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.”

"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves." ~James M. Barrie

We know this is a strange time for everyone. We're all learning together how to work, learn, and spend much more time at home and indoors than before. Hopefully, everyone is settling into a new normal routine, whatever that might look like for your family.

Check out NBC Nightly News for Kids w/Lester Holt, with additional episodes on YouTube. A great way to help kids understand our current events and answer some of their questions.

From Responsive Classroom, here are some tips that will help your child control their impulses and delay gratification while learning at home:

Tips for grades K-2

Tips for grades 3-5

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!

Help put a smile on someone else's face. Paint rocks with inspirational words ("You got this!", "Hope", "Love", "You matter", "Good Vibes Only"). Take a walk around your neighborhood or to a public outdoor space and leave them around for others to find. Or leave them in front of your house so people walking by can see them.

And don't forget to check out the PE teachers' weekly Smore for fun activities.

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 Bear Breath breathing exercise with your kids.

Be like Spiderman! Instruct your kids to turn-on their “Spidey senses,” or the super-focused senses of smell, sight, hearing, taste, and touch that Spiderman uses to keep tabs on the world around him. This will encourage them to pause and focus their attention on the present, opening their awareness to the information their senses bring in (Karen Young, 2017).

This is a classic mindfulness exercise and encourages observation and curiosity—great skills for any human to practice.

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 "Ice breath".

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

1. If your school told you that you could invite anyone at all to come and talk to your class, whom would you invite?

2. In your opinion, which person whom you know has the funniest-sounding sneeze?

3. If you could know the secret behind any magic trick, which one would you want to know?

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

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:)