Rachel Simmons On Pandemic Parenting: The Road Back
On August 27, 2020, as we got ready to open our doors to the new school year and the challenges of a hybrid learning model, bestselling author and expert on leadership development Rachel Simmons helped our parents to be thoughtful about supporting our students’ return to the classroom.
Our whole notion of school and what it looks like has changed significantly in the last six months in ways that have created uncertainty and anxiety for children and adults. Ms. Simmons reminded us that the current situation is not the norm, that families are operating under the stress of this time, and that we need to reframe our thinking and expectations of ourselves and our children accordingly.
Ms. Simmons shared some important advice to help parents support their children through this continuously changing landscape by encouraging us to “reframe our discomfort” and consider the opportunities that challenges can create. She explained that how we respond to situations can be impacted by our “stress mindset.” This mindset is defined by whether we believe that stress in our lives has enhancing or harmful consequences for our performance, productivity, well-being, learning, and growth. Rather than getting weighed down or paralyzed by the challenges we are facing, Ms. Simmons feels that developing a “positive stress mindset”, and modeling it for children, can help parents and kids to see stress as an uncomfortable and inevitable, yet useful part of life.
She gave the example of a student who is nervous about presenting in front of a class. Rather than allowing the student to be overwhelmed by those feelings, we should acknowledge their discomfort, empathize, and encourage them to see the positive side of their feelings: “being nervous means you care about doing well, and your quick heart beat means you’re also excited; use that energy to help you do the best you can!”
It's also important during times of uncertainty to “create structure and routines, and provide unconditional love” to our kids. These are the things that help them to feel safe and secure. We should also do our best to give kids as much choice and control as we can. Allowing them to design and outfit their own homework area or giving them a regular responsibility or chore can create structures that help kids to feel more in control of their lives and their home, even when the world around them feels unsettled.
“The good news,” said Ms. Simmons, “is that our kids are unbelievably resilient… they have the ability to bounce back more quickly than we realize.”
It was great to have Rachel Simmons with us again at Nashoba Brooks this fall. Her warmth, wisdom, and practical advice, drawn from her own “pandemic parenting,” were a welcome dose of optimism in our start to the new school year.
It was a packed weekend on the Nashoba Brooks campus for Fall Weekend!
Thank you to all the parent volunteers, student ambassadors, faculty members, and all other roles who contributed to making this weekend so memorable for our School.
After weeks of hard work, Grade 3 students had the opportunity to present their Community Hero projects to their families and their interview subjects!
The Nashoba Brooks School campus was bursting with excitement Friday, November 4, through Sunday, November 6, as we celebrated our annual Fall Weekend.
After almost a year of research, school visits, interviews, self-reflection, and essay writing, the Grade 8 class is enjoying a variety of excellent high schools to choose from.
Alongside the book fair and poetry month, April has been a wonderful time for literature at Nashoba Brooks School. Sharon Draper and Jen Campbell, two celebrated authors, left their mark on the community over the past few weeks.
More than 75 parents responded to this year’s annual School survey and numbers were well balanced across all grade levels. The results of the survey are impressive and the feedback the parents offer to the School is glowing.
As Black History Month comes to a close, students and faculty alike celebrate diversity, acknowledging that a school is not only classrooms, gymnasiums, and fields, but also the people within these walls. Each year and at every grade level our students contemplate the presence and importance of different backgrounds, experiences and beliefs. And this month provides community members with an opportunity to reflect on what it means to be Black in America.
Rachel Adams graduated from Nashoba Brooks School in 2001. She went on to study at Lawrence Academy followed by Maine College of Art and Design. Now living in Portland as a successful artist, textile designer, entrepreneur, wife and mother of two, Rachel shares her journey from student to full time artist.
Guida Mattison, Nashoba Brooks School's director of secondary school placement, wants to remove as much stress as possible from the high school application process that Grade 8 students go through each year.
Situated on a beautiful 30-acre campus in historic Concord, Massachusetts, Nashoba Brooks School enrolls all genders in Preschool through Grade 3, and students identifying as girls in Grades 4 through 8. Nashoba Brooks is an independent school designed to build community, character, and confidence in its students.