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Commemorating Juneteenth – Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day and Freedom Day!
What is Juneteenth? Although it has been celebrated for over 150 years, many people are still not familiar with the holiday of Juneteenth. The name is a contraction that is short for “June nineteenth.” June 19, 1865 was the day that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned that the Civil War had ended and that they were free. A little more history: If you paid attention in history class you might be thinking, “That can’t be right; the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in 1863.” That’s true, sort … Continued
Planting the Seeds of Self-Care in Children
As is often the case when we are talking about children, self-care for children begins with their parents. To have the resources that they will need to properly care for their children, parents must remember to take care of their own needs and business. As the old adage goes, you can’t serve from an empty pitcher. What do children do when difficult things happen in their lives? They look to the adults around them for clues about how to feel and what to do. If their parents show … Continued
Self-Care Tips for Teens
When you’re little adults are supposed to take most of the responsibility for taking care of you. As you get older the responsibility shifts so that you are supposed to do more to care for yourself. Here are some important concepts that will be useful as you develop healthy self-care habits. How do you know that it’s time to settle for good enough instead of striving for perfection? When you already have several items on your To Do list, you have to be able to budget your time … Continued
Stark County Schools Mental Health Week is Back!
This year, C&A has some exciting new additions for the third annual Stark County Schools Mental Health Week taking place May 3-7. Canton Local, Jackson Local and Louisville City schools have joined the mental health celebration with past participants Alliance City, Canton City, Lake Local, Marlington Local, Massillon City, Plain Local, Sandy Valley Local and Tuslaw Local schools. Elementary Schools For each elementary school, students can expect to see beautiful new posters around the schools. They will also receive a small post-it note for sending an encouraging messages … Continued
Self-Care that really works for you!
We’ve all seen them, the articles urging us to improve our lives by practicing good self-care. There are countless books, blogs, videos, and workshops designed to teach us simple strategies to make our lives better. The suggestions typically involve everything from indulging ourselves with bubble baths and sugary deserts, to spending time in nature, to getting away for a vacation. While all of these are great ideas and can feel really good in the moment, they may not be enough to make a lasting improvement in the quality … Continued
Acknowledging and working through grief and loss during the pandemic
We are a nation in mourning. In February, we passed the landmark of 500,000 deaths in the U.S. due to the effects of COVID-19. That’s half a million people who died. Add to that the nearly three million people who died of other causes over the past year. Those are staggering statistics, but they aren’t the whole picture. In addition to our grief for loved ones who have died, we are grieving for a way of life. We grieve for the ability to gather with groups of friends, … Continued
College students struggle through unusual learning and living experience
For many students attending college during 2020 and 2021, the college experience hasn’t been at all what they were expecting. Many colleges and universities shut down in the spring of 2020 as a response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although most have since re-opened with heavy reliance on online learning and social distancing, everyone would agree that attending college is not the same as it was in past years. A Different Educational Expereience Online learning is very different from attending class in person. Many college students … Continued
Acknowledging your child’s feelings will lead to resilient kids
“One of the most important tasks of parenthood is helping children learn to deal with their emotions. All children experience periods of stress in their lives and need the emotional skills to deal with it. Children’s emotional resilience, or ability to cope with their feelings is important to their long-term happiness, wellbeing and success in life. Emotional resilience involves six key skills: recognizing and accepting feelings, expressing feelings appropriately, having a positive outlook, developing effective ways of coping, being able to deal with negative feelings, and being able … Continued
Kids staying connected to classmates while learning virtually
Social and emotional learning is an important element of development across all school aged children and adolescents. Many social and emotional skills are learned naturally throughout a school day when in person; listening, following directions, problem solving, waiting, taking turns, regulating emotions and interacting with peers. With many students learning remotely from a computer screen, questions and concerns about social development have been asked. How do we teach or promote social and emotional development remotely? Fortunately, we do have technology to help us out with this. Using video … Continued
Do you use microaggressions? Are you aware of the harm this may cause?
Microaggressions are everyday slights, indignities, put-downs, and insults that people of color, women, the LGBTQ+ population and other marginalized people deal with every day. These interactions might be comments, questions or actions that send denigrating messages to people because they belong to a minority group. Microaggressions are rooted in stereotypes and reflect deeply ingrained biases that people may not be aware of having. One of the things that makes microaggressions disconcerting is how easily they fly under the radar. Microaggressions happen casually, frequently and often without any intention … Continued