March 2020 School Counselor Newsletter
Dear St. John Families,
During these uncertain times, please know that you can reach out to me for help. My number one job is to support your child’s mental health and well-being. Know that I am here for you! I would love to email, hop on a call, or do a video chat with you or your child any time during the school week.
You may be unsure how to talk to your child about COVID-19 or how to answer their questions and concerns. I’ve compiled a list of resources (see below) that can help give you some guidance. I’m also working on regularly updating my teacher website with easy ways for you to enrich your child’s distance learning experience with valuable social and emotional learning, too. I’ve complied lists of fun ideas and projects, online resources and apps, online books, and ideas for brain breaks. I will be continually adding ideas to these pages, so do check back!
If there is anything that I can do to support your child or family, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will strive to be as creative as I possibly can to continue to support the mental health of our students and deliver social-emotional learning!
Warmly,
Ms. Shaw
Resources for Talking to Your Child About COVID-19
- NPR created this awesome comic for kids: A Comic Exploring Coronavirus
- A 4-minute kid-friendly explainer video from Brainpop about Coronavirus
- A fellow school counselor created an awesome 2-page PDF for kids that talks about what Coronavirus is and strategies to try if you feel worried. She also made a great companion PDF for parents
- Check out this helpful list with 15 things you can do to help kids who are worried about Coronavirus
- Child Mind has some great tips to help parents know what to say as well as things you can do to help you and your child through these challenging times. They also have a main COVID-19 page where they are adding resources for parents daily
- The National Association of School Psychologists also put together some helpful guidelines to keep in mind as you talk to your child about Coronavirus and answer their questions