Counseling news, Caring

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Caring

ECE

Dear ECE parents: During February and part of March we will be working on the value of Humanity or Caring. I am sharing some suggestions that may be useful for you at home.

Don´t hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns.

Sincerely, Aura Sandoval de Mejia ECE Counselor admejia@interamericano.edu.gt

A GUIDE FOR PARENTS FOR THE VALUE OF HUMANITY/CARING ● ● ● ● ●

Be good.

Be compassionate and show that you care.

Express gratitude.

Forgive others.

Help people in need.

WHAT CAN YOU DO AT HOME: ❖

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Declare this month the "Month of Goodness" and look for ways to show kindness; for example: anonymous notes, do someone else's work as a surprise, etc.

Do something as a family that shows kindness to someone in need. Take your child with you when you volunteer.

Propose family goals. Have each family member finish the following sentence”I will show kindness to: ______________” and place it in a place where it will serve as a reminder. admejia@interamericano.edu.gt

PARENTS CAN PROMOTE GOODNESS Give each child time, attention, and affection.

Encourage the expression of feelings and an awareness of them.

Ask consistently how the decisions we make have an impact on the feelings of others. Do not tolerate your child doing or saying things that harm others on purpose.

Encourage cooperation and behavior that helps.

FOR REFLECTION “They may not remember what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel�. Carl Buehner

TO HELP YOU TEACH THE SIX PILLARS Focus area: service and volunteer.

Promote compassion and inspire kindness in your family by providing opportunities to care for others in need: in your home, neighborhood, school, community, state, country, or world. Children will often look at people who are in need and will be eager to help them.

admejia@interamericano.edu.gt

ELEM

CARING

In February, we had the opportunity to work with our students on the value of caring. We led Caring workshops in each Elementary classroom in which students defined the word caring and discussed how we can be kind to others: classmates and teachers, friends and family. Caring allows us to connect with others and build positive relationships, showing respect, responding with compassion, actively listening, being emotionally present and providing support. ● ● ● ● ● ●

Be kind to others Treat people with kindness and generosity Help people who need it Be sensitive to people's feelings Never be cruel o hurtful Think on how your actions affect others

Remember, we become kind people when we do good things.

To put into practice what was spoken in our workshop, we decided to do an activity in which each student had to write a positive compliment to a classmate. It was a very interesting activity because we had the chance to see that many kids don't tend to express their feelings to others or they don't often take the time to talk about the good things that they see in other kids. Some kids were surprised about the compliments they had received, we could see many smiles and happy faces.

estefania.coma@interamericano.edu.gt gloria.delopez@interamericano.edu.gt

Counseling quote: “Caring is a gift that no one can buy. It is made up of love that roots in our hearts and creates memories not just for a while but for a lifetime”.

Sharing is caring!

As parents, it is important to model the value of Caring for your children in everyday situations. What you do is much more important than what you say.

If you want to get more information, click on the links below: https://www.guiainfantil.com/articulos/educacion/valores/la-compasion-educar-a-l os-ninos-en-valores/ https://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/resources-for-families/7-tips-raising-caring-kids

Estefania Coma y Gloria de López estefania.coma@interamericano.edu.gt gloria.delopez@interamericano.edu.gt

MS

Be you, love you!

February was dedicated to showing our students the importance of loving and caring for themselves. In this stage of physical and psychological changes, where they are vulnerable to compare themselves to what is "ideal" in social media, it is important to consistently remind our teenagers that they are great and that each one of them has things that make them wonderful and unique.

To reinforce the importance of self-worth, students carried out different activities in their Values, Music, Art, Physical Education, and VAT classes. All with the objective of capturing what self-acceptance means in every area of their life: Their body: as the physical part that we should keep healthy by, eating and exercising properly.

Their mind: recognizing and understanding that we all have characteristics that make us special. Even those that they might consider aws are part of what makes them unique.

Their heart: how to replicate the love they have for themselves in their interpersonal relationships.

brigitte.chinchilla@interamericano.edu.gt

Parent Resources

This month has been of a lot of reection for our students.

Here are some articles to know more about the importance of self-acceptance in adolescents and how to support them at home to promote it.

For more resources like these or literature on the subject feel free to email me brigitte.chinchilla@interamericano.edu.gt

Self-esteem and teenagers

10 Effective Ways of Helping My Teenager Boost Their Self-Esteem

brigitte.chinchilla@interamericano.edu.gt

HS

PROMOTING EMPATHY IN TEENAGERS In High School, the value of Caring was addressed through the promotion of Empathy among our students. They were invited to reflect on how much empathy they are practicing in their lives through a quick informal self-evaluation, and brainstormed as a group to generate other ideas to practice empathy. Teachers facilitated a group discussion on the different scenarios that were presented, highlighting situations from daily life where students could practice putting themselves in other people’s shoes.

RESOURCES TO UNDERSTAND AND PROMOTE EMPATHY AT HOME The Melbourne Child Psychology Institute maintains a blog with resources for parents. In the section on how to help teenagers develop empathy, they explain the difference between cognitive empathy, which is the ability to understand someone else’s perspective, and the affective empathy, which is the ability to recognize other people’s feelings and to respond accordingly. The idea is to see how these continue to develop throughout the teenage years.

