There's no playbook for parenting (or teaching!) during a pandemic. Right now, it's easy to focus on logistical concerns. There are certainly plenty of them. But your emotional health — and the emotional health of our students — deserves attention, too.
Our students react to what they see on the news as well as how they see us react to sudden unemployment, sickness, and the loss of life that COVID-19 threatens. If we’re not careful to pay attention to our collective well-being, we may end up with a statewide mental health crisis on our hands.
Thanks to funding from the state of Michigan, we are able to provide Michigan families with FREE access to our Michigan Cares Portal. This online platform houses hundreds of lessons designed to help children in grades K-12 develop the skills required for social, emotional, and mental well-being.
The lessons included in our Michigan Cares program cover a variety of topics that help children in grades K-12 learn how to:
- Understand and manage their emotions
- Set and achieve positive goals
- Feel and show empathy for others
- Establish and maintain positive relationships
- Make responsible decisions
- Recognize signs of poor mental health in themselves and others
- Develop healthy coping techniques
Each student lesson is accompanied by a parent lesson that offers tips to help them have smart conversations with their children on these tricky topics.
Educators can also benefit from this portal, which contains lessons specifically designed for school staff. In addition, school staff can view all lessons available to both parents and students to help facilitate the social emotional learning process among families.
This resource will continue to be freely available to parents, students, and educators in Michigan until the end of the 20-21 school year to provide continued emotional and mental support as we all recover from this crisis together.
