Month 1: Setting the Stage

This month, our schoolwide theme is our school as a welcoming place, where every student feels like he or she belongs.  In our morning announcements and school assembly, we'll be reminding students to welcome others and act and speak in safe, respectful, and responsible ways.  In addition, we'll be reminding students of our school rules.

​We'll also begin teaching the Second Step program, which includes lessons that support these behaviors.

​Support your child at home in welcoming others and acting and speaking in safe, respectful, and responsible ways.  Please tell your child's teacher if you have questions about specific ways you can help your child with these behaviors at home.

Month 2: Skills for Learning

This month, our schoolwide theme is skills for learning: listening, focusing attention, using self-talk to stay on-task, and being assertive when asking for help with a learning task.  In our morning announcements and school assembly, we'll be reminding students of these skills, which help students be successful learners.

​Second Step lessons teach skills for learning.  You'll be receiving Home Links describing why these skills are important and including fun activities to do with your child to practice them.  We hope you enjoy them!

​Please tell your child's teacher if you'd like more suggestions about supporting skills for learning at home.

Month 3: Empathy

This month, our schoolwide theme is empathy.  In our morning announcements and school assembly, we'll be reminding students to have empathy, identify their own and others' feelings, notice and respect same and different feelings, and show compassion.  Compassion involves saying kind words or doing something helpful to show you care how another person feels.  When students can identify, understand, and respond in a caring way to how someone else is feeling, it helps create a positive and accepting school climate.

Second Step lessons specifically teach about empathy.  You'll be receiving Home Links describing why empathy is important and including fun activities to do with your child to help him or her identify feelings and practice showing empathy and compassion.  We hope you find them helpful.

​Please tell your child's teacher if you have any questions about how you can help your child learn to identify feelings and show empathy and compassion at home.

Month 4: Emotion Management

This month, our schoolwide theme is emotion management.  In our morning announcements and school assembly we'll be prompting students to notice their own feelings by paying attention to clues in their bodies, and we'll be reminding them to use their Second Step skills to calm down:

Stop -- Use your signal
Name your feeling
Calm down -- Breathe, count, use positive self-talk

​These skills help students calm down strong emotions when faced with learning and social challenges, which helps them succeed academically and get along well with others.

​Second Step lessons specifically teach about calming down strong emotions such as anger, disappointment, frustration, and anxiety.  You'll be receiving Home Links that describe why managing strong emotions is important and include fun activities to do with your child to help him or her identify strong feelings and calm down.  We hope the Home Links will give you tools to use together when your child is upset.

​Please tell your child's teacher if you have questions about how to can help your child learn to calm down at home.

Month 5: Problem Solving

This month, our schoolwide theme is problem solving.  In our morning announcements and school assembly we'll be reminding students to use the Second Step Problem-Solving Steps:

• ​·         S: Say the problem
• ·         T: Think of solutions
• ·         E: Explore consequences
• ·         P: Pick the best solution

​As you can see, the first letter of each step spells the word "STEP."  Remembering "STEP" helps students solve problems with each other in safe and respectful ways.

​Second Step lessons specifically teach students to use each step and reinforce the message that solutions need to be safe and respectful.  You will be receiving Home Links about the steps that describe why solving problems is important and include fun activities to do with your child to help him or her learn and practice the steps.  We hope the steps will be helpful for you and your child when there are problems at home.

​Please tell your child's teacher if you would like more suggestions about how to use the Problem-Solving Steps at home.

Month 6: Friendship Skills

This month, our schoolwide theme is friendship skills.  IN our morning announcements and school assembly, we'll be reminding students to invite others to play, play in fair ways, take responsibility for mistakes by making amends, and how to handle name-calling assertively.  These skills help students make and keep friends.

​Second Step lessons specifically teach these friendship skills.  You will be receiving Home Links describing why friendship skills are important and including fun activities to do with your child to help him or her learn and practice the skills.