Attention Fifth Grade Parents
Before you know it your students will be moving on to middle school. The middle school principals wanted to make you aware of some important upcoming dates. Mrs. Poelke, the Parker Middle School principal, and Mrs. Post the Highlander Way Middle School principal will be visiting all fifth-grade in-person classes on April 6. Before the visit, students will be watching a video that will go over the changes to expect in the transition to middle school and some things students can start doing now to prepare. The video will review how the middle school day is structured, the different encore classes, and so much more! During their visit, the principals will answer questions from students. A fifth-grade parent night will be held in person at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, April 12 at each middle school. If you are interested in transferring to the middle school that is not your child’s assigned school, you will need to fill out an Intra-District Transfer Request Form by Friday, March 25. This will ensure that the committee can meet and notify parents prior to the elementary school visits and parent night.
Counselor’s Corner: Teaching Kids How to Deal with Conflict
We can teach kids how to deal with conflict, they first need to learn how to recognize their emotions. Young kids might have a hard time naming their feelings. It can be helpful to look at a feelings chart, or you could also use a stop light. A red light means emotions are big and they need time to cool off. A yellow light means they’re beginning to calm down. A green light means they’re ready to solve the problem. Once they begin to recognize their feelings, you can help your child come up with tools to calm down.
Take three deep breaths
Play with a pet
Count to 10
Write, Journal or Draw
Or pick from one of these Coping Strategies
When they are ready to focus, you can help them find the source of the conflict. Once you have narrowed down the source of the conflict, work together to brainstorm some possible solutions to their conflict. Then you can both pick out which solutions would be best.
Other tips:
Praise your child for their efforts to fix a problem, even when they don’t pan out.
Teach them how to use an “I” Statement. For example: “I felt sad when you didn’t sit with me,”
Role play resolving conflicts with your child. The more they practice the easier it will be to utilize these strategies.
Teach these skills when your child is calm and not in the middle of a conflict.
It’s also important to model these skills for your child, too.
For more information, read the article: Teaching Kids How To Deal with Conflict
Your partner in education,
Sarah Marker