Parental guidance on this topic is essential to facilitate teens understanding and practicing both types of empathy, as these abilities play a critical part of the social interactions in all scenarios. Please access the full blog here.

Harvard’s website also published an article on how to cultivate empathy in the family, providing five useful tips for parents: 1.

Empathize with your child and model empathy for others.

2.

Make caring for others a priority and set high ethical expectations.

3.

Provide opportunities for children to practice empathy.

4.

Expand your child's circle of concern.

5.

Help children develop self-control and manage feelings effectively.

We invite you to read the full article here. apelaez@interamericano.edu.gt

COLLEGE PLACEMENT

6 important factors 9th and 10th grade students need to do to be prepared for universities

1. Course work: Selecting the right courses is the earliest step a student will take on the path to university, such as choosing an AP or Honors course. The goal is to enroll in a variety of classes, aiming for a course load that is challenging but not overwhelming.

2. Grades: Academic preparation is important for the admission process to universities. It is important students develop a love of learning while working toward a favorable grade in a class.

3. Extracurricular activities: Students should use these early high school years to explore activities and identify what they love to do, outside the classroom and beyond the school. It's not about the number of activities on your list or about how busy the student can be. This is a time for discovering passions and developing natural talents.

4. Reflection time: Even though it's true that the high school years are valuable, the first two years are especially crucial. This is the time for thinking: “Who am I? What do I like to do?”.

5. Attend college fairs and college representatives’ visits: The opportunity to talk to college reps will help students to get to know what universities expect from them, in which areas they need to improve and learning the college vocabulary.

6. Attend summer programs: Take advantage to participate in a summer program. This will help them to become more mature and independent, and to gain experience, teamwork and solving problems skills.

Some examples of summer programs are: ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Sports Theater Global Entrepreneurship Intensive SCAD summer program Nature activities kgonzalez@interamericano.edu.gt

7 important factors 11th grade Students need to do to be prepared for universities 1. Course work: Selecting the right courses is the earliest step a student will .take on the path to universities, such as taking an AP or Honors course. The goal is to enroll in a variety of classes, aiming for a course load that is challenging but not overwhelming.

2. Grades: The grades are really important in 11th grade, because it is the last year with final grades before report cards are sent as part of the applications to universities in the U.S. Is important that the students continue to maintain a love for learning while working toward a favorable grade in a class.

3. Extra curricular activities: Students need to keep working on their resume.

They still need to commit to extracurricular activities by showing sincere interest and consistency. One option to consider is participating in leadership conferences and other activities that help them demonstrate their abilities and talents.

4. Take the SAT test: If a student wants to apply to the U.S. it is highly recommended that they take the SAT test for the first time in 11th grade. Later they will have time to take the SAT Subject test, if it's part of the university requirements. The school offers SAT prep courses on Tuesday and Thursday at 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., facilitated by Frank Quinn: franquinnjunior@gmail.com 5. Start to build a university list: The university list should take into consideration important criteria such as: size, location, costs and subject major.

6. Attend college fairs and college representatives’ visits: The opportunity to talk to college reps will help students to get to know what the university expects from them, in which areas they need to improve and learn the university vocabulary.

7. Attend pre university summer programs: Take the opportunity to visit a university abroad in the summer to learn more about a major to pursue.

Students will have the chance to learn more about major to study and live the experience living in a dorm.

Some options are: ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

To work on their portfolios Pre-college courses at Northwestern University University of Notre Dame; Summer Scholars Program and Leadership Summer Program Adelphi University Carnegie Mellon Pre- College Programs kgonzalez@interamericano.edu.gt

6 Important Factors 12th Grade Students Need to do to be Prepared for Universities

1. Several students from 12th grade who applied to universities in the U.S. have already received their acceptance letter. Congratulations!

2. When the students receive their acceptance letter from an U.S. institution, they can start the process for their student visa F1 with the embassy.

3. This summer students can apply for summer jobs before university, as they will enrich their resume.

starting

4. If applicable, review financial aid offers. Accept those parts of the financial aid offered by the university. Remember to decline other schools´offers.

5. Make the first payment on time.

6. This is the time for students to gain some independence learning some chores, such as: washing their clothes., sewing and cooking. These are skills that will serve the students all their lives.

“Graduation is not the end; it’s the beginning.”

—Senador Orrin Hatch

kgonzalez@interamericano.edu.gt

CONFERENCES FOR PARENTS -EPP-

CONFERENCES FOR PARENTS FROM THE “ESCUELA PARA PADRES”- EPP The third conference for parents from EPP, “Empowering our children to face adverse situations and emerge stronger”, was offered on February 27th, dictated by Dr. Maria del Pilar Grazioso.

Thank you to the parents who were able to join us in this successful event!

The fourth conference for parents is scheduled for April 29th; we have invited Licda. Claudia de Sibony as speaker to share her recommendations on Positive Discipline.

We hope to see you there!

counseling@interamericano.edu.gt