• Parenting

    When High School Looms Near

    For many parents, the transition to high school is an emotional, exciting, and worrisome transition. Where did the time go? How did they get so big? Why are they so sassy? What has hormones done with my child?!? Here at school there are many ways we support this transition to high school. We engage with the high school in advance to communicate student need and we bring the high school in to the classroom to ensure that students know the options available to them. Students get to take a trip (or several, depending on the need) to the school in person so that they understand the layout of the school…

  • Child and Youth Mental Health,  Parenting,  Uncategorized

    Social-Emotional Pandemic Risks To Your Child — and Solutions by Age

    I am resharing an article from a parenting blog that I follow. This article is taken from Aha! Parenting a parent community created and supported by Dr. Laura Markham. The article is linked in full above, but I have pulled the sections that apply to our Elementary age students: Social-Emotional Pandemic Risks To Your Child — and Solutions by Age Thursday, October 29, 2020 “Dr. Laura….I’m worried that… “My extraverted four year old never sees anyone but me and his little sister, and is getting more and more difficult.” “My eight year old hates zoom school and now says he hates math and reading.” “My twelve year spends all his…

  • Gilmore,  Special Topics/ Awareness

    October is National Anti-Bullying Awareness Month

    Bullying is a topic that necessarily has come to the forefront of the conversations connected to child and youth mental health. Bullying is something that has existed across generations, but I think it is safe to say that this generation of kids are facing a new frontier of bullying with the existence of the internet and the creation of social media. One thing I like to remind parents is that bullying is a particular form of conflict: It is actions that are targeted and repeated over time. Often times parents or students are quick to call any conflict bullying, however, some conflict is a healthy part of growing up. Age…

  • Child and Youth Mental Health,  Parenting

    Anxiety as Anger

    There are a lot of studies that connect anxiety and depression, but there are more and more eyes turning towards the relationship between anger and anxiety. Bernard Golden summarizes Anger and Anxiety below: While anger and anxiety are two distinct emotions, like all emotions they provide us with information about ourselves—if only we can take time to listen to them. And, while distinct, they can interact in a variety of ways that may exacerbate anxiety, anger, or both: Anger is an emotion characterized by antagonism toward someone or something we perceive as responsible for our suffering. It is most often past-oriented—about something that we believe “should” have happened or something…

  • Uncategorized

    Meet the Counsellor

    Hello! My name is Katie DeReus. Students call me Mrs. Katie. The friendly giant. I am a tall lady with hair that is changing all the time. But I promise my smile and my love and adoration of children will never change. I am proud to be the Counsellor at Gilmore and Rosser Elementary schools. I love working with our students and consider the school environment to be a unique counselling environment in that I often support students over many years as they grow and learn. I have been a School Counsellor since 2016. I was an Teacher from 2008-2016, starting my classroom teaching career at Choice School for Gifted…