September Counselor Corner
One of the ways students get the most “ bang for their buck” when it comes to classroom guidance is if the lessons are reinforced in the classroom by teachers,, on the playground and at home. Here are some questions you may want to ask your children to get them integrating the lessons they are learning at school.
All School: What is the deal with Mr. H’s crayon box?
Mr. Hildner has begun weekly guidance lesson delivery. A metaphor he uses regularly with students is that of a crayon box where all the crayons are the same color - blue. Strange, right? We think so. But sometimes we maintain a perspective that everyone should really be the same - think the same, act the same, feel the same… And that’s just not the case. When groups get a little larger, there’s usually someone who really sticks out. I call that, “being a yellow crayon”. Ask your kids what makes them a yellow crayon? What makes your family a yellow crayon? What makes each person in your family a yellow crayon? At Ainsworth we are so grateful our crayons aren’t all blue!
Kindergarten: In Kinder we are talking about the struggle of being 5 and the responsibility of being big school students. in addition to the typical How was your day? What did you do? What did you learn questions? Ask your kids What is hard about kindergarten? You might get some surprising answers. When they answer take a moment to reflect back those big feelings.
1st grade: In 1st grade we looking at change a little differently. We’ve been talking about “firsts”. Ask your child what “firsts” have your kids experienced so far this year? It may be fun to keep a list of 1st’s in 1st grade on the fridge: 1st lost tooth. 1st Flying Eagle award received. 1st time sitting next to a different person at lunch. Collecting 1st is a great way to embrace some of the changes students experience during the 1st month of school. Remind them that it’s not always easy at first, but it gets better.
2nd grade to 5th grade: We’ve picked up the pace quite a bit. We’ve mostly set a big goal for the year. Ask your student what goal they have set for themselves this year? Share your personal goals with your children. Perhaps even create some family goals. Having that goal, we’re learning that all big things have small beginnings. We read the book “One Grain of Rice”, and kids were astounded at how, over time, a single grain of rice, doubled each day, became an enormous number. Ask your students to tell you about the story of how Rani talked the raja into giving her his rice.
One of the ways students get the most “ bang for their buck” when it comes to classroom guidance is if the lessons are reinforced in the classroom by teachers,, on the playground and at home. Here are some questions you may want to ask your children to get them integrating the lessons they are learning at school.
All School: What is the deal with Mr. H’s crayon box?
Mr. Hildner has begun weekly guidance lesson delivery. A metaphor he uses regularly with students is that of a crayon box where all the crayons are the same color - blue. Strange, right? We think so. But sometimes we maintain a perspective that everyone should really be the same - think the same, act the same, feel the same… And that’s just not the case. When groups get a little larger, there’s usually someone who really sticks out. I call that, “being a yellow crayon”. Ask your kids what makes them a yellow crayon? What makes your family a yellow crayon? What makes each person in your family a yellow crayon? At Ainsworth we are so grateful our crayons aren’t all blue!
Kindergarten: In Kinder we are talking about the struggle of being 5 and the responsibility of being big school students. in addition to the typical How was your day? What did you do? What did you learn questions? Ask your kids What is hard about kindergarten? You might get some surprising answers. When they answer take a moment to reflect back those big feelings.
1st grade: In 1st grade we looking at change a little differently. We’ve been talking about “firsts”. Ask your child what “firsts” have your kids experienced so far this year? It may be fun to keep a list of 1st’s in 1st grade on the fridge: 1st lost tooth. 1st Flying Eagle award received. 1st time sitting next to a different person at lunch. Collecting 1st is a great way to embrace some of the changes students experience during the 1st month of school. Remind them that it’s not always easy at first, but it gets better.
2nd grade to 5th grade: We’ve picked up the pace quite a bit. We’ve mostly set a big goal for the year. Ask your student what goal they have set for themselves this year? Share your personal goals with your children. Perhaps even create some family goals. Having that goal, we’re learning that all big things have small beginnings. We read the book “One Grain of Rice”, and kids were astounded at how, over time, a single grain of rice, doubled each day, became an enormous number. Ask your students to tell you about the story of how Rani talked the raja into giving her his rice.