Dear PS 107 Families,
That’s a wrap on the second full week of school – and now we have two days off for Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year). L’Shana Tova to our families who celebrate!
Last Friday, we noticed a certain energy in the building – there were more tears and more conflict – and some of that was likely in anticipation of the extra time off this week. Many children were probably excited, perhaps for time with family or a mini-vacation. Other children may have felt concerned about missing the regular routines that school brings. Regardless, a change in what they’ve become accustomed to can bring up a range of feelings in children that may manifest in more tears and more conflict because they have trouble verbalizing what’s at the root of their feelings. This is all normal.
Two important skills that we work on with children at PS 107 are naming their emotions and developing strategies to work through big feelings. Many of our classrooms are using the Kimochis social-emotional learning curriculum and are learning that all feelings are OK, but not all behaviors are OK. We can feel angry with our friends, but we can’t hit them. We can feel frustrated with our school work, but we can’t yell at our teachers. What can we do? We can recognize what we’re feeling and use a coping strategy (children will be learning a range of these this year) to help calm our body and our mind. And then we can use our words to share what’s going on for us.
This is not a linear or simple journey for any child! Our prefrontal cortex, which helps us to make rational, considered decisions, does not fully develop until we are around 25 years old. And for those of us with any sort of neurodiversity (ADHD, autism, anxiety, etc) or for those of us who have experienced trauma, our prefrontal cortex develops even more slowly. At PS 107, we are helping our students understand how their brains work so that they can have a successful experience in school — and beyond.
Warmly,
Ms Joanna
Principal