Healthy Living - Parenting Healthy

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources - Covid-19 Resources for Kids — Photo Source: Brainpop.com

With school closures and stores a mess, perhaps the kids are getting a tad anxious or asking questions. I have a brilliant sister who is an Elementary School Counselor who has put together this amazing resource sheet below (Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources – Covid-19 Resources for Kids) for this epidemic as well as any other social issues that could arise with your child.

This download has mini lessons and book recommendations that you can share with your family while home from school and to add to their home studies.

Hopefully you will find it helpful! Keep scrolling for tips for teens too. The links are not clickable directly from the image below, so at the bottom is the download button. Click that and you will open up clickable links.

SEL-Resource-List

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Download created by: Katherine Epstein, School Counselor (Wa State)

What about the teens?

Global leader in Neurodiversity and CEO of The Miracle Project, Elaine Hall, works with neurodiverse teens, young and older adults provide tips and affirmations on how parents, coaches, colleagues, and friends to help calm the mind, ease emotional tensions and promote overall well being amongst those who lack the abilities to do so on their own.

Below are her tips on How to Ease the Anxiety of Children Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic

Breath
- Implementing a short but powerful breathing meditation helps calm our minds, focus our attention and operate from a place of peace and support for one another. Start by closing your eyes. Take a deep breath as if you are breathing in health and wellness from the Earth. Let this breath travel all the way up from the bottom of your feet up your spine to the top of your head, visualizing that you are filling up every muscle, organ, blood cells with radiant gold healing light.
- Then imagine a radiant white light from high above your head beaming into every muscle and cell of your body – keeping your body strong, healthy and vibrant. Breathe deeply and exhale any fears and anxiety. Continue breathing in this healing white light for five long breaths. When you are ready, open your eyes and notice your health and well being.
- Affirm: I am strong, healthy and glowing with energy
Logic – Learn the Facts
- Yes, COVID-19 is a bad virus and we need to protect ourselves from it but this will not last forever. It is important to not get caught up in the hysteria of the moment. There have been bad viruses and diseases in the past and yet we continue to combat them. And while the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to climb each day, so too do the number of people who have completely recovered from the virus. It’s important to know the facts and stay calm because anxiety can flood adrenaline into the body and weaken the immune system, making you more vulnerable to viral infections.
- Affirm: This too shall pass
You’re Not Alone
- Know you’re not alone. Call, text, or facetime a friend when you’re feeling scared or alone. Discuss what you’re feeling out loud. Ask them what they do to feel calm and take those practices into consideration. Do something fun together to distract your mind from worries.
- Affirm: I am understood and supported
Look outside & inside for what’s right in your world
- Remind yourself what is good and calm in your life right now. Science has found that gratitude actually strengthens the immune system. Notice when the sun is shining, listen to the raindrops, doing something you enjoy, notice a positive feeling. Express gratitude for some of the things we most often take for granted.
- Affirm: My body is healthy, strong and vibrant. I am grateful for…. And list 5 new things you’re grateful for every day
Stay Close to those you love
- Although it’s important to distant yourself in public from others, it’s still okay and important to stay close with your family. Give your Mom, Dad, sibling a hug or cuddle your pet. Did you know that hugs actually strengthen the immune system? Hugs help stimulate the body’s production of white blood cells that fight off diseases.
- Affirm: I am loving and loved

Children's Books, Healthy Living, Kids, Parenting

Love Your Body: A Self Love Book for Girls

March 6, 2020March 6, 2020 Erin Sluka

Disclosure: This is a blog about how to make money blogging, and where we recommend affiliate programs for bloggers. As such, this post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they will help us keep this site up and running! Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

Love Your Body: Your body can do amazing things… is a self love book every girl needs to read! Release date for this book is March 3, 2020. This is new and for today’s girls as they grow into their changing bodies with age.

The author, Jessica Sanders is an activist and social worker who wants to help teach girls as young as 8 years old to love their bodies.

This book is targeted at girls aged 8+, as well as parents, teachers, and health professionals with the aim of preventing negative body image and related issues in girls and women by teaching them to see their bodies as incredible instruments rather than as objects. It is the first children’s book that depicts “imperfections” in its illustrations, showing stretch marks and cellulite, erasing the shame associated with them.

This book is available on Amazon.

