Happy New Year 2021

Happy New Year - 2021!!! 

We are certainly hoping for a much better 2021, but as we reflect on 2020 please take a moment to read this beautiful message:

Lessons from 2020

The world can change quickly.

Friends matter greatly.

Alone and lonely are different.

Hope matters.

Learn from the past.

The small moments are beautiful.

Kindness is a great gift.

Optimism is priceless.

Be grateful for family.

Heroes truly exist.

Give back generously.

Never stop trying.

Reach out to those you love.

Live with bravery.

-Rachel Marie Martin

Zones of Regulation resources

Here are some new resources for anyone interested in learning more about the self-regulation curriculum which we use here at Nabnasset School. Click here for all of the Zones of Regulation Read Alouds to explore these 4 Read Aloud rooms for each of the 4 zones! 

Click here for the Blue Zone Read Alouds

Click here for Green Zone Read Alouds

Click here for Yellow Zone Read Alouds

Click here for Red Zone Read Alouds

We want to take this moment to wish you all peace in this New Year. Take the time to appreciate the small joys of each day, find gratitude and share kindness with others.

With all our best wishes, 

Elizabeth MacKinnon and Melissa Reynolds

 Welcome back to Nabnasset School - in true 2020 style!!

We have been learning new technology skills over the summer, and one of the fun things we learned was how to create a bitmoji room....so we decided to turn our virtual bitmoji room into a Calming room with many of our favorite mindfulness/calming tools. Please click on the links below and it will bring you to our virtual calming room. The picture of our room below does not have active links, but you should be able to open the room once you click on this link: Nabnasset Virtual Calming room 

 Nabnasset Virtual Calming room

Click Here for a virtual library of Mindfulness read alouds for you to explore as well!

Have fun exploring with your family!!

Mrs. MacKinnon and Mrs. Reynolds

Happy Summer! 

You made it - WE all made it!!
We're in the home stretch and it's been quite a journey! Take some time now, both parents and students, to celebrate all of your accomplishments, your hard work, your positive attitudes, your grit and determination. Please always remember that we grow stronger when we tackle experiences that make us feel uncomfortable....So far 2020 has given us many uncomfortable situations and we can all learn and grow from all that we have endured.

Click Here to view a short video to remind you about the power of positive thinking

As you know, we also believe in the power of Mindfulness and all of it's benefits! Below is a poster reminding all of us about how to be more mindful! 

And finally, this was so fun to share last summer, so why not share it again!! It has even more meaning this summer - so go for it! Take on this mindful summer bucket list - or at least try out a few of the ideas!! 

The Mindful Summer Bucket List

• Read a book about mindfulness (see a list of top recommendations here)

• Eat an entire meal in silence — pay attention to the act of eating and to the taste of the food

• Go for a walk — with no iPhone, no music…. just pay attention

• Get a mindfulness coloring book and spend an afternoon coloring

• Watch Inside Out

• Start a gratitude journal — and write in it once a week

• Take a 24-hour technology detox — no phone, Internet, TV, etc.

• Declare a Day of Kindness and volunteer, engage in random acts of kindness, smile at people you see, and make people’s days

• Teach a mindfulness practice to your kids

• Forgive someone for something (maybe yourself?)

• Practice mindful walking

• Try these breathing exercises that my son learned in kindergarten

• Change up a daily activity — brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand, drive a different route to work, sit in a different spot in your morning meeting…. Go wild!

• Put on some music and dance — just move however your body wants to move

• Practice lovingkindness

• Take a class — art, painting, drumming, dance, tai chi

• Make a list of the things you love about yourself

• Do a 30-minute body scan meditation

• Declutter an area in your house that’s driving you crazy

• Make a mind jar

• Watch a sunrise

• Make a list of the top 10 things that help YOU reduce stress — and post it somewhere you will see it every day

• Create a meditation space or a calm-down space in your home

• Meditate outside

• Watch a Cosmic Kids Zen Den or GoNoodle mindfulness video with your child

• Sign up for the Calm.com app and practice the "Daily Calm"

• LIsten to some relaxing music for kids from Mindful Kids

• Go outside and look up! Do some stargazing or cloud gazing!

