November 2022 * Elkridge ES

WE BELONG

This Month’s Theme…

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Flexible Thinking

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Flexibility is an important executive skill in our everyday lives. Plans change, we make mistakes, and we face setbacks. Flexibility is how we adapt to these changing circumstances!

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In addition to our classroom teachers, we have related service providers working directly with students on executive skills, like flexibility. Our speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and school psychologist use curricula such as Superflex (Madrigal & Garcia Winner, 2008) and Unstuck and On Target (Cannon, Kenworthy, Alexander, Werner, & Gutermuth Anthony, 2021) to teach flexible thinking and reactions.

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Here are a few tips for families to help with students’ flexibility at home (Cannon, Kenworthy, Alexander, Werner, & Gutermuth Anthony, 2021). Visit the Unstuck and On Target YouTube channel for more parenting resources, including a video example about the strategies below!

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• Acknowledge your child’s feelings. (Examples: “You are feeling frustrated because _____”; “It sounds like you are disappointed about _____”)
• Be a model! Talk out loud about being flexible with your own plans. (Example: “I had a plan to go out to dinner with my friend, but her child is sick and now she can’t go. I am so sad about that. I will have to figure out another way to get together with her once her child feels better. Or maybe I can take dinner to her!”)
• In advance, brainstorm about a “Plan A” and a “Plan B” with your child. (Example: “Let’s go to the library. What book do you want to check out? If they don’t have your first choice, what are some other books you are interested in?”)
• Teach language such as “Big Deal/Little Deal”. What are some situations that your child is able to deal with independently and easily? Those are “Little Deals”. “Big Deals” are more complicated problems that your child may need help solving.
• Ask your child: “Does this feel like a big deal or a little deal?”
• Accept their response and acknowledge their feelings (even if you don’t think it’s a “Big Deal”!)
• Offer to help them problem-solve (Examples: “Would you like some help in coming up with solutions?”; “What do you think you should do next?”)

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Thanks Dr. Astary for sharing all of this information!

November 2022 * Elkridge ES

WE BELONG

This Month’s Theme…

Native American Heritage Month

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The Elkridge Elementary Library has quite a few books available to students to check out that feature tribes across North America. In the bulletin board above, Mrs. Tiralla highlights some of these books and the tribe they feature. Encourage your students to select a book from our collection to celebrate this month!

Howard County Library Highlights

The Howard County Library has a page highlighting literature available in the Howard County Library System and events being held at the library branches.

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Mrs. Harmon’s Native American Heritage Room

Linked on the image above, Mrs. Harmon created a Google Slide presentation with links to information, informative videos and read alouds.