Dear parents,

Hare Krishna

As part of our preparation for welcoming all children back to the Gurukula in September the teachers and I are discussing how we will address the emotional and mental health needs of the children after lockdown.

Your child may have been at home for 6 months by this point and be quite anxious about being away from you. We understand that the anxious child is not a learning child and as part of the recovery curriculum that will be in place I would ask you to help your child to make a ‘Happiness Box’ to bring with them on September 2nd.

Please see the details below:

https://barrycarpentereducation.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/rationale-for-the-happiness-box.pdf

You may find some of the books below useful. Although they do not have words, the rationale behind this is that the part of the brain that deals with experiencing emotions (amygdala) works less effectively once another area of the brain has to also be engaged to read words. These books have no words and can be used with your child to allow them to construct their own story based on their experience at this time.

https://booksbeyondwords.co.uk/coping-with-coronavirus

If you have any questions or things you would like us to know about the experiences your child has had during lockdown please do not hesitate to contact me or your child’s teacher via email.

Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada

Gunacuda Dasi