The coronavirus pandemic affects everyone, including children who may feel confused, afraid, angry, or any number of difficult emotions. How can we recognize their feelings and talk with them about the pandemic? Dr. Sanaz Kumar, a psychiatrist and assistant medical director of The Children’s Guild Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, specializes in child and family psychiatry. She offers guidance to parents and caretakers in her Baltimore Sun commentary, “Talking to children about COVID-19.”

“Talking with your children frankly and thoughtfully can go a long way in alleviating children’s fears and helping them to understand and grow in these challenging times”

“Talking with your children frankly and thoughtfully can go a long way in alleviating children’s fears and helping them to understand and grow in these challenging times,” Dr. Kumar says.

She suggests we start by asking children what they already know about the pandemic and let them guide the conversation. Use a calm and confident tone, she says, be honest and truthful and emphasize action as a way to address anxiety. Read more in Dr. Kumar’s commentary.

In addition to talking with children, Dr. Kumar discusses caring for children’s needs more broadly in our online resource, “Talking to Children about COVID-19 and Managing their Social and Emotional Needs.” She advocates for exercising self-compassion and gratitude while maintaining a routine, physical activity, social interaction, and family time.

Dr. Kumar and The Children’s Guild’s team of counselors and psychiatrists work closely with children and families in clinic- and school-based settings to address their emotional and behavioral needs. The Children’s Guild’s holistic, strengths-based, trauma-informed therapeutic approach actively involves parents, family members, caregivers, and school staff.

The Children’s Guild Alliance joins the nation in celebrating National Teacher Appreciation Week from May 4-8, 2020. During these difficult and uncertain times, we thank our teachers for their commitment to our students. There will not be any special parties or parades this year, but that does not mean our teachers’ work has gone unnoticed. Now more than ever, we are reminded of the work our teachers do every day to give our children the education they deserve. We thank our teachers for contributing their gifts and talents to The Children’s Guild and Monarch Academy schools and the children we serve. You serve children to ensure they achieve their full capability in academic, emotional, social, and life skills by establishing programs and discovering more effective methods to promote growth and change.

The value of our teachers’ daily contributions has never been more evident than right now. Parents, grandparents, neighbors, and friends have all suddenly had to take on the role of “teacher, ” and never before have the contributions of teachers been more valued and respected! The reality of just how challenging and difficult the art and science of teaching really is, is now widely known. Teachers are now valued as the true heroes they have always been. Our teachers now contribute not only to the remote learning of our students, but they also contribute to the distant learning of their family members. Their contributions to the delivery of our distance learning platform has been done with compassion, integrity, and patience, even while many of them are experiencing your own challenges with kids, family members, and pets in the room.

In the spirit of Teacher Appreciation Week, we acknowledge the countless ways each of our teachers contribute to the organization daily. From delivering Chromebooks and hot spots to kids; providing students with their musical instruments to practice at home; or imagining creative virtual ways to engage kindergartners, middle schoolers, and students on the severe end of the autism spectrum, our teachers’ contributions are endless and so is our appreciation for each and every one of them.

Our students have come up with many creative ways to say thank you to our teachers from sharing their favorite photos with teachers and staff through social media to recording a video message or writing a letter to their favorite teacher or even dressing up like their favorite teacher and sharing it on social media. Students have been asked to give their teacher something special by drawing a picture, writing a poem or singing a song and sharing it on social media. They are telling teachers why they miss them, telling them a joke to make them smile, telling them about their superpowers, thanking a teacher for what they do, or telling a teacher why you think they are fabulous. Some students are even decorating their neighborhood to say thank you.

The entire Children’s Guild Alliance family says thank you and salutes its teachers!

As the world fights COVID-19 and the resulting lockdowns and social distancing directives, families face challenges managing stress, talking with children and navigating life during this crisis. Dr. Sanaz Kumar, assistant medical director of The Children’s Guild Outpatient Mental Health Clinic and a staff psychiatrist at The Children’s Guild School of Prince George’s County, specializes in family and child psychiatry and provides some advice for parents.

Dr. Kumar recognizes the stress families are experiencing. Routines have changed, and, in many cases, parents have added homeschooling to their list of responsibilities.

This can be especially overwhelming if one is trying to work remotely and still give their child attention or if they have lost their job and are worrying about finances.

One of the questions Dr. Kumar is asked most frequently these days by parents is “How do I explain COVID-19 to children when adults are having such a hard time grasping the enormity of what we are living through?” In these turbulent times, there is a real emotional cost to everyone, young and old. We even have children asking the question, “Am I or my parents or grandparents going to die?”

To that end, Dr. Kumar wrote Talking to Children about COVID-19 advising parents to talk with their children calmly, using developmentally appropriate language, presenting the facts and emphasizing action steps.

“Talking with your children frankly and thoughtfully can go a long way in alleviating children’s fears and helping them to understand and grow in these challenging times,” Dr. Kumar explains.

The Children’s Guild Alliance is off to an exciting start in 2020, and we look forward to sharing some of our news in this issue of Transformation. We are excited to announce the inaugural Kids First Celebration and introduce Baltimore philanthropists and civic leaders, Guy Flynn and Nupur Parekh Flynn, who will be honored with Sadie Awards at the event. We invite you to join our Kids First movement and help us transform the way America cares for and educates its children.

In this issue, we celebrate the opening of new outdoor play spaces at Monarch Academy Annapolis, the ten-year anniversary of Monarch Academy Glen Burnie, and the five-year renewal of The Children’s Guild DC Public Charter School’s charter contract. We are proud of third grade authors at Monarch Academy Glen Burnie and students at Monarch Global Academy Laurel for raising awareness about bullying. We congratulate winning sports teams at The Children’s Guild DC Public Charter School and The Children’s Guild School of Baltimore.

You will learn about the new partnerships TranZed Apprenticeships is developing to promote apprenticeships and help veterans learn online, and you will read about the success of the 17th annual NAREN-TranZed Conference.

This issue highlights some of the ways The Children’s Guild Alliance makes a positive difference in children’s lives with stories about the wellness initiative for young women from Staffa House and students with special needs playing baseball at Camden Yards. We introduce a new swim program for students with autism from The Children’s Guild School of Prince George’s County and share a recent adoption story from our Family Life Education Treatment Foster Care program.

We could not accomplish what we do without our dedicated staff. Check out our list of Monarch Award winners, and read about Tamiko Gomez of Monarch Global Academy Laurel, a finalist for the 2020 Anne Arundel County Public School Teacher of the Year. Meet Kristin Taylor, the newly named director of Monarch Preschool College Park opening later this year. We also welcome new leadership within our schools and on our schools’ board of directors.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue of Transformation and thank you for taking the time to learn more about The Children’s Guild Alliance.

In this crucial time of distance learning, many of the students at The Children’s Guild and Monarch Academy schools do not have computers in their homes or access to the internet. To help its students, The Children’s Guild and Monarch Academy schools launched an initiative to raise funds to support the immediate purchase of 1,500 Chromebook laptops.

At The Children’s Guild DC Public Charter School, for example, most of the students live below the poverty line, and 22 percent are homeless. In Monarch Academy schools in Anne Arundel County, many students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and many parents have been laid off.

“If these student do not connect to online learning options during this time of distance learning, they will regress and lose the progress they have made since the beginning of the school year,” said Andrew L. Ross, president and CEO of The Children’s Guild Alliance, operator of The Children’s Guild and Monarch Academy schools. “Gifts of any size are appreciated but know $50 buys a WiFi hotspot for a family without internet connectivity, and $250 puts a Chromebook in the hands of a student.”

For more information or to donate, visit
KidsFirstAmerica.org/chromebooks