March 26, 2020
Surviving Spring Break
Our Student Services team created this resource packet for Wheaton Academy families. We hope these ideas help you as you prepare to spend spring break at home with your family.
Activities To Enjoy
Encourage kids to disconnect and take a break from school so that they can come back feeling refreshed and renewed — as long as they are all caught up with their work :). Have fun as a family! Here are some ideas of activities to pass the time during quarantine:
- Cooking contest (bake something new, most creative meal, best tasting meal from just pantry items, etc.)
- Meme contest (funniest or most creative wins a prize)
- Read a new book together
- Exercise as a family – check out Coach Swider’s workout challenge
- Play games (Ball family favorites include Ticket to Ride and Codenames)
- Video games with your kids
- Family devotional
- Get outside! Go for walks together, play soccer
- Spend time in prayer for one another
- Teach your kids a new skill – cooking, gardening, financial planning!
- FaceTime coffee dates with family and friends
Looking to stay active?
Check out Coach Swider’s Spring Break Strength training program for recommended workouts.
Resources for Coping with Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
Free Video for Coping with Anxiety from a Biblical Perspective
From being distant from the Wheaton Academy community to worry about the virus, students have a heightened sense of anxiety. This informational video, made with teens in mind, is meant to be watched by the whole family to facilitate discussions on healthy, biblical ways to cope with anxiety. Biblical practices paired with clinical research on anxiety make this video a great resource for anyone who feels the need to combat fear with God’s truth.
Passion Planner’s Free Community Resources
The list from Passion Planner includes several resources for mental health. In addition to these, we wanted to recommend the Sanvello app. Sanvello offers clinically validated techniques to cope with stress, anxiety, and depression. The app also includes resources for mood tracking, sleep, mindful meditation, cognitive-behavioral therapy strategies, and more. The company has released specific information about anxiety surrounding COVID-19, and they are currently offering the app for free to the public.
Additionally, maintaining some routine, getting enough sleep, eating well, and getting exercise are all very important for mental and emotional health.
More resources:
- Taking a walk and getting fresh air
- Intentional deep breathing
- Calm App – offers free mindful meditations, deep breathing, sleep stories, etc.
- Talking to family and friends
- Journaling
- Drawing
- Listening to relaxing or uplifting music
- Eat a snack, drink some water (stop the “hangry” in its tracks)
- Weighted blanket
- Download this PDF for more strategies to combating anxiety
The Importance of Keeping Daily Routines
Many of us have been experiencing a major break in our normal routines over the past two weeks. And, like many of you, I feel that I am building the plane while it’s flying—coming up with ways to make sure that not only is my son staying vigilant with his e-learning work, but that I am getting things done myself. I found a few articles that talk about setting up routines and their importance, especially during this time. I had to modify some of the suggestions due to the age of my child who is still at home, but I think overall they were very helpful.
Student Services Availability Over Spring Break
As we walk through these circumstances, students will have a variety of reactions, including stress, anxiety, fear, and other negative emotions. If there is a crisis over Spring Break, Wheaton Academy’s Student Services team is available to support your student. If you need to reach one of our staff members you can email:
Creativity in E-Learning
As we look back on the last two weeks of e-learning, we are celebrating all of the creative ways that teachers have worked to keep students learning and engaged.