person?

9. What are some jobs that require you to be diligent at school and at home?

10. What are some benefits that come from being diligent? (Finished sooner, more free time, greater trust, the personal satisfaction of job well done.

Who doesn't love a GOOD FAMILY GAME NIGHT!? The following games are great for teaching and practicing diligence.

• The classic: Monopoly
• Jenga
• Clue
• The Game of Life
• Chess
• Twister
• Candy Land (I LOVE this game!)
• Chinese Checkers
• Headbanz
• Perspectives

1. “Keep Going” Conversation

-Ask: “What was something hard you kept trying today?”

-Reinforces that effort matters more than getting it perfect

2. Effort vs. Outcome Game

-Adult at home gives examples:

“Practicing reading every night” or “Getting 100% on a test”

-Kids decide: Which shows diligence?

3. Practice Tracker

-Pick one goal (reading, tying shoes, math facts)

-Track practice with stickers or checkmarks

- This helps kids see how effort builds progress over time

4. “Yet” Language

-Turn “I can’t do this” → “I can’t do this yet”

-This helps builds a growth mindset tied to diligence

After Hours Mental Health Emergency Contact Info:

If this communication is regarding a mental health emergency occurring before or after school hours (8:10am-2:55pm on school days) or on a weekend, holiday or school break, call 911, go to your nearest Emergency Room or Advocates Mobile Crisis Team.

Advocates Mobile Crisis Team: 1-800-640-5432

Other Mental Health Resources:

Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 24/7: call or text 988

Interface Mental Health Referal Service (non-emergency, 9am-5pm): 1-888-244-6843