Suzanne Bouffard Aug 4 If this were a normal summer, Katy Phinney and her colleagues would be organizing their Pre-K classrooms for the new school year, choosing classroom themes and wall décor. Instead, Phinney is worried about what Pre-K will look like if and when students return to classrooms. “My biggest concern is teachers needing to balance the importance of safety procedures with creating a welcoming and loving environment for our students,” says Phinney, the Pre-K program director in...

Playworks believes in a trauma-sensitive approach Educators should focus on providing a trauma-sensitive approach to the reopening of school. Students are all having different experiences right now. For some students, the shutdown of schools due to COVID has provided them with a welcome reprieve from toxic situations or stressors. For others, it has created an increased chance that they’re experiencing Adverse Childhood Experiences or new stressors. “A trauma-sensitive school is one in which...

Brandon Stratford July 28, 2020 Regardless of whether students return to school in person or via distance learning , education leaders and policymakers across the country must equip schools to address the social, emotional, and behavioral effects of the ongoing pandemic. To address these issues, many policymakers are turning to school-based mental health services as a key strategy for supporting student wellness. Although mental health services are a critical, often underfunded element of...

Jun 6, 2018 By Maria Gehl, Kathy Kinsner, and Rebecca Parlakian The practice of mindfulness has roots in Buddhist traditions spanning more than 2,500 years, and the practice has been adapted frequently to clinical populations for the relief of both physical and psychological symptoms for almost 40 years. Mindfulness “is not a religion,” and instead has “come to be seen as a mode of being.” In this piece, mindfulness is defined as “intending and developing the capacity to come back to center;...

Remote learning will likely play a role in students’ lives once schools reopen. Here’s how teachers and parents can help kids manage stress, build resilience, and stay connected. By Sarah Gonser July 7, 2020 As the pandemic grinds on and protests against police brutality and systemic racism continue, young people are coping with high levels of stress and uncertainty, writes Dr. Pamela Cantor in “ The Stress of This Moment Might Be Hurting Kids’ Development ” for Education Next. With the...

Susan Friedman Young Children July 2020 Vol. 75, No. 3 I am drafting this editors’ note in the spring, when much of the country is living under stay-at-home orders in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19. Most early learning programs and schools are closed. It’s a frightening and unusual time, with huge impacts on early childhood programs, teachers, children, and families. This cluster of articles was planned well before COVID-19 impacted the early childhood community. Our aim was to...

Speaking Grief explores the transformative experience of losing a family member in a death- and grief-avoidant society. This national public media initiative includes a one-hour television documentary, media-rich website, social media campaign, and numerous community engagement events, all aimed at starting a national conversation about grief. Moving away from the idea that grief is a problem that needs to be “fixed,” Speaking Grief validates the experience of grievers and guides those...

July 9, 2020 5:14 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered Pirette McKamey is fighting for anti-racist education . Over her more than 30 years as an educator, the principal at Mission High School in San Francisco spent a decade leading an anti-racism committee. "To be an anti-racist educator means I commit to educating all of the students sitting in front of me, including Black and Latinx students," McKamey tells NPR's All Things Considered. In a high school English class, for instance, if...

These cards were first shared at the First 5 San Mateo County Culture of Care event in November 2019. We laid them out at the registration table, and let people choose whichever affirmations spoke to them. We didn't share the digital files earlier, but I recently came across them and thought people might be interested in using and sharing them now. Image files and a PDF are attached below. The PDF is also housed in our file directory here:...

The best laws and diversity training have not gotten us anywhere near where we want to go. Therapist and trauma specialist Resmaa Menakem is working with old wisdom and very new science about our bodies and nervous systems, and all we condense into the word “race.” Krista sat down with him in Minneapolis, where they both live and work, before the pandemic lockdown began. In this heartbreaking moment, after the killing of George Floyd and the history it carries, Resmaa Menakem’s practices...

Our world is in a moment of great upheaval and mourning. Black, indigenous, immigrant communities, disabled and immunocompromised people are disproportionately affected by the global pandemic, and black lives continue to suffer from needless brutality. We are collectively enduring trauma while being called to care for one another. Berrett-Koehler is an independent publisher dedicated to connecting people and ideas to create a world that works for all. As we all come to understand what that...

From BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective) : To our Black Men & Masculine Folks! In a time of such action, emotion, and movement, it's so important that we practice self care and ground ourselves. Take a look at our GROUNDing tool and prompts to practice presence and connection with yourself.🙏🏽 To see how we use this tool, be sure to join our Black Masculinity (Re)Imagined Community Care Check-In tomorrow as we center ourselves and support each other. This is an inclusive...