Counselor's Corner
Ms. Gloria Silverberg
May Notes from your Counselor……………………………………….gloria silverberg
As our school year comes to a close, many families are beginning to think about the next academic year. I have spoken to many parents who are already thinking about the transitions involved in having a different teacher with different classmates. As I explain to our children, I believe it is an important part of their social/emotional development to learn how to make changes in your life with a positive attitude. Handling changes of teachers is also important as these children will someday have to work for a variety of bosses when they begin working. Learning how to meet new people and make new friends is a life long skill that is necessary in our very mobile world. Wouldn’t it be sad if the last friends you ever made were in kindergarten?!
How can you help your child transition to a new grade with a new teacher and new friends? The following were suggestions from some of our 5th graders:
- Meet your new teacher at the Open House at the beginning of the school year.
- Introduce yourself to the new students in your class and ask them how their summer was.
- Be positive when talking about the changes.
- Invite some of your children’s new classmates over for a play date.
- Share stories from your own childhood about how you made new friends every year.
- Recognize that every teacher has their own personality and style of teaching but that overall, teachers want to help their students achieve academic success.
- A book recommendation for helping children who have an especially difficult time with changes is: The Highly Sensitive Child by Elaine Aron.
In the Spring, our school hands out a Parent Questionnaire where parents have an opportunity to describe their child’s learning styles and preferences. Although we do not ask for specific Teacher requests, please know that we carefully review the comments and try our best to match your child with the best teacher and class for their needs. The Teachers, Specialists, and Principal are involved in making these decisions. The class lists are worked on from Spring through Summer, while we do our best to have balanced and fair classes where each child can thrive and be happy.
Change is a natural part of life and we want to teach our children not to fear it, but rather to embrace it. I always share one of my favorite memories with the students of when my own daughter was entering 5th grade. When she looked at the class list, she was very sad to see her 2 closest friends were in the other classes and she thought she was getting the really “strict” Teacher. At the end of the year, she shared with me that it was her best school year ever, as she kept her old friends but made new friends from her new class. As for the teacher, she became a favorite, and will always be remembered as impacting my daughter’s life in such a terrific way! Making these new friends really helped prepare my daughter for all the transitions to middle school the next year. She was confident that she could handle the necessary transitions!
Happy Transitioning!
Mrs. Gloria Silverberg
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