To support students' emotional well-being at home, Samantha Lantz, the K-2 school counselor at Mathews Elementary School, was recently awarded a $1,000 grant from the Ohio School Counselor Association. The grant money has allowed the elementary school to create 30 portable calm corners/grief kits, each designed to help elementary students who are in need of self-regulation tools at home.
“Self-regulation is a crucial skill that children must learn and practice. Calm corners have become increasingly popular in classrooms as they provide resources for teachers to teach and coach students in self-regulation,” said Samantha Lantz. “During my time in the classroom and interactions with students during small group and individual sessions, I’ve recognized that many of our students lack the means to create these spaces at home, which led to the idea of developing portable calm corners to ensure these tools are available to our students outside of school.”
Each kit includes directions for how to use the calm kit, a folder that includes grief resources for families from the New York Life Foundation, the book "The Invisible String" by Patrice Karst, the book "A Little Peaceful Spot" by Diane Alber, workbook pages to go along with the books supplied, a coping skills tool box that contains play doh, fidgets, sensory stickers, bubbles, coloring book, crayons, journal, pencils, a timer, a coping skills checklist, breathing cards and a stuffed animal.