Bright Minds, Happy Hearts

Keep Learning and Be Well All Summer Long! 

We ALL need a rest and have earned our summer break after a year of hard work learning and growing at school. Just remember, keeping your brain active and your mind and body healthy is important ALL SUMMER LONG!  Staying engaged in fun activities and keeping your body tuned will ensure that your mind stays sharp!

SPEND TIME OUTSIDE 🌤

Everyone, both children and adults, need to find time to go outside every day. Playing games, taking walks, even just sitting and watching the clouds go by is good for us. The sun gives us vitamin D and other benefits that keep us healthy and boosts our mood.

GO TO BED AT A REASONABLE TIME 😴

We ALL need enough sleep to stay healthy. Even though you might stretch the day out a little longer in summer, be sure to keep a good schedule. Give your body the rest it needs.

THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS 💬

The words we tell ourself are important. We believe what we think. TRY new things. Learn from mistakes. Write your own personal affirmations. BELIEVE in YOU.

MOVE YOUR BODY! 💪 

Our brain and body are connected in more ways than we can imagine. Exercise helps us feel strong and healthy. It keeps our mind sharp and focused too! Run, walk, bike,  play games and sports, swim, climb, dance... Just move!

EXERCISE YOUR MIND TOO! 🧠

PLAY GAMES: Limit time on online video games and try traditional games instead! Card games, board games, and car games (such as I Spy) are all fun and easy to play. 

KEEP READING! Need motivation? Take a SUMMER READING CHALLENGE: Baxter Memorial offers a fun Summer Reading Challenge. Barnes & Noble Summer Reading and TD Bank Summer Reading programs also give you another way to earn while enjoying reading.

Enjoy Real Life Experiences. Help compute the change when you shop with your family, or plan a road trip if your parents ok it! Read menus, magazines and newspapers, signs, brochures, maps, guidebooks. 

Anything counts, just READ! 

Be ENGAGED wherever you are. HAVE FUN!

Build healthy habits.
Make summer 🌞  
Your superpower!

Change Your WORDS, Change your MINDSET

Accept challenges. Ask questions. Make mistakes.
Admit you don't know the answer, YET!

We've had a great year, but It's APRIL and spring fever might be trying to set in. 🥀

You have been strong and stayed positive and learned so much! Sometimes when things become difficult we lose our confidence, or our motivation, and feel like giving up.  

It takes courage to try again, it takes courage to make mistakes, but that is what it takes to develop your growth mindset. 

When you feel stuck, try changing your words. 

Changing your words can change your thoughts too!

It helps when we remember that success doesn't just happen overnight. Success takes work, and lots of it! We can train our brain and we can find new ways to solve problems, if we tell ourselves we CAN! You know how to work hard. You've seen what can happen when you DON'T GIVE UP! So, try one MORE time!

 

Do you want to earn more about GROWTH MINDSET? 

Follow this link to the bitmoji classroom and explore books, videos and more!

🎵🎶🎵🎶 Check Out this Growth Mindset SONG LIST 🎵🎶🎵 🎶

   

Informational Websites for Parents/Teachers:

Mind Shift
Mindset Kit
Mindset Works

What Kids Can Do

Finding A Happy Balance

 

ALL feelings matter. Everything we experience is part of what makes us us. Emotions can be messy, complicated, and just plain confusing. Learning to name our emotions and talk about them — by ourself and with others — is a key part of developing our emotional intelligence and well being.

We are human and we will experience every emotion in our lifetime, but we are not our emotions alone, and we do not need to be controlled by our emotions either. Feeling content, good, and positive can happen and being healthy and happy is where our body will feel best and function best. 

We can feel that way every day, regardless of the the many feelings that 

come and go.   Below are a few GREAT strategies for finding your happiness ~

Name It to Tame It is a powerful way to manage our strong emotions. All it requires is noticing and labeling emotions as they’re happening. The act of identifying an intense emotion (“naming”) has the effect of reducing the stress and anxiety (“taming”) in the brain and the body that that emotion is causing.

Practicing mindfulness can also help us feel balanced. It's a reminder to stop and think 🤔 and appreciate all that we are experiencing in that moment. Mindfulness can help us calm our bodies and thoughts. Being more mindful means we can stay focused and in control of our thoughts and feelings. 

Practice Gratitude. Intentionally appreciating the things, people and experiences 

that bring us joy can improve our mood and feelings of happiness.

Remember to breathe deeply. Deep breathing can help relax your body and calm your mind. There are many different ways to practice, try a few fun ones HERE! The less tense you feel, the happier you'll be.

Get Outside! Spending time in nature can be rejuvenating and calming. You can try gardening, walking in the grass, or just sitting and reflecting quietly.

I can be mindful

Stopping, breathing, in and out

Still, calm and peaceful.

Haiku by S Sawyer 

ALL feelings really do matter. Everything we experience is part of what makes us us.  We CAN learn ways to feel more calm and happy and appreciate all that we feel and experience.

Positive Psychology 

Blissful Kids

2025 Dreams and GOALS

 

Why not DREAM a little this year?

Think about something you really want to achieve. 

Set a GOAL. 

And you will get there! 

Setting goals and working towards them builds perseverance, the ability to keep trying despite difficulties, failure or opposition. In trying, we develop grit and strength we didn't know we had!

There are many benefits of goal setting ~
It pushes us to take responsibility  for ourselves and our choices. 

Thinking about who we are and what we want helps us to develop purpose, putting our values into action.
Goal setting motivates us to try new things and to take risks. Who knows what we might achieve!
When we set goals and takes steps, we develop organization skills, and when we are challenged, we develop resiliency.

Do You Want to Give It a Try?

The First Step is to DREAM BIG!

Write down your goals, or create a VISION BOARD of all the things you think about and dream of. 

Next, list smaller steps you can take toward your goals. Think about it like it's a To Do list.

Then, set a timeline, even if isn't too specific.

 
Track your progress and celebrate your successes!

Stay positive and remember, 

even when our goals seem out of reach, 

it's in the trying that we grow the most!