Dear Parents,
As we have begun our first few days of distance learning, I wanted to take a moment to touch base and provide guidance during this transition. When faced with challenging times such as the one in front of us, it can be marked with an abundance of feelings and emotions. Take notice of these feelings, validating and not minimizing how you are or your children are feeling. In addition, keep in mind the importance of acknowledging and verbalizing our stress and anxiety with the supportive people around you.
It is our goal to help guide you and your family through these challenging times. As we work hard to partner with you to ensure that your child’s academic needs are met, we are also mindful of their social-emotional needs, as they directly impact learning. We know that during these times, it will be important to create and maintain routines and positive coping strategies to help guide our days. Here are a few tips to assist:
Provide a routine:
Children thrive off of routines, rituals, and consistency. Having some sense of normalcy and control, such as being able to anticipate what’s happening next in their day, will foster a sense of security. Provide a schedule of what the day will look like, including your child in the planning process. Their sense of control is important.
Try positive coping strategies:
Check-in and talk with your child about the “new normal” and how they are feeling overall. Provide social connection with friends (virtual times), watch silly videos, listen to music, while balancing screen time with outside time. Engaging in happy distractions such as playing with things they haven’t used in a while. Taking care to eat and sleep, exercise, having a normal waking time, hygiene routines, etc. Limit exposure to news, as it can be ambiguous and overwhelming to have too much information. Provide proper information and answer questions in an age appropriate way. Enjoy spending quality time together.
Remain calm:
Despite this being a stressful time, it’s important to remain calm, provide a sense of comfort in your tone, listening without having to provide all the answers. Understand that flexibility is key, we’re all in this together -- we can review, assess and adjust as needed. Reassure this is temporary and we are resilient, while listening carefully to their concerns and supporting them when they are worried.
Receiving support and care from others is important in helping us cope with these challenging times. A few articles of support are listed below. I am here to talk through any questions or concerns in helping manage these stressful situations and provide resources of support. Please email me if you feel the need to talk and we can schedule a phone or video call.
Take care,
Lisa Fleck
lisafleck@gfs.org
Resources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/well/family/coronavirus-teenagers-anxiety.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/well/family/coronavirus-covid-teenagers-teens-parents-kids-family-advice.html
