At this point in the COVID-19 Pandemic, parents may begin noticing changes in their child’s behavior/mental health. Students may be noticing this for themselves as well. Being away from normalcy (friends, teachers, school, being able to go to the local grocery store!) may be having an effect on them and that only makes sense. Because of that, parents/students may want to look into some resources to promote mental and physical wellness. Attached in this post are some links to resources available that are age appropriate for elementary students.
Some tips that I have for parents include the following:
Don’t lie to your child about what is going on, but do modify the information so that it is age appropriate (example: a virus is something that makes people sick and this virus (COVID-19) is really contagious, which is why it is important that we practice washing our hands).
Because there is still a lot of unknown about this virus, it is okay to let kids know that we do not know all of the answers (example: when asked “when will this end?” it is okay to say “we are not sure when all of this will be over, but luckily there are a lot of smart people working on it so it will not last forever”).
Remind your children that this will end! It may feel like forever, but it isn’t.
Limit how much you watch the news (in our home, we try to watch for a short time in the morning and a short time in the evening. We also do our best not to talk about the amount of deaths in front of our children.)
Talk to your children about the importance of healthy hygiene and encourage them that as long as we are using good hygiene, we will remain healthy and virus free.
Get some fresh air every day, even on the days that the weather is a little chilly.
LIMIT TECHNOLOGY. I am an advocate for limiting screen time due to the effects that it has on mental health and brain development. I know that some of our Distance Learning requires screen time, but outside of that, having a goal of 2 hours of technology/screen time is what my family has been aiming for! (Although we do cheat when we decide to have movie nights!)
Understand that we might see some regression in our younger kiddos. Ways to respond to this include implementing a routine with healthy activities, providing consistency in those routines, and providing a lot of love and support to our children. This is a confusing time for us adults so we can only imagine the impact it is having on our littles.
Please, please, please reach out if you are needing some support! It is times like this when it is especially okay to rely on one another!