January 15, 2019

Our Journey in Learning About What it Means to Care for Self

The General Currie staff continue to engage and learn about how to best support our students about just what it means to Care for Self and why this is so important in promoting success in all areas of learning. A book was brought to our attention by a District Support Teacher titled Ishi: Simple Tips From a Solid Friend. We were captivated by not only the beautiful presentation of the story, but the strong message and suggestions for how someone can best look after and care for themselves when they experience a challenge or the some of the innevitable adversities that life brings. It was the perfect story for why it is important to care for yourself and we knew right away that our students would benefit greatly from learning opportuniuties structured around it. We decided to dive more into this story and have it guide us through a school wide Care for Self activity with the intention that the students would show us what they know or have learned about this topic.

The story of Ishi was first read to buddy classes (a primary division collaborating with an intermediate division). The students then worked together on completing a mandala and included their learnings of ways that they could care for self in four areas: Health / Hygeine, Technology, Physical Safety, and Friendships / Relationships. Meaningful conversations were held before they presented their understandings and when all of their ideas were finalized in the mandala, the students were asked to reflect upon their work and provided a response to the sentence starter of This is important to me because __________________ .

Please see that attached photos for samples and ideas of what some of our students were able to generate during the time spent participating in this activity. We are very proud of their learning and what they were able to come up with. We know that with time and continued conversations with both staff and family members, our students will continue to grow, develop and better understand how they can best Care for Self. Parents and families, if possible, please find an opportunity to read Ishi again with your child as the lessons it brings can help a reader of any age and provide strategies for families as we all try to work through the complexities our world brings.