Hi Everyone,

Youthspace is an online crisis & emotional support chat for youth. All conversations are non-judgemental, confidential & anonymous. If you feel like your child may benefit from another voice and place to express their thoughts and feelings in a safe way they can text a representative at 778 783 0177 or contact them online by clicking the image below.

Youthspace also provides a large number of online resources organized by category. These include Covid-19, Anxiety, Depression, Suicide, Self harm and many general self-care tools. It is worth checking out. Resources are located here.  Youthspace is open 6pm – Midnight PST 365 days of the year.

Create your own Zones Check-in

Some of you may be familiar with the program The Zones of Regulation, a popular Social Emotional learning program in many elementary classrooms.  If not,  chances are your children probably are using it in their current classroom or have used it in a previous classroom.

Zones helps students (and adults) identify the emotions they are feeling and provides strategies for regulating or managing those feelings. It can also be super helpful in group environments like families.  If we are feeling upset, overly tired, excited, or calm is it helpful for others to know this?  Of course.  If we are tired we may need help motivating ourselves to do things. If we are upset with another family member we may need some time alone to take a break and calm down before we solve that problem. It’s helpful to know where other people are sitting with their emotions. The tool below walks you through the creation of a zones check-in for your home. It is my hope that it is helpful developing  emotion identification skills and help you avoid challenging family dynamics.

As always, if you are feeling like your child could use a little more emotional help don’t hesitate to be in touch with me to talk about options at scott.anderson@burnabyschools.ca

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Hi everyone,

No, How Are You, Really? – May Pang – Medium Every time someone asks me this question lately, I feel a sense of confusion, occasionally followed by a rising frustration. I’m fine. I have food, a job, a support network, and even toilet paper… medium.com

Hi Everyone,

This week may have brought some anxious feelings to parents and children in our community.  As a society, we continue to progress in our response to the Covid-19 pandemic. With this we are entering into a period where some areas of our society, including schools, start to re-open to the public in a limited fashion.  In schools, questions abound about what the halls and classrooms might look like now and in September. There are lots of unknowns. It is natural that these unknowns might bring with them feelings of anxiousness. This is a natural response.

I am including some thoughts on this for everyone to ponder in the hopes that it might be helpful managing these unknowns and anxious feelings. First is a short video on this subject from renowned psychologist Angela Duckworth.

Second, I want to include some thoughts here on some strategies for kids, and adults, for dealing with uncertainty. As always, if you would like to make an appointment to discuss this or other mental health challenges, or to book a virtual session for your child please email me at scott.anderson@burnabyschools.ca

Responding to Change

Hello everyone,

As many of you are aware schools will be reopening to students on a voluntary and part-time basis on June 1st. With the announcement comes many questions about what this might look like.  This potential change has also probably brought a variety of different feelings to both children and parents. Feelings like anxiety, sadness, fear and excitement are natural and normal. I am including here some thoughts you might find helpful as you navigate these changes.

Start by checking in with yourself…

Bring awareness to your own worries and fears.

Change your own unhelpful thoughts to more helpful thoughts so that you can feel more confident about everything going well.

Our kids pick up on our energy so we need to calm ourselves first and foremost.

Feelings First

…and remember “Feelings First, Logics Last”.  We want to listen to their feelings and validate them, not fix them.

Just listen and validate…  “It sounds as though you’re feeling ______, _______ and _______.  Can you tell me more about each of these feelings…”

Continue to let them know that their feelings are valid and you can understand that they’re feeling this way.

Logics Last

When they’re ready, remind them that it helps to look at the “evidence” so our negative thoughts don’t get carried away on us.

Go over the safety measures that are being put in place.

Go over the changes that will be very different. Schools can help in this regard and will be sending things that might be helpful.

(As parents can we expect some sadness too, especially once our kids go to school and realize how much has changed and how many restrictions are still necessary.)

*adapted from a presentation by Sharon Selby

Social Stories

Stories can be very powerful tools to help children process and understand feelings. I am attaching a social story Returning-To-School-During-COVID-19 written by a colleague in the district that might be of some use to parents who will be  helping their children return to school this June. Change is difficult but reading stories can be great starting places for helpful conversations.

Hi everyone,

Sleep, diet, and exercise are often cited as the foundations of our mental health.  You may have experienced that when you don’t sleep well or are hungry that it is harder to control your feelings or be at your best.

Exercise is important for our physical health, however, it is equally important for our mental health just like diet and sleep. This week I became aware of a FREE program offered by the YMCA. It is called YGym and it is a free healthy community program for young people and families across Canada! YGym is instructed by YMCA certified fitness instructors and features content based on YMCA Canada’s Health & Fitness Programs and Canada’s Physical Activity Guidelines. It is designed for children of varying ages and abilities and is a great way to get children (or the whole family) active. Check it out!

Hi everyone,

Some of you might be aware of Shelly Moore. She is an amazing local educator whose work, public speaking, and podcast are well know to educators locally and across Canada. Her work on the new curriculum, inclusion and working effectively with kids is helpful to not only educators but parents alike.

Here is one of her podcasts that many might find useful. It discusses how using visuals is helpful supporting not only kid’s learning, but adults as well! Explore other Five Moore Minutes on her youtube channel.

Hi Everyone,

This week Burnaby Family Life is offering a new webinar in their series. Registration for this webinar is located in the links located below. Also, previous recorded webinars are available as well!!!