Social Emotional Learning & Support

Second Step Lessons

Second Step is the core curriculum Arlington Public Schools uses to support students’ personal and social development through bi-weekly classroom lessons with our school counselors.  Families are encouraged to support our lessons with Home Links – worksheets to be sent home by the counseling team following a specific lesson to continue the conversation on the topics or skills introduced.  Please consider setting up an account with Second Step to access additional SEL resources.  Learn more about how to access these resources in the follow family letters:

Arlington Public Schools: Parent Academy

The APS Parent Academy offers parents and guardians of children attending schools in Arlington learning opportunities on a wide variety of subjects to support the academic, social and emotional development of children, such as:

• Child development
• Student achievement
• Wellness and mental health
• Parent advocacy
• Educational programs
• Internet safety
• Personal or family growth
• Supports and opportunities for second language learners
• Social issues of importance to parents and families
• Countywide events and information nights, including Kindergarten, Middle and High School Information Nights, College Night, and the Summer Activities Fair

Behavior Support

• Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth and Families Foundation YouTube
  • Incentives Supports for Parents
    • Incentivos: hacer que los niños hagan cosas que no quieren hacer
  • Consequences
    • Consecuencias
  • Structure through Routines!
    • Estructura en casa con Rutinas!
  • Structure: Organizing Space & Expectations
    • Estructura: Cosas y Espacios; Expectativas y Reglas
• Child Mind Institute: Behavior Problems

Grief Resources

• Helping Children Cope With Grief – article for caregivers
• Sesame Street In Communities – Helping Kids Grieve – activities, resources, tool kit

Mindfulness

• Mind Yeti: Mind Yeti is a way to settle young minds with guided mindfulness sessions.  The nonprofit Committee for Children is offering free sessions to help Mind Yeti kids and their adults calm their minds, focus their attention and connect to the world around them.
  • Spanish Mind Yeti guided mindfulness sessions!
• Virtual Calming Room – “Sometimes life can be overwhelming and it can be hard to work through difficult times. This Virtual Calming Room was designed to assist in identifying different strategies for managing emotions. We hope these tools will provide helpful outlets and practices for when life gets tough.”