Back-to-School Tips and Resources

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Please do not hesitate to reach out if you need any further support.

Lauren Feiden
Lower School Counselor

Liz Mavis
LS-Elementary Learning Specialist

Back-to-School Tips and Resources from the LS-E Support Team

Here are some helpful tips on how to best support your child with at-home learning.

Organization

Create a dedicated learning spot with your child with the least amount of distraction and all materials needed on a daily basis (noise-cancelling headphones can also help make it easier to focus).
Keep bedtime routines and wake up schedules consistent.
Help your child get dressed and ready as if they were going to school.
Preview the schedule with your child.
Print out your child’s schedule and display it by their workspace.
Teachers will help to create consistent routines to help students feel comfortable and safe, and to participate in lessons.
Create a child friendly checklist to finish activities in the day (teachers and learning specialists can help you if needed).

Engagement

Checklists/Routines: Creating routine and checklists can help to reduce some of the possible resistance.
Help them feel at ease: Starting school is stressful during normal times, let alone a global pandemic. Help your child feel at ease by having an open conversation about their worries and uncertainties about the school year. Let them know that it’s natural to feel anxious. It is important to be honest with them.
Partner with the school: Reach out and speak to cluster teachers, learning specialists, and the counselor for support. We are here to work as a team with you to best support your family and your child.
If possible, set up socially distant play dates with classmates or virtual lunches/after school meetups to help your child feel more connected.
- Join daily virtual lunch options through school.
Talk to your child: Check in with your child frequently to see how they’re feeling. Acknowledge disappointments.
Create a "calming corner": have your child choose materials or objects that might help them when they are feeling upset. Some suggestions are fidgets, visuals, coloring materials, or a lap snake. Encourage your child to use this space when they are feeling upset. Model using the space and different tools that you use to calm down when you are feeling upset.
- Make slime/goop/playdough and other fun family activities together. We will send out some instructions for these activities.
Make a list of children in your child’s class and talk about them. Consider printing pictures of students and teachers to help them gradually learn names.

Expectations

It is important to know that students will all be coming in with different emotions and challenges. We know that last school year affected families and children in different ways. Just as we do in the classroom, students’ social emotional health will create a foundation for the academics to be built upon.
Set boundaries around remote learning. Assist your child by providing support and structure, and know you are not expected to teach your kids.
Be flexible and give it time. We expect children to have off times and off days, this is natural. Know that your child may need to build their stamina for sustaining attention during remote learning.
Allow for breaks: In school children typically move their bodies frequently and because of this your child will likely need multiple breaks throughout the day. Breaks may involve moving their bodies such as walking around your home, doing jumping jacks or push-ups, or watching Go Noodle videos. Other children, on the other hand, may require a quieter break that would involve using calming strategies, listening to music or drawing. Ask your child what kinds of breaks would be helpful. Ask your child to let you know when they need a break.

What to Expect with our New School Year

Celebration of Strength

Support

We are a team. One of our main goals is to work with teachers to create activities which students can independently complete. The Seesaw platform should also help to support this independence. This will be a process at the beginning of the year as we build this independence. We appreciate your support and help as we start the school year.
If your child or family has experienced loss or other major life events which can disrupt their focus and their mood, please notify us. This information will be managed with great discretion and will also help our staff be sensitive to any conditions or concerns with which your child might be returning to classroom life. It is entirely common and normal to make gradual readjustment in the aftermath of stressful experiences.

Additional Resources

Books for Kids for social emotional & covid related books.
Online Resources:
- GoZen/GoStrengths: Psycho-educational videos and related activities. Specific modules that are helpful include what is anxiety/fight or flight, resilience, "thought-holes," identification of character strengths.
- Smiling Mind: A great mindfulness app/website for the whole family (Age 7+). Children can use this app as a way to help calm and focus their brains and bodies.
- Cosmic Kids: Yoga and mindfulness for kids ages 3+.
- Calmer You Podcasts for Parents: A self-care for parents podcasts.
- Insight Timer: iPhone and Android
- Headspace: iPhone and Android
- Simply Being: iPhone and Android
- Breathe: iPhone
- Breathe2Relax: iPhone and Android
- Chakra Chime: iPhone
- Calm: iPhone and Android
- Mind Yeti: iPhone
- Peace Out: Podcast stories for younger kids to help children relax.