Hello!
My name is Brooke Kemp. I am the School Counselor at both Schilling Farms and Sycamore Elementary School, working with our young creative minds in PreK, 1st grade, and 2nd grade. As we begin on this new “adventure” in education – things have changed a little and teachers, students, and parents are finding themselves in new roles! Our students have been out of the school routine for 2 weeks and the transition to new learning may be challenging for us all! Here are a few tips to help get home learning off to a good start. Hope all of you are staying healthy and well. I miss all my students and hope to see you soon. Love, Mrs. Kemp Welcome to the Collierville Schools Better Together Blog! Parents/Caregivers- When I was a little girl and got sick, my mom would give me chicken noodle soup and saltine crackers. I never liked being sick because I enjoyed playing outside and going to school. Each night I would go to bed and think tomorrow I will wake up and be well, and it will all be like a dream. Right now, some of us are thinking that we are living in a dream and pretty soon we are going to just wake up and everything will go back to the way it was before our world “got sick.” Some people are worried about the future and what is going to happen next. And, by the way….how do I explain that to my child? Others have learned new terms like “social distancing” and the difference between a quarantine versus an isolation. A few of us may even feel helpless. However, what we have is a “new normal” of life…for now. Together, we will work through this and together we will move forward. So, after the world eats their chicken soup and saltine crackers and gets better, we will once again find our “new new normal.” It is human nature to seek predictability and most of us like routines, as they give us a sense of safety and control. I would encourage you to keep some type of routine for your child and yourself during this time. Right now, you as parents/caregivers, may feel that you have lost control. This can make us more frustrated, sad, and as the kids say- “in my feelings.” I ask you to think about these three questions. What can I control? What can I do to prepare? What have I done in the past that helped me in a difficult time? Some easy things you can control are limiting the news and media exposure for your children about this situation and continuing to do positive practices such as eating healthy meals/snacks, getting sleep, and finding ways to get movement in the day. You can prepare your children by simply talking with them about ways to stay connected to things they liked to do in their "old normal" (best as possible) but maybe think about how to do them now in a different way. For example, maybe taking a piano lesson with their teacher on facetime. Last, all of us have been through a difficult time in our life. Every challenging experience we have is one that can we grow and learn from, as it adds another coping technique to our notebook of life skills. I hope this finds you all well and safe- Dr. K Nancy Kelley, Ed. D Safe Schools Supervisor |
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May 2020
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