At Saklan, November is all about being dependable! This month, the family group activity included watching a video the eighth graders created to show students what it means to be dependable. After watching the video, kindergarten through seventh grade students brainstormed ways they can be dependable. Each student then wrote about one way they will work to be more dependable on a festive pumpkin, turkey, or leaf paper. The papers were all collected and used to create family group wreaths. Check out the wreaths below!
A big thank you to the Parent Association for buying every Saklan student a pumpkin for the Halloween holiday! Students in Kindergarten through eighth grade worked on decorating their pumpkins during art class. Ms. Natalie reminded the students of the dotted artwork of Yayoi Kusama, whose detailed painted pumpkins fit right in with the Halloween spirit. Even with a limited color palette, the students were able to paint unique creations!
Before getting to decorate their pumpkins, the Pre-K students first had to find them! The students went on a pumpkin hunt to find a pumpkin with their name on it. The students enjoyed scouring the early childhood playground in search of their pumpkins!
Once they found their pumpkins, the Pre-K students enjoyed expressing their creativity, by using sharpies to decorate them. They were very excited to get to take their pumpkins home and share them with their families.
This morning, the Saklan students were very excited to don their Halloween costumes and participate in our Costume Parade! The parade route took the students along the trail to the Holy Trinity parking lot, where parents were in their cars for the drive-in event. The students and teachers paraded through the parking lot, waving as parents cheered and took pictures from their cars, with Halloween music playing in the background. A few middle school students emceed the event and set up a laptop so that students at home could be part of the fun over Zoom.
Thank you to all the parents that joined us and cheered the students on. The students enjoyed waving to you and spotting their parents in the crowd! Additional thanks go to Makenna, Ryan and Levi for setting up the Zoom, providing commentary and cheering on the younger students.
Due to remote learning and working from home, posture has taken a toll on families. The November Friday Social will focus on how we can benefit from improving existing ergonomics to prevent back aches, growing pains, headaches, migraines and sciatica. And while these issues may not present themselves now, it is also important to develop a good postural foundation to avoid future spinal issues such as scoliosis and tech neck.
Few people realize there is a connection between posture and mental wellness. Did you know that if someone has poor posture, especially at a very young age, the biomechanics of the posture limit the amount of oxygen to the heart and lung regions? This then means that they are not getting the proper oxygen to think clearly and make healthy decisions. Mood is then also negatively impacted because the lack of oxygen makes one fatigued, sad/depressed and unmotivated.
Dr. Christina Alba
Join the PA for our November Friday Social on November 6th at 3:30 PM to learn more! We’ll be welcoming an expert, Dr. Christina Alba of Rivulet Chiropractic, who will talk about the importance of posture and moderate this community discussion. The Zoom link will be shared closer to the event. Email ewilliamson@saklan.org to receive the link.
Everywhere we turn we are getting reminders about how important gratitude is – how it changes our outlook, the way our brain is wired, and our overall disposition. During a year where stress and uncertainty have taken the front seat, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on many of the things for which I’m grateful.
To the ECE teachers – thank you for paving the road for in-person learning, for your diligence and patience and positive attitude when we didn’t have all of the answers. Lastly, thank you for sharing the space that was once all yours!
To the K-8 teachers and specialists – for working your tails off to make distance learning an integrated, full day experience for our students and families. And now for completely starting over with in-person learning, distanced, masked, hoarse voices to be heard through masks – all the while continuing an engaging curriculum. As much as we may want to, we will never forget this year of teaching. Thank you for your patience with schedules, duties, and juggling a truly challenging time. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed.
To the parents – for your support during distance learning, for your commitment to staying safe outside of school so that we could pivot back to in person learning, for being willing to take your children to get a COVID-19 test, for waking up each morning to fill out the Renweb prescreening, for understanding that you cannot come on campus, and for trusting us with your cherished children. We are so happy to have most of the students back on campus this week; their energy and presence has invigorated us all.
To Javier – for your long hours, for transforming the campus so that we could have a safe campus from which to teach, for your always positive attitude and humor, for always being ready to help no matter what.
