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5 Fast Ways to Help Kids & their Caregivers
Reduce Feelings of Stress & Anxiety by Kristen Jensen
Just being a kid or teen is stressful enough - but adding learn-from-home pressures while social opportunities dwindle makes today an especially tough time to be young. Parents and teachers are struggling, too, which is why everyone could use simple, quick techniques to release feelings of stress and anxiety.
Encourage the children in your life to find what works for them; we all handle stress differently, so it makes sense that we'll all manage it differently, too.
Here are five fast ways kids - and the adults who care for them - can give their brains and bodies a break.
Make common tasks, like washing hands, a calming practice that can reorient them into their present moment. By focusing on the water temperature and bubbles, they can reground themselves.
Teach them box breathing - inhaling for a count of four, then holding for four, exhaling for four, holding for four.
Walk outdoors - even if it's just to the mailbox and back.
Download a meditation app or show them how to find calming sounds on YouTube - then encourage them to listen while they rest, walk or study.
Show them simple stretches or yoga poses they can do on their own when they feel overwhelmed, tight or tired. Pinterest is a great source of ideas!
Kristen Jensen, MS, BCBA, is a SCV resident, board-certified behavior analyst and wife of a local firefighter at Station 104.

Legacy's Kinder Phonics Education Creates
Early, Confident Readers
Have high hopes that your child will love to learn? Evidence shows that helping them achieve reading competency and confidence can play a major role in not only how they perform in school, but how happy they feel in and out of the classroom.
That may explain all the smiles at Legacy Christian Academy. As a private school, Legacy has the freedom to choose curriculum and ensure that it is relevant, based on proven scientific research and aligned with the Academy's accelerated academic learning goals. "The Rowland Reading Curriculum is second to none in using research-based teaching strategies and systematic, explicit phonics instruction," shares Stacie Zorichak, Legacy's associate head of school - academics. "Our Kinder readers don't get scared or discouraged when they see an unfamiliar word because they have mastered strategies they need to decode it."
"This is one of the reasons why Legacy Kindergarteners score in the top 3 percent of the nation in reading," says Matt Millett, the Academy's head of school and a local educational expert. "But a curriculum is only as good as the person teaching it. That's why Legacy invests so much in our faculty's continuing education."
One of those faculty members: Stephanie Espinoza, a credentialed teacher with nearly two decades of proven experience in the classroom. "Our phonics program is comprehensive and systematic," explains Espinoza, Legacy's Kindergarten teacher. "Every aspect of it builds a solid foundation for students to become confident, fluent readers. Our program is unique because the students are engaged and motivated to learn to read and write through the adventures of relatable characters," says the teaching veteran. "As a result, they build thorough/broad decoding and comprehension skills. The most exciting part of the program is that by the end of Kindergarten, all of our students are reading at or above grade level - and loving it!"
Superior phonics education is just part of the Kinder curriculum story. Thanks to advanced academics, Legacy students graduate at least two full years ahead of their public-school peers in mathematics and more.
Legacy Christian Academy 257-7377

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iLEAD Agua Dulce to Serve
TK through Ninth Grade in Fall 2021
School choice doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg. In fact, it should be free - even if a school not only meets educational standards but also provides project-based learning with a focus on developing each child's character. That is what iLEAD Schools have been providing for families in the Santa Clarita Valley for 13 years.
iLEAD Agua Dulce is the newest campus from SCVi and iLEAD Schools. Having served Agua Dulce and nearby Canyon Country since 2018, they are here to stay. With their charter recently renewed for five years, the iLEAD Agua Dulce campus will expand from TK through eighth grade to now include high school learners, with ninth grade starting in the fall of 2021 and continuing to grow to TK-through-12th in subsequent years.
Why choose iLEAD Agua Dulce? Because they provide a personalized education focused on social-emotional growth while maintaining the rigor of a fully WASC-accredited program. Ignite your child's lifelong love of learning. Learn more by logging on.
ileadaguadulce.org

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Why Know the Difference
Between the "Iliad" & "Aeneid?"
Why does anybody need to know the difference between Homer's "Iliad" and Virgil's "Aeneid?" What's the point? What is the value in that?
The Classics teach us about the great challenges of what it means to be human. They are an insight into the origins of humanity and enable students to make sense of our present situation.
They are a source of wisdom that has survived the ages.
The Classics teach us about growing up, learning from adversity, perseverance and how to live when we are often at the mercy of forces larger than ourselves.
Both Achilles (Odysseus is the hero of the Odyssey, Achilles of the Iliad.) and Aeneas show us that loyalty, courage, responsibility and discernment are not just valuable, but rather lifesaving virtues.
To know them, two of the world's first authors from two different perspectives, Greek and Roman, defining the times in which they lived, is to see that literature is a continuous story with Homer and Virgil as the first chapters which all others follow.
Students deserve an enriched and varied curriculum, one which allows their depth of understanding to increase. Most books of substance are inherently intertextual and honor those that came before and illuminate those that have come after.
The study of the Classics enables students to navigate the question which all people have ardently considered through the ages and is no less important now: How did I get here and where am I going?
At Trinity Classical Academy, that is a conversation they relish having. And at the very least, you'll know who Homer Simpson was named after. You can impress your friends.
Trinity Classical Academy 296-2601

It's Time to Teach your Kids to Floss Daily - Yes, Really
When your kids are little, the last thing you're probably thinking about is whether or not they'll develop heart conditions or inflammation when they're older - but by teaching them how to floss correctly and daily now, you may be helping to prevent major health problems down the line.
Besides preventing oral issues like gingivitis and tooth decay, flossing can play a big role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and in the maintenance of overall good health. It's time to teach flossing!
You'll want to start when you're child has two or more teeth that touch - probably around their second or third birthday. Until they're 9 or 10, they'll probably require assistance, so get ready to make flossing a family affair - which should help you stay consistent, too.
There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube - but the big takeaway is this: be gentle. Flossing does not need to be aggressive to be effective.
Flossing tends to be the least-liked activity for good oral hygiene - it's got a bad wrap for being boring or even uncomfortable. That's why it's so important to normalize the activity early, ensure that it is pain free and model good flossing yourself.
Dr. Marvin Tong, DDS 268-6284