From the Archives: Webinars from the Past can Inform Future Thinking When I first started at the Connecticut After School Network 13 years ago we did monthly webinars with guest speakers. At the time there was no Zoom, no streaming video chat, and YouTube was just gaining steam. One thing the COVID-19 pandemic has shown […]
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Hello! My name is Mary and I am a part-time Professional Development Specialist with the Network. It’s day five of working from home and I have to say I’m going a little stir crazy. Even though there’s plenty to do, there’s something about suggesting social distance and discouraging in-person human interaction that has me going […]
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Well that escalated quickly! Here are 9 articles sharing information and resources about what you can do to prepare and care for yourself, your family, and your work in the coming weeks when it comes to some of the social and emotional aspects of being homebound. Here are some resources to help make this […]
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How to Prepare Children for Group Activities I have to say, I have conducted a few group activities that ended in chaos and have left me wondering what went wrong. Through my experiences, I have learned the skills and strategies that help children develop in learning the skills and benefits of working together in groups. […]
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5 Strategies that Help with Transitions When I visit our learning centers to conduct an observation, I pay close attention to how staff assist children with transitioning from activities. Let’s face it, change is hard for adults but especially difficult for children. It is critical for staff to be able to transition students quickly and […]
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What is your program achieving to include Social Emotional Learning in daily scheduled programming. 1. What is your school’ s planning process for choosing the SEL program and activities? 2. What tools, resources, training are your staff performing to implement SEL programs? Is there a coordinator or planning committee to assure that the efforts of […]
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Why Children Tease In a perfect world, children wouldn’t make fun of each other. Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world- and teasing is a typical behavior among younger people. With concerns of bullying in our schools and the impacts it has on our youth, its important to have knowledge about why children may […]
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That Kid’s Got Talent! On the Lookout for Your Child’s Hidden Talents. Children with learning and attention issues may be more reluctant to try new things because they may already struggle with making friends, academics, and have some social and emotional struggles as well. Often, children are reluctant to try new things for fear of failure- that […]
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“It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it”, I remarked to my father after he said “never mind, it’s fine I’ve got it”. I could hear the frustration and impatience in his voice. His words said, “everything was okay”, but I knew he needed help and was spent from a long day. I […]
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Using Seating Arrangements in the Classroom I was speaking with a friend one day and we got into a discussion about her productivity levels. She is currently a graduate student and also teaches. She explained to me that classroom and study environments are tremendously impactful on student’s ability to focus and stay engaged in the […]
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