Tippit Counselor's Corner

Starting to Think About High School By Sean Moore As we approach the end of our 2020-2021 school year, many students are beginning to think even more about what next year might hold.  It is not too early, even for 7th grade students, to begin thinking about high school.  This is where credits, career preparation, and graduation become the new focus of academics.  For parents, this can be a stressful time of just acknowledging you have a high school student, while continuing to try to mold your child into the adult you hope they will be.  Here are some things to think about as your son or daughter approaches the transition to high school life.  1. Be present.  What I mean is to remember to be in the moment with your child.  Talk to them about their day by asking them, "what is something interesting that happened or what is something you learned today?"  Asking, "how was your day" often leads to a one word answer and doesn't open the door for conversation and shar

 Helping Your Child Cope with Current Events by Holly Barrett Our students have had to deal with so much this year!  In addition to the many challenges resulting from the pandemic, our nation has experienced much political and social unrest.  Unfortunately, these events that create uncertainty and discord can result in increased stress and anxiety levels for many children. What can parents do to minimize the effects? 1.  Limit news and reduce social media use:   Access the news when your younger children are not with you but answer any questions they may have with age appropriate responses; If your older children are aware of current events, watch the news with them so that you can answer questions, discuss the event,  and process their feelings and concerns.  If the news is creating too much worry for your children, there are apps and websites such as  LeechBlock  or  SelfControl  that can temporarily block social media or certain websites.  Look at the site  Positive News  with your

Parenting and the Power of Giving By Sean Moore, M.Ed. (Tippit Counselor) Over the last couple weeks, we have focused on the theme of Giving.  Studies are now showing us that the act of giving actually releases feel good chemicals which leads to happiness.  In other words, people who give tend to be happier.  Throughout this article, we want to share some of the videos that we have shown to our students this month about the power of giving. As counselors, we know that this school year has been the most difficult year for many students, teachers, and families.  As we look at mental health, we are forced to acknowledge the fact that simple acts of kindness towards another person can lead to a more positive mood and better overall life quality.  What's interesting is that the human race seems to be hard wired to help and give to each other.  One experiment showed that when given the option of getting something for themselves or getting something for their parent, kids over and over ag

Gratitude: Why It's Important? (From Region 13 Educational Service Center) Let’s talk about Gratitude. It’s the ability to see the positive in your own life, even when things are challenging. And we know now that practicing gratitude is actually good for our brains and bodies! Let’s look at a few reasons why. Gratitude increases the hormones in our brains that tell us we are content and happy. When we can go through our day and notice the good aspects and not just the negative, our brain is releasing more endorphins and dopamine and less cortisol (the stress hormone). When you practice gratitude regularly, you will experience better quality sleep, have more energy, and less anxiety and depression. While this sounds too good to be true, science tells us it is possible! This all takes practice. Our brains are incredibly powerful and they’re also a muscle. The more you build your gratitude muscles, the less stressed you’ll become. Practice gratitude for one week, intentionally lookin