• Make a list of things you can control and things you can't control - here's one visual to help you with this: 
  

Wishing you all some peace, relaxation and perhaps a few adventures this summer! We might still need to use physical distancing....but please stay socially connected!!
Take care,
Mrs. MacKinnon and Mrs. Reynolds

Activities for 5/15-5/29                                           

    

As of this posting, it is May 29th. Summer is just over the horizon. It's been a long time coming, with the rainy April and a cool start to May. But with that rain, comes the beauty of the flowers and the green of the trees. And the sun has started to come out.
      It's been a trying few weeks with remote learning, uncertainty of the future and hope for normalcy. Throughout this time, there have been rays of sunshine filtering through the clouds. One such ray comes from Newton, MA's own John Krasinski. If you haven't heard, he created a YouTube channel called Some Good News (SGN). In each episode (there are 8 in total), he highlights good news from around the world, with each episode lasting 15-20 minutes. Here is his first episode: 

Our own School Psychologists, Richa Jain (Nab, Miller, Robinson) and Julia Mozeika (Abbott, Day, Crisafulli) continue to add their own sunshine to their blog. You can find them here. Not only have they added pictures of staff showing how they self-care, there is also a wonderful video from our Youth Poet Laureate. 

Lastly, I have posted before about Steve Hartman and his Kindness 101 channel on YouTube (check out here and here). Since my last posting, he has created 5 more episodes: Honesty, Purpose, Service, Fortitude and Patriotism.  

After the rain, comes the sun...

Activities for 2 weeks: 4/27 - 5/8

We hope you are well, and that you have been finding our blog posts helpful! Feel free to post a comment or email us to give us some feedback!!

Once again we have found more resources to help all of you! If you click on "Resources from the Washington Post" you will be brought to a large compilation of resources in MANY areas including: reading, music, travel, physical activity, art, entertainment, and mental wellness. The mental wellness links are specifically included below. There are many yoga and mindfulness links which we have included before, but a new one that I love is the "First Aid for Feelings workbook"! If there is one link that you have time to explore, please check that one out!!

Resources from the Washington Post

• On YouTube, Moovlee offers yoga and meditation exercises for kids that are led by a cartoon monkey.

• The Child Mind Institute is hosting daily live streams at 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern with therapists on its Facebook page.

• GoZenOnline offers anxiety relief songs, relaxation exercises and tips for parents on its YouTube channel.

• Cosmic Kids has fun mindfulness exercises for kids on its YouTube channel.

• The well-known meditation app Headspace now has an app for kids.

• Susan Kaiser Greenland, author of “The Mindful Child,” has turned her website into a database to help parents and kids coping with the pandemic. Resources are divided into “mindful games,” with breathing exercises and creative ways to help kids stay calm, and “response to covid-19,” which has information on a pay-what-you-can course, hosted by a group of therapists, about how to respond to children’s needs.

• Chanel Tsang’s Peace Out is a podcast with relaxation stories for kids.

• “First Aid for Feelings: A Workbook to Help Kids Cope During the Coronavirus Pandemic” is a free workbook created by parenting expert Denise Daniels.

• Sesame Street’s “Little Children, Big Challenges” initiative includes an app, inspired by the popular children’s television show, to help children learn problem-solving strategies and emotional regulation.

• Child psychologist Abigail Gewirtz wrote a script to be used as a guide for talking to children about the coronavirus

• “Stop, Breathe & Think for Kids” is an app to help children focus, relax and rest.

• Child-care expert Janet Lansbury talks about respectful parenting on her podcast “Unruffled.” Recent episodes have covered topics related to the outbreak

• The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has put out a coronavirus fact sheet with details about how the pandemic might affect the mental well-being of children.

• The Fred Rogers Center put together a compendium of resources for parents.

