Mindfulness transforms a school community

From Fight School to Peace School

This is a powerful video segment about the dramatic effects of a mindfulness program in a San Francisco middle school.  The principal of what was once called "Fight School" was so desperate that he finally agreed to try mindfulness.  He even agreed to add 30 minutes on to the school day so that every single student had a chance to practice mindfulness for 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at the end of the day.  The results are miraculous.  Check it out:

http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/san-francisco-schools-transformed-power-meditation-n276301

- Linda

Mindfulness at the Super Bowl?!

Mindfulness at the Super Bowl?

This week my students were pretty surprised to hear me talk about football since it's not exactly the most peaceful of sports.  But it turns out that the kids at Lafayette have something major in common with the Seattle Seahawks:  they all practice mindfulness!  As you may know, the Seahawks have not always been the best team but they won the Super Bowl last year and are going to the Super Bowl again this year.  Most commentators attribute their recent success to Coach Pete Carroll's emphasis on Mindfulness Meditation.  Coach Carroll believes that mindfulness helps his players focus, block out distractions, deal with anger, anxiety and stress, and create a more cohesive team.  Check out these articles to find out more about Coach Carroll's philosophy.  If mindfulness can help professional football players play better, just imagine what it can do for our little leaguers, or soccer players, or ballet dancers, or violin players!

- Linda

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/seattle-seahawks-ohm-team-advantage/story?id=21614481&page=2

http://bebrainfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/russell-wilson-200x300.jpg


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soren-gordhamer/mindfulness-the-seattle-s_b_4815477.html

Topic for January: Self Control

 

 

Hello and welcome back to school! I'm sure parents are as excited about this time of year as we are; it's nice to be back in our routine. This month we are kicking off our Peace classes with the topic of Self-Control for students in grades Pre-K and K. We will be watching some of the Cookie Monster videos on self-control, whole body listening, and following directions and then putting those terms into practice with games and activities in the classroom. You can follow along by checking out the videos at home (if you're a Star Wars fan, you'll especially enjoy "Star S'Mores") and asking your child to tell you what they know about the topic. 

We will also continue practicing mindfulness at the beginning of each class. The kids are getting very good at belly breathing (also called "flowers and candles") to help self-calm. Today one little girl told me she used belly breathing over the break when she got mad at her mom and it helped her not feel so angry. That's why we practice every week, and you can encourage your child to use this and other self-control methods at home such as counting to ten, thinking about something else, or going to a calm-down spot in the house. Research has proven that as kids get a little older and more mature, these self-regulation skills learned early on will help them face increased challenges and make better decisions when it's most important...something we all want for our kids! For more information on that reserach, check out this review of the Cookie Monster series.

Happy New Year,
Jillian

Peace Heroes

Have you seen our Peace Heroes Board?  It's in the Great Hall near the Nurse's office.  Every month you will find it loaded up with messages mostly from one child to another.  The children are recognizing others for showing kindness.  Sometimes a child will thank another for playing with them when they were lonely, or helping them pick up their spilled crayons, or cheering them up when they were sad, or simply being a good friend.  At the end of each month a group of fifth graders take them all down and hand out the certificates to the Peace Heroes.  We used to do monthly parties and hand out little trinkets but we found that the kids were just as happy without these things. Knowing that someone caught them being kind seems to be reward enough!

- Linda Ryden

How To Deal With Feelings At Holiday Time

Greetings Parents!  As the holidays and winter vacation approach, we enter into a very exciting time of year.  Both adults and children alike feel the joy and elation of the celebrations, but sometimes the excitement of the season may bubble over and result in meltdowns.  Below are some tips to help you get through the winter months with your sanity intact.  Enjoy.

                                                                      -Harriet Kuhn, Lafayette Psychologist

Temper Tantrums: Guidelines for Parents

By Robert G. Harrington, PhD
University of Kansas
Every teacher of young children and every new parent can expect to witness some temper tantrums in children from age 1–4 years. On average, temper tantrums are equally common in boys and girls, and more than half of young children will have one or more per week.  At home, there are predictable situations that can be expected to trigger temper tantrums, such as bedtime, suppertime, getting up, getting dressed, bath time, watching TV, parent talking on the phone, visitors at the house, family visiting another house, car rides, public places, family activities involving siblings, interactions with peers, and playtime. Other settings include transitions between activities, on the school bus, getting ready to work, interactions with other children, directives from the teacher, group activities, answering questions in class, individual seat work, and the playground.

