As the cooler months arrive and with the holidays on the mind, many families start discussions within their own homes about what they are thankful for and how to serve the most vulnerable in their communities. In fact, statistics say that 30 percent of annual giving occurs in December and 10 percent occurs on the last three days of the year. 

Although parents, caregivers and schools should be discussing ways to give back to others all year long, here are some helpful ways to serve others this Holiday season, while safely navigating COVID-19.

With the rising pressure to succeed felt amongst students today, it’s no wonder that receiving a lower grade than expected may leave many students feeling anxious and defeated.  

It’s not the end of the world, however, when the grade on top of your quiz or test isn’t what you had hoped for. There are several different strategies and steps to follow that may help you navigate the process after earning an undesirable grade.

While social distancing, wearing masks and avoiding gatherings weakens the spread of COVID-19, something else is growing stronger among communities at an alarming rate.

COVID shaming – or the act of publicly embarrassing someone who either has COVID-19 or is quarantining as a precautionary measure while they wait for test results after possible exposure – is real and now weaving its way through the gossip circles in neighborhoods and on school campuses. It is especially on the rise on social media. 

While many schools in our state and throughout the country are seeing upticks of COVID-19 cases heading into the winter months, it is important to remind ourselves about keeping the shame at bay. 

Here are some helpful tips:

With COVID-19 still lingering about, the routine of going to school this year has been anything but normal, adding more layers of confusion onto an already tumultuous 2020. If you’re lucky, your child’s school has reopened its doors for full-day instruction or turned to a hybrid learning model while taking heavy safety precautions. Some schools have also switched to completely virtual platforms.

As you navigate the uncertainty of this school year, Kelly Dun, Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child's Director of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid, has provided some helpful tips for families applying to private school as they navigate the pandemic.

Undoubtedly, there has never been a more turbulent election year. As the country still wades through the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and amid racial and ethnic inequities still piling onto structural racism, this election runs deep – and differently – for everyone. 

Children, in fact, can pick up on political banter and news soundbites, often leaving them unsure about what they are hearing or about what it means. 

It is important that parents and educators provide children the tools they need to understand politics respectfully, and age appropriately. 

Here are some helpful tips on how to help your children understand politics respectfully. 

This fall, parents who were able to send their children into the classroom – whether a full day or via hybrid model – lined up their children’s backpacks and pencil cases the night before their first day of classes. Also sitting among that pile of new school supplies was 2020’s newest necessity required for in-person school days – a mask.

While the CDC requires that masks be worn this fall while in the classroom and out in public to help keep COVID-19 at bay, this new normal does not arrive without its challenges.

One of the biggest challenges with mask-wearing is that faces are covered, therefore making social cues less reliable and sometimes difficult for children to interpret.

With the school year well underway, here are some helpful tips on how teachers and children can connect with one another when faces are not fully visible.

Raising kind and compassionate children is inevitably one of the most – arguably the most – important tasks that parents and caregivers are responsible for. Of course, parents want their children to do well in school, get involved in activities and make friends, but the foundation to raising a kind human being all boils down to the basic of principals – teach your children to become empathetic and compassionate toward others. 

This, however, does not happen overnight. In fact, it takes a lot of practice. But the process can start when children are young. Between the ages of 6-9 months, infants focus on parents’ reactions to social events and mimic them to learn how to operate in a social world. Between 18-24 months, toddlers begin to develop their own theories about the way the world works by attributing thoughts, feelings and intention to others and themselves. 

So, how can you instill empathy and compassion in children? Melissa Nelson, Oak Knoll's Lower School Guidance Counselor, says there are several ways parents and caregivers can model and guide, starting when they are very young: 

In September, as the air gets cooler, kids load their new notebooks, folders, and pencils into their new backpacks. When the first day of school finally arrives, parents shuttle their children out the door and cross their fingers for smiles and a great first day. This year, however, back-to-school looks vastly different as the country is still dodging COVID-19 minus a vaccine.

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced countless changes since March. Absent of a vaccine, and with the start of the school year just weeks away, parents everywhere are wrestling with the fact that the return to the classroom is going to look very different this fall.

For years, experts from different specialty areas have proven multiple benefits of a pre-K learning experience. From being better prepared for kindergarten to increasing high school graduation rates by 11 percent, there is no doubt that children who are exposed to a preschool experience reap advantages from this form of early education.