Today is national Pencil Day. The first pencil was invented in 1858 by Hymen Lipman. If you have any unsharpened pencils around your house try and see how many pencils can you stack on top of each other before they fall. Welcome back to online school. I hope everyone had a great spring break!   For those that do not know audible is offering free audiobooks for as long as schools stay closed. There is a link below.  
​
This time can be a hard time for not only students but parents too. If students are having a hard time understanding what the coronavirus is and how it spreads. I have attached a couple of books to help explain the virus to students and how to help them if it is bothering them. 
​https://stories.audible.com/discovery/enterprise-discovery-21103929011?ref=adbl_ent_anon_ds_ds_dbb_0-0

Happy first day of Spring! Today is national lets laugh day. I find this ironic due to everything going on in our world today. I also find it as a reminder to enjoy the little things in life and find the things that bring you joy. I challenge everyone t during this time to try and find one thing that makes them laugh every day. After all, they say laughing is the best medicine. 

Stay safe! And as always, feel free to reach out with any questions, concerns or need resources.

Claire

​Creating a routine, structure, and keeping them can help reduce stress by focusing on the things we can control. A consistent routine is especially important for students as they are used to going to school every day. Once the schedule is created,  placing it in a location where it will be seen every day will help to keep it.  

Here are some ways to create and keep a schedule, have your student create it with you. All the teachers will be having the same office hours throughout the school closure to help with the consistency. Teachers want to see their students to check-in and make sure they are doing okay. 

​

As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. 

Claire 

Here is an article and vocabulary to help talk to children during this anxious time and some resources to use.

A fun interactive way to show what happens when we wash our hands with soap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HulpYYaQ2Dg
​

Hello, and welcome for those of you who don't know who I am, let me introduce myself. My name is Claire Lawrence and I am currently in my second year as the school counselor here at Holy Trinity. I grew up in Southwest Portland and attended Saint John Fisher for Elementary and Middle school, Wilson for high school, University of Oregon for Undergraduate and George Fox for Graduate school. 

My role is to be a support system for your student(s) emotional, social, or academic needs in either a one on one setting or in a group setting. During this unusually time I am planning to not only support your students but also give parents resources to help navigate this stressful time. My hope is that this can be a place where you can find fun ways to entertain your students and explain to them what is going on. 

Feel free to reach out through email if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child during this time. 

​Claire  

​