Feb. 23

We were lucky enough to have a guest speaker come to our class today to talk about self regulation, feelings, and being mindful. Erin Novak is a registered Occupational Therapist who works regularly in our school.  She came today to talk about feelings, how we control them, and strategies when we are feeling out of control.   We started by reading the book "In My Heart: A Book of Feelings".  We talked about the different ways we can feel and where we feel those emotions in our body. For example, we might feel tired in our eyes or in our head and anger in clenched fists or in the pit of our stomach.  We defined the word mindful  as being aware of the present moment and what is around us.  We talked about how it is important to know how our feelings affect the different parts of our body, especially anger so aren't tense or holding energy in.  We noticed that when we are angry or upset we hold our breath, breathe harder or our heart can beat faster.  Learning to be in the moment, be present, and be mindful allows us to calm these feelings and refocus.   One way of doing this is pretending we are holding a cup of hot chocolate. When we breathe in, we smell the hot chocolate, when we breathe out, we cool down the hot chocolate. This visual and kinesthetic reminder helps us calm quicker and more effectively.  We will continue to work with Erin through the year so I will post anything new as we do it! Two notes from the office: Main Office/School Access   Hello Parents and Guardians, In order to keep up with CBE Security Standards our  main entry doors will now remain locked.  To access the school you will need to buzz the front office.  The buzzer is located on the brick wall to the right of the doors (see attached picture).  Once the office has unlocked the door please use the handicap entrance to enter the school; once in the vestibule please push on the door to the office. 2016 Child Care Receipts

Dear Parents and Guardians, Student Fess has prepared the 2016 Child Care Tax Receipts.  These receipts are generated for families who have paid for Noon Supervision in 2016.  Please watch for these in your child’s backpacks over the next couple of days.