June 2020 School Counselor Newsletter
Dear St. John Families,
It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve made it to June! As I’ve talked with many of you over the course of distance learning, I’ve been in awe of everything you’ve done to help your children succeed during this unprecedented time. It has been a truly remarkable and unforgettable feat, so hats off to you!
As we’re looking toward the coming days of closing out the school year in this incredibly unconventional way, I want to share a few tips with you to help support your child through this transition:
- Talk about and validate your child’s feelings. As your child processes all of the transitions that the end of the year brings, it is so important to be talking about their feelings and validating their experience. This is a great article that offers a few simple ideas to do so.
- Create new rituals to mark the end of year/start of summer. There are many end-of-year celebrations that can’t happen this year, but creating some special family celebrations is a wonderful way to honor your child’s completion of another year and make some special memories. Check out this article to get some fun family inspiration.
- Focus on the positive and look for hope. Try to help your child avoid ruminating on the loss and negative. What positives can you find? What new opportunities does this time present? What are you grateful for? It is so important to spend a few minutes a day focusing on something positive. Here’s just one idea to get you started, this simple gratitude activity.
As always, my website has many additional resources for parents. I also have a page entirely dedicated to specific COVID-19 resources for helping children understand COVID-19, answering their questions, managing their feelings, and ideas to foster family connection and harmony during this time.
If I can do anything at all to support you during the final days of the school year, please do not hesitate to contact me at cshaw@st-johnschool.org. I would be so happy to help you in whatever way I can.
Wishing you a happy and healthy summer vacation!
Ms. Shaw
June Resources
- On June 2nd, ParentMap is hosting a webinar with Emily Cherkin called “Old-School Summer: Bringing Back Free Play” that will focus on tips to help families thrive during this unusual summer.
- Tina Payne Bryson (co-author of “The Whole-Brain Child”) has been creating some great content for parents during this time. One resource that I think is particularly valuable is this 7-minute video called “Helping Our Kids Manage Disappointment Over Cancelled Camp and Summer Plans.” There are some really valuable tips in there!
- With so many in-person summer camps being cancelled, Camp Kindness Counts is going virtual and offering a one-week virtual summer camp focusing on “building kind, courageous kids.” This camp is geared for children aged 5-11 and is scheduled for June 22nd-26th.
- A fun family activity I recently came across are these COVID-19 Time Capsule pages. Fill these out as a family to remember this historic time.