Car Talk, Healthy Living, Parenting

Signs Of PTSD In Children After A Car Accident

March 5, 2020March 5, 2020 Erin Sluka

Studies show that up to 43% of children and teens go through at least one trauma, but not all develop PTSD. Between 3% and 15% of girls and 1% and 6% of boys will develop PTSD. Car accidents can be a very traumatic event, especially for a child who may never have considered it a possibility. The sounds of a car crashing, flashing blue lights, being surrounded by lots of people, and witnessing loved ones sustain injuries can be very overwhelming for a child. Recognizing the signs of PTSD in children is essential for getting them treatment.

What is PTSD?

PTSD stands for post-traumatic stress disorder and is a mental health condition that develops after someone has been exposed to trauma, such as a car accident. Symptoms can develop immediately after the trauma, months later, and, in some cases, years after the event. Symptoms vary significantly, particularly in children, and can depend on their age, maturity, and the extent of their trauma. PTSD can drastically impact a child’s life, and the longer it’s left untreated, the bigger the effect it will have. This can be in the form of developing unhealthy coping mechanisms, developing other mental illnesses (such as depression), and behaving in ways that are considered anti-social or rebellious.

Signs of PTSD in children

Symptoms of PTSD in children differ from those seen in adults to a certain extent, as they express themselves in different ways and are less able to understand and rationalize their situation. Symptoms of PTSD in very young children following a car accident include bedwetting, a fear of the dark, and separation anxiety. Elementary-aged children may have outbursts of anger, nightmares, headaches, difficulty sleeping, and changes in their school and social life. Pre-teens and teens can also have difficulty sleeping and a poor school performance, along with anxiety, depression, alcohol use, and other self-defeating or harmful behaviors. Some obvious symptoms for all ages can be a fear of getting back into a car, avoiding the scene of the accident, and a fear of learning to drive as they get older.

Getting help

As a parent, if you notice the symptoms of PTSD in your child or teen after a car crash, it’s important to talk to them and get them professional help. Remember that PTSD can develop months or years later, so it’s important to consider whether there’s a link between a teen’s low mood or poor school performance and a car accident that happened to them as a child. The good news is that PTSD is treatable. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of talking therapy that allows people to freely discuss their experience and be taught healthy ways to cope with it. Play therapy can also be good for children, as it helps them to express themselves without having to directly talk to a therapist, which can be difficult when children don’t always know what’s wrong. Medication is also an option, but it treats the symptoms of PTSD, rather than the PTSD itself, so it’s best used as a last resort.

The cost of treatment

Unfortunately, the cost of medical care and therapy for treating PTSD following a car accident can be expensive and the last thing any parent wants to worry about when trying to help their child. Children may be eligible for monetary compensation for both PTSD and any physical injuries they sustain from the car accident. FVF Law Firm advise seeking out free, no-pressure consultations so that you can get compensation for your child, which can be essential for covering the costs involved in treatment. Even if months or years have passed since the accident before PTSD has been diagnosed, it’s still worth pursuing it to see what can be done.

PTSD is something that every parent should be aware of if their child has been in a car accident. It’s important to have open communication so that they can come to you if something is wrong, but many children will depend on their parents to guide them in the right direction for help.

Food, Healthy Living, Natural Foods

Mikey’s Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free hand-held meals, breads and snacks

February 21, 2020February 21, 2020 Erin Sluka

It all started with the Mikey’s English Muffin. Quality ingredients ONLY and without the common allergens including gluten and the carbs KETO-dieters hate. It’s the perfect english muffin and it tastes great too! I don’t eat standard breads if I can at all help it and many better options taste like cardboard. I love the touch of sweetness on this bread and I feel much better eating Mikey’s.

Not all gluten free products are good for you and Michael Tierney, a classically trained chef set out to create his products to actually be good for you. Snack pockets are always a hit especially with our boys as teens. Have you looked at the ingredients in these? Yikes! Mikey’s made their pockets tastet good and left out all the junk I want to avoid.

I wanted to announce the 2 new pocket meal flavors: Buffalo-Style Chicken and Cauliflower & Broccoli Cheddar. These join the cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza, ham & cheese, egg & cheese and the egg/cheese & ham flavors we already love to have on hand.

Mikey’s products are Certified Gluten-Free, non-GMO and Certified Paleo, and free from dairy, grain and soy. Mikey’s product offerings include English muffins, pizza crust, tortillas and pizza pockets.

Find these at many retailers nationwide and feel less guilty about serving frozen snacks to your family. Visit Mikey’s to learn more.

Category: Healthy Living

Social & Emotional Learning Resources – Covid-19 Resources for Kids & Teens

Love Your Body: A Self Love Book for Girls

Signs Of PTSD In Children After A Car Accident

Mikey’s Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free hand-held meals, breads and snacks