Are you feeling kind of grumpy and out of sorts; working hard to keep yourself motivated and moving? This website might help. It was created by a mother of a Sandy Hook child who died but left a loving message for his mother. She took this message to heart and created a website in his […]
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The Mott Foundation has released a new app they have created for after school staff called Mizzen; the app is completely free and can be found on both iOS and Android. The content is supplied by all the after school networks in the United States; a nice collaboration and a way to give back. I […]
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Transitions Are Hard Anyone who works with children or has children in their life knows transitions can be hard for them. But let’s be honest transitions can be hard for adults as well. We are in the middle of a worldwide transition, major pieces of our lives are in flux and we are all finding […]
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Resources to Brace for a Minion Rebellion Thanks to Carolyn Stearns for this abundance of resources. Do the walls seem a little closer? Has the family volume button been jacked to maximum? Is it impossible to find personal space? These unwelcome turn of events are all resulting from our precautions against the ravages of the […]
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We know children need structure and routine to feel safe in their constantly changing lives to help them organize their time, and to help them regulate their emotions and impulses. My family and yours have just found our usual routine pulled out from under us. My five children are home from elementary school, middle school, […]
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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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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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A total of 26 grants will be awarded to support local afterschool, summer, or expanded learning programs serving middle schoolers. Take a look to see which grant category is a good fit for you, and apply! Three grant categories: $100,000 – 8 grants of $50,000 per year over the span of two years will go to […]
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