Tips & Reminders

Should you or your student have any questions or concerns, you can always reach us by email at monicabatres@sfhs.com or aaronburney@sfhs.com. Encourage your student to send us an email or come see us in the counseling office if they have ANY questions. This is a great way to model support for student development as their own best advocate. We are available to meet students individually before or after school, during collaboration, or at lunch.

Readings

• The Importance of Sleep for Kids' Emotional Well-being
• 9 Tools for Helping Your Child Manage Anxiety 
• Three Ways to Change to Parenting in the Teenage Years 
• Addressing Teen Mental Health Challenges Toolkit
• How to Practice Gratitude

SEL Corner

Welcome to the Social-Emotional Learning corner! This section is dedicated to students’ need for balance in every aspect of their lives. Students will be having conversations about balance and practicing social-emotional skills in their Advisory class throughout the year.
 

As families adjust back to the school year, it can seem like every minute is accounted for, perhaps a stark contrast to the more relaxed environment of summer. It is important for students’ well-being to build unstructured time into the schedule.

Using a calendar to block out time for scheduled activities and necessary tasks can help avoid overscheduling to allow for unstructured time. Research shows that play time, down time, and family time (PDF) is critical for a teenager’s health--and for that of adults! Play time is time for students to engage in an activity that they genuinely like to do. It is important that this time is unstructured. It could be taking the dog for a walk, going on a hike, reading a new book, going outside to take pictures, or any other activity that a student chooses to do with their free time. Free time is a concept that many teenagers overlook, but playtime is important for teenagers to continue building neural connections and to increase self-awareness and self-exploration.

DOWN TIME

Relax & recharge

Students can practice maintaining space for down time, relaxing and focusing on recovering mentally and physically.

FAMILY TIME

Connect & shareStudents

can maintain connections with family and spend time together in fun ways, like game night or movement activities.

Down time is an opportunity for teens to relax and activate their parasympathetic nervous system. Research shows that down time decreases the stress response and provides an important outlet for students.

Family time is correlated with increased physical, mental, and emotional health. Family time does not necessarily have to be dinner every night with every family member, although it certainly can be. Family time can also be a family walk on a weekend morning, pizza night, or playing board games together.

Further Learning

• Tips to Help Your Child Thrive 
• Questions to ask your student other than "How was school today?"
• Coping with back to school anxiety

How Can We Help?

We’re here to help your student make the most of their college and career planning journey. If you have questions about using MaiaLearning, need support with post-high school planning, or simply want to talk through options, our Counseling Department is just a message away. Don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re excited to partner with you every step of the way.