Student Services Snapshot

School is winding down for the year and summer grows ever closer. This means parents may be spending more time with their children during the summer break. Hopefully this allows for quality time to connect without the pressures of homework and school projects dictating family time. As you are cruising down the highway of fun, you may find yourself hitting some speed bumps along the way.

Many parents find it frustrating to get their children to slow down, pay attention, and follow directions, regardless of the age of your children! Here are a few strategies to help with effective communication in order to navigate your way around those speed bumps:

· Give clear, specific directions. (Ex. "Get dressed, brush your teeth, and make your bed" vs. "Go get ready")

· Try to break tasks into one or two steps so they do not feel overwhelming.

· Give the child choices.

· Ask questions instead of making statements. This forces a child to stop and think about the alternatives.

Get creative! Use interesting time limits and make it a challenge. Saying, "We are leaving in five minutes" may be meaningless to many kids. Instead, try saying, "Do you think we can set a record by picking up all our Legos in three and a half minutes?" Don't be afraid to vary your tone of voice, speaking softly or whispering at times, which may encourage your child to learn to listen more attentively. Using timers to set limits can also be helpful. Above all, try to remain calm, as your child will feed off of your emotions. If you find yourself stuck: take some deep breaths, step away, sit down and color, water your plants, take a walk. Remember, you are human! While it's not ideal to lose your cool, keep in mind, it is valuable for children to see how their parents make and fix mistakes...after all, mistakes are the key to learning.

This summer, whether your family is road trippin' or enjoying a stay-cation, remind yourself to keep calm and parent on and remember, there is no such thing as a perfect parent, so just be a real one.

In partnership,

Melissa McLean

The very first Central Office intern, Brianna, is graduating! In her year as Central Office intern, Brianna did a fantastic job, earned more and more responsibility, and formed positive relationships with her co-workers. In the fall, Brianna is headed to HACC to pursue a degree in Early Childhood Education. The Central Office Staff wishes her all the best and will miss her!

Over the past six weeks, Ms. Mancuso's STEM Class has taken on the challenge of developing and perfecting their gardening/farming skills. What better way to explore science and perfect the gardening skills than to learn and explore what plants need to survive. Each student germinated seeds, replanted sprouts, and took data on the growth of their plants. Because of our small eclectic group, students planted a couple of unusual vegetables. Students planted Chinese Red Noodles, Kaleidoscope carrots, Bull's Blood Beets, petite sweet carrot, sweet pepper, purple lady, green beans, cucumber and tomato plants. These students have proven to be wonderful gardeners and maybe our future farmers.

All these students have a Green Thumb!

Ms. Peterson taught a lesson on Pottery in her classroom. The talented students created some beautiful works of art.

Miss Nagode's students have been learning about gratitude. For Nurse Appreciation week, the students in Miss Nagode's class decorated boxes to collect notes for Nurse Jones. Students throughout the Middle School, in Mrs. Rodgers' class and Miss Nagode's class all wrote small gestures of recognition on paper die-cut medical objects. All the small notes were assembled together in a collage to form one large message of appreciation to Nurse Jones! The students would like to thank you, Nurse Jones, for all you do to keep us healthy!

Students in Mr. Strine's classroom worked together to assemble office chairs for staff. The students worked on life skills by following the instructions step by step, using tools, and working together. The students earned a pizza party as a reward for a job well done.

Are you a parent or know a parent, guardian, caregiver, or representative of a child with a disability?

Learn how the SSI program can help: https://bit.ly/3dJKMfZ

Anne K. Corwell, Ed.D. - Director of Student Services

a.corwell@upperadams.org

Jaime Mickley - Admin. Assistant Student Services, Editor

j.mickley@upperadams.org

Website: upperadams.org/domain/142
Location: 161 North Main Street Biglerville, PA
Phone: 717-677-7191 -2701