To my admin team – for stepping up and taking things off my plate, for being supportive and rolling with everything that has come our way, for keeping me accountable and telling me when I am wrong, for handling the details, for trying to anticipate things before they happen.
To the COVID-19 Task Force – for many long hours of information sharing and conversation, for your expertise, for your honesty, for your commitment to Saklan and our students. To the endless rewrites of policy and dealing with the endless changes to what we know about COVID-19. This has been a long, hard journey, but it has been necessary and immensely helpful.
To the Board of Trustees – for your support, trust and time, for ad hoc meetings and grappling with issues that have no good answers. To your dedication, confidentiality, and ongoing commitment to the success of our teachers and our children.
The first Parent Ed talk of the 2020-2021 school year was held on Wednesday night with Dr. Chelsey Hague-Zavaleta from Positive Parenthood. Thank you to all those who attended! The topic was “Managing Big Feelings During the Pandemic,” and attendees walked away with some great parenting tools and new perspectives.
In case you missed it, here are some bullet points:
STAY CONNECTED to your child through their big feelings.
PRAISE and PRESENCE are the two most effective ways to make a connection and therefore get your child to cooperate. Look for the things they are doing RIGHT and comment authentically. Put your phone down and be in the moment with your kids. 5 minutes of uninterrupted time is more valuable than 30 minutes of getting up to change the laundry or checking your phone.
As adults, we need to take responsibility for the emotional landscape; children respond to our state. This means we need to TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES!
Don’t try to fix big feelings. Instead, join them. Be present, and validate your child’s feelings.
Practice “3 yesses” to connect with a child who is having big feelings. Say 3 statements that you know they will agree with. “You really wish you were still playing video games” or “You were really looking forward to seeing your friend today.”
About 80% of what we tell our kids on any given day are directions or corrections. Try to focus on having 80% of your interactions with kids be praise/connection.
There is no perfect parenting. We make mistakes, and then we repair – it’s important for our children to learn that.
Visit Positive Parenthood’s website for more information. Positive Parenthood also has a Facebook page where Dr. Hague-Zavaleta often posts videos with scenarios and reminders; it is a great resource for any parent. Ask to join and Dr. Hague-Zavaleta will include you in the conversation!
To show gratitude for all that the teachers and staff are doing to create virtual and in-person learning opportunities for Saklan’s students this year, the Parents Association is providing lunch for the Saklan employees once a month. This monthly lunch is known as the World Food Tour, featuring a different cuisine from a local Lamorinda business each month.
The inaugural World Food Tour lunch was held on Wednesday, October 14. The first stop on the tour was Italy, with a menu featuring seasonal pizzas, pasta, salad and focaccia bread prepared by Town Bakery Café. The food was delicious!
First stop, Italy!
A huge thank you to the PA for a wonderful lunch, and for all their support of the entire faculty and staff. We are so lucky to be part of and supported by such a wonderful community.
We know it’s tough right now. Join the Saklan parent community & Dr. Chelsey Hauge-Zavaleta for a workshop on managing big feelings during the pandemic with supportive, relationship based techniques.
October 7, 2020 at 7:00 pm
Dr. Chelsey Hauge Zavaleta has been working with parents to create calm and cooperation at home for over two decades. Dr. Hauge-Zavaleta is the CEO of Positive Parenthood and as a mother-educator herself, Dr. Hauge-Zavaleta grounds her work in principles of equity, relationship based learning, and accessibility for all families.
We know it’s tough right now. Join the Saklan parent community & Dr. Chelsey Hauge-Zavaleta for a workshop on managing big feelings during distance learning with supportive, relationship based techniques.
October 7, 2020 at 7:00 pm
Dr. Chelsey Hauge Zavaleta has been working with parents to create calm and cooperation at home for over two decades. Dr. Hauge-Zavaleta is the CEO of Positive Parenthood and as a mother-educator herself, Dr. Hauge-Zavaleta grounds her work in principles of equity, relationship based learning, and accessibility for all families.
FRIDAY BLOG 
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