Dear Brown MS Community,
I want to welcome our incoming 5th grade families to our weekly update! We had a terrific turn out of parents and guardians this past Wednesday night as Mr. Turner, Mr. Bailey-Adams and I shared information about middle school. If you are a parent of an incoming student and were unable to make it, you can see the presentation here. We look forward to having you join our community!
This coming week is our second Kindness Week (details and volunteer opportunities are below). This is a special effort that was created by PTO parents and adopted by our school as a way to remind students of our Bear Belief to Be Safe and Kind. We live in a world where insults and negative comments are, unfortunately, part of the fabric of our daily lives. We hear it on the news and in social media. Teens and tweens are listening (even when you don’t think they are) and they are absorbing what they hear. Kindness week is just one way to combat the negative influences that surround them. Our goal is to help them make choices that put taking care of others at the forefront of their minds.
We work hard to build a caring community at Brown MS because everyone deserves to feel like they belong. Learning perspective taking is a big part of middle school. Students need to learn empathy, and we must take every opportunity to teach it. This requires helping them recognize that words and actions can have an impact on others.
Certainly, middle schoolers make mistakes and say or do things that hurt the feelings of others. Our response to these events is where we can make the greatest impact. Whether they witness something unkind or are the one that initiated the harm, they have an opportunity to repair the damage. Students need support from caring adults to talk through situations and determine their next step.
When my kids were younger, we used to fill a jar on the kitchen table with questions on strips of paper, and during meals we would pull one out and talk about it. I encourage you to find ways to talk openly about the importance of kindness with your child. Here are some conversation starters that you may find helpful:
- What did you do for others today that made them feel like they belong?
- Did you notice anyone who seemed left out? What did you do?
- Was there a moment today when you chose to be patient instead of getting frustrated?
- Did you encourage someone who was struggling?
- How did you show kindness to a teacher or school staff member?
- Did you include someone in a conversation or activity?
- What’s one small thing you did today that made someone smile?
When you take the time to talk about empathy with your children, it demonstrates to them how important it is and that you value it. We need to balance the noise of the world with consistent and reflective conversations about empathy with our kids. These teens and tweens are the future adults who we will rely on to make decisions for us when we are old and gray. Let’s work together to teach them well.
For those of you that are celebrating Purim or Holi, I wish you a happy holiday!
Finally, on the home front, my youngest flies home from college tonight, and tomorrow is her 21st birthday. We get the pleasure of honoring her special day which will be great, but I am out of practice at staying out late, so wish me luck!
Enjoy the weekend,
Kim Lysaght