New Resources - Friday March 27

New Resources

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well and adjusting to our temporary new normal. We are continuing to add some new posts to assist you during these strange times. We will be trying to post new resources on a weekly basis.

Included on this post are some additional resources: one for parents and two for your child.

Parents

This resource comes from the Child Mind Institute, a non-profit which provides resources for parents on various topics, such as anxiety, anger, and behavior. Currently, there are many resources and videos for parents on supporting children, teens and parents regarding COVID-19.


Children

Mindful Schools is offering free live streaming mindfulness classes. Go here to learn more.  Mrs. MacKinnon and I took online classes here when we started teaching mindfulness in the classrooms at Nab.

Another great resource is from Centervention.  This website contains free activities that you can complete using material that you already have at home. The games revolve around various social-emotional topics, such as identifying feelings, impulse control, anxiety, among others.  One example is the Music Freeze game. In this game, kids dance until the music stops and can only move when the music starts up again. Post-activity discussion questions are also given.

We hope you find these resources helpful to you and your family.

Be well,

Mrs. Reynolds & Mrs. MacKinnon

Thinking of you!

Hi Everyone! We have been thinking of you so much and for now we will be using our blog as a means to connect with you. We thought it would be a fun and hopefully useful idea to share a few resources once or twice a week. If you check back weekly you will be able to follow along with our ideas. Stay tuned for another post this Friday.

Our first resource is this fabulous poster from one of our favorite sites on Pinterest called WholeHearted School Counseling

Daily Yoga activities (great 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 the links for the activities shared so far:

Day 5: Balloon Breath

Day 4: Special Place Meditation

Day 3: Washing Machine

Day 2: Mandala Meditations

Day 1: Mountain

Take care,

Mrs. MacKinnon and Mrs. Reynolds

Check this out!

Hello Nabnasset families,

We have one more resource idea to help you navigate these anxious times right now. This resource is available through Facebook, but I believe this will become a podcast very soon. Find Lynn Lyons on Facebook - she has had 2 live conversations with parents (on Facebook) about how to help their children manage their anxiety/worries right now. Below is a link to a Facebook podcast group that you should be able to join. As soon as I find out that the podcast is available we will post that link as well.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/momsretreatpodcast/?tn-str=*F

Take care,

We are thinking of all of you!

It takes a village

Good morning Nabnasset Families,

We hope everyone is faring well during this challenging time. We hope that sharing some information and websites will be helpful as we all band together (tough to do when social distancing in the expectation!) to provide whatever support we can! We hope you take some comfort in knowing that we are all weathering this very difficult situation together.

As you may know, how children deal with any unexpected change in their routine depends on how their caregivers manage it.  To all of our adult caregivers, Please remember to take care of yourselves! Easier said than done, we know, because we all tend to put our children and families first. Common Sense Media posted helpful information that you may wish to access to help support you in your efforts to support you and your family’s ability to weather this most recent storm.

PBS has a wonderful website that you may find helpful, particularly if you have younger children. Brainpop.org is another resource that is geared towards slightly older children. Additionally, kidshealth.org has information for explaining the virus to your children and hopefully making it seem less scary.

Below is some additional information that may be helpful to review to support you in your conversations with your children:

Talking to Children About COVID-19: A Parent Resource 

How to Talk to Children about the Coronavirus

Don't forget to check out our other blog posts in which we have shared mindfulness activities, coping strategies, zones of regulation information and links on the left side of our blog to some wonderful resources.

We look forward to being able to return to our daily routines and seeing all of our Nabnasset friends again. In the meantime, stay strong and know nothing lasts forever, even though it may feel like it in any given moment. This too, shall pass.

Take care,
Melissa Reynolds
Elizabeth MacKinnon