• “What happens when coronavirus changes EVERYTHING?” is a downloadable PDF guidebook by Sara Olsher for coping with ruptures in routine as a result of the pandemic

• School social worker Nicole Batiste has put together a covid-19 journal for kids with guiding activities to help children express their emotions.

• Calm offers guided meditations, relaxing audio and mindfulness resources for kids.

• GoNoodle posts videos with imaginative, guiding exercises to help children manage emotions.

• “Carolina Conquers Her Coronavirus Fears” is a coloring book put together by LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans to help kids cope with uncertain circumstances and fears brought on by the pandemic.

More News
In our last blog post we referred to this fantastic website which has been developed by our School Psychologists! Please take some time to explore their resources, including some fun pictures of Westford staff members showing things they do for self-care.
There are 2 new videos and strategies which have been shared as well - to view these just click on the links below:
Coping Strategies

Problem Solving

Activities for week of 4/20 - 4/24

Activities for week of 4/20 - 4/24


We've just finished our sixth week of the school closure, with Gov. Baker's announcement just this week of the continued closure through the end of this school year in June. With his news, I experienced various different feelings this week: sadness, disappointment, frustration, resignation, among others. I'm sure I'm not alone. Here is a great discussion given by Julia Mozeika, the school psychologist for Abbot, Crisafulli and the Day Schools, talking about an "emotional rollercoaster" and how people may experience different emotions throughout the day. In the next episode (coming soon), she will give some additional strategies on how to calm these emotions. 

So what can we do when you're on an emotional rollercoaster?  
When you're riding those emotional waves, one of the best things to do is find a place where you can calm your feelings. A great way to find some calm is to create a Calm Corner in your house. A calm corner allows you or your child to calm down when they are in an emotional state. This article explains the ins and outs of calm corners: what they are, the benefits and how to set one up in your home.

Other calming strategies that can be included in your calm corner or on the go include:

• a fidget or squishy items, such as a stress ball,  or even a sock or balloon filled with rice
• making a calming jar (instructions here)
• Look & find pages, I Spy or Where's Waldo books     
• Listening to calming music or nature sounds
• Watching Zen Den videos, such as:
•  Be the Pond 
• The Bye-Bye Boat

In addition, below is also a handy chart of various feeling faces that can be used to express how you feel when it's hard to find the words. 

Kindness 101

Steve Hartman has continued to create new videos for his Kindness 101 class. Here are his latest episodes: Gratitude and Optimism. 

Activities for the week of April 13 - April 17th

Did you know?????

...Our Westford School Psychologists have created an awesome, informative, new website for all Westford families! You can find the link here!!

...This week Mrs. Reynolds shared 2 different read-aloud in 2 different places!! These read-alouds are shared here in our blog as a bonus!

Read-aloud #1 was the book ONE by Kathryn Otoshi.

Read-aloud #2 was on every single Google classroom for Nabnasset School. The book she read there is called Alphabreaths: The ABC's of Mindful Breathing written by Christopher Willard. 

We have all been learning new things...adjusting to the challenges of remote learning... coping with Google classroom and Google meeting glitches... working from home...developing new routines ...finding new ways to have fun....having virtual playdates....and missing each other so much! 

Below is a poster with some great reminders of things we can say to ourselves when we feel discouraged...and believe me, this is for ALL OF US!!!!

Lisa Flynn, the founder and CEO of Yoga 4 Classrooms, has made a very generous offer to help support us during this most trying time. She has offered a Mindful Activity of the Day option free of charge to help keep us grounded and healthy. Her only request is that she is properly credited with the material. Here are a few more days of these daily yoga activities! Don't forget to check into our older posts for the other daily yoga and mindful activities.

Day #14: Do my best!

Day #15: Bumble bee Breath

These may be the final Yoga shares from Lisa Flynn but you can explore more yoga designed for kids at:

Yoga

Follow the link to Cosmic Kids Yoga and pick your favorite Yoga Adventure.

As always,

Take care!

Mrs. MacKinnon and Mrs. Reynolds