We said "Thank you!" in Peace Class!

Last week in Peace Class we made cards to thank members of the Lafayette staff who are sometimes overlooked.  We thanked the front office staff, the custodians, the cafeteria workers, and many others who make Lafayette such a wonderful place.  The children love this project every year.  It is such fun to watch them think about just the right thing to say.  Some lucky ones got to deliver their cards in person and got to experience first hand the joy of making someone else happy.  Staff tell me that getting these cards is a highlight of their year.  I've had people hug me hard when I deliver the cards and some have even shed a tear or two of happiness.  I've added a few pictures of some of the amazing cards and the wonderful artists who created them.   - Linda

Building an "Attitude of Gratitude" in our Children

Our Peace Classes in Pre-K, Kindergarten, and First Grade this week have been focused on the words gratitude, feeling grateful and being thankful. While many children know what it means to be thankful, less have been familiar with the word grateful. Even less have recognized the word gratitude. At this age, it's a perfect time to have this important vocabulary lesson. But moving beyond vocabulary, we've read stories and had discussions around these words and how to live them. The kids have made gratitude leaf garlands (kindergarten), thankful picture frames (pre-k), and written in their Peace Journals about feeling grateful (first grade). In each class we have talked about how these feelings are so important to have each day. We've talked a bit about another gr- word that we DON'T want to be: greedy. 

As we prepare for Thanksgiving, this holiday is a good reminder for us of all we have to be thankful for. As parents, we can help our children in this regard by having regular discussions of all that we are thankful for. Do you regularly model an attitude of gratitude for your little ones? Do your children write thank-you notes to others? Do your kids understand that other children, even in this very same city, do not live the lives we do? The more we can remind our children of their good fortune, show them examples of helping others less fortunate, and talk about our gratitude, the more they will develop their own attitudes of gratitude and the less greedy they will become.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your families!
-Jillian

National School Psychology Awareness Week: November 10-14, 2014

National School Psychology Awareness Week: November 10-14, 2014

Helping Staff and Families Support Students to Thrive in School and Beyond

As parents and educators, we share the goal to help our children thrive in school, at home, and in life. This includes ensuring their safety and well-being, helping them build positive relationships, providing opportunities to gain new knowledge and skills, and encouraging them to take on challenges and persevere when things get tough. Working together, we can promote their competence, achievement, and resiliency. 

Peace Club is more popular than ever!

If you have a child in second grade or up you may have heard them talk about Peace Club.  Peace Club is different from the weekly Peace Classes that all of the kids at Lafayette take.  Peace Club is a special alternative lunch and recess program for 2nd - 5th graders.  It is a mixed-age group of anywhere from 20-50 kids that has become popular with kids who sometimes struggle with social skills, with kids who love to do arts and crafts, with kids who love to play with legos and magna-tiles and kids who like to be in a smaller environment with a higher teacher-child ratio.  Peace Club is led by Peace Teacher Linda Ryden, and the school counselors Jillian Diesner and Rashida Mosby.

Everyone who comes to Peace Club makes a promise to treat everyone else with kindness and respect,  to make sure that conflicts are worked out peacefully, and that everyone is included.  Some older children are asked to be Peace Club helpers.  If you were to drop by Peace Club you would probably be surprised by how noisy it is.  It is not "peaceful" on the surface.  But there is so much going on there that is contributing to making Lafayette a more peaceful place.  The children eat lunch together getting to know children in other grades and classes.  After lunch they have lots of options designed to encourage cooperation and social interactions.  Some children choose to make the wonderful peace posters that line the halls at Lafayette.  Many children choose to join together to make fantastic structures.  Some children play board games or guessing games or Twister. Peace Club is a welcoming community-within-a-community at Lafayette.

Check out this slideshow for a glimpse of the fun that is Peace Club!

Halloween Candy Drive for the Homeless

Halloween Candy Drive for the Homeless

The kids at Lafayette are a very generous bunch and that spirit really comes out at holiday time.  No, I'm not talking about those winter holidays, at Lafayette Halloween is time to think about generosity and compassion.  Sure we dress up as scary monsters, or favorite storybook or movie characters, but Halloween at Lafayette is about helping others.  

Our very own Kenny family - Guy, Maya, and Amalia - have been collecting Halloween costumes to share with homeless children.  What a creative and fun way to make a child in crisis happy!