Happy Holidays

   





                               HAPPY     
                            HOLIDAYS
                                                 ~ The SERC Library Staff

Our Sympathy and Resources to help talk with children about traumatic events

First, on behalf of the SERC Library and SERC, we extend our sympathy to the families and friends of those who were lost on Friday at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, our support and thoughts to the rest of the students and the teachers, and our thanks and support to the first responders.   You will all be in our thoughts for a very long time, if not for forever, know that we are thinking of you.     

The SERC Library has resources you can use under the keywords:  crisis, post-traumatic stress, grief, death, and bereavement.  The resources listed below are more immediate resources. 

Please continue to check the blog for additional resources as they are made available.

Jenny Groome from the Connecticut State Library has posted some Federal resources to the Connecticut State Library’s Blog on Tips for Helping Children Cope After Traumatic Events,  http://www.ctstatelibrary.org/node/10198

In addition,  Alberta Richetelle, Program Director and Judith Kronick, Reference Librarians for Healthnet sent these links along:

 

Healthnet : Connecticut Consumer Health Information Network

       Lyman Maynard Stowe Library – University of Connecticut Health Center   

                     P.O. Box 4003    Farmington CT 06034-4003

                                           Telephone: 860/679-4055

                                  http://library.uchc.edu/departm/hnet

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/aftermath.aspx

Helping your children manage distress in the aftermath of a shooting

From the American Psychological Association

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/helping-children-and-adolescents-cope-with-violence-and-disasters-parents/how-parents-can-help.shtml

Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters: What Parents Can Do/How Parents Can Help

From the National Institute of Mental Health

http://www.nctsn.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/age_related_reactions.pdf

Age-Related Reactions to a Traumatic Event

From the National Child Traumatic Stress Network

 

http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/children_and_the_news

Children and the News

From American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_brochures_coping_unexpected_events

Coping With Unexpected Events: Depression and Trauma

SEE SECTION:  Helping and Talking with Children

From the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)

http://www.aacap.org/galleries/default-file/Talking_to_kids_aurora_shooting.pdf

Tips for Talking to Children about the Aurora Shooting

From American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

 

From Exchange Every Day:

In the wake of the tragic shooting in Connecticut, many of you will be working with children and families who will have questions, concerns, and fears you need to deal with.  And, it is important that you deal with these issues forthrightly and appropriately.  We have surveyed members of the Exchange community and they how to respond: 

• An Exchange article by Diane Levin:  "When the World is a Dangerous Place — Helping Children Deal with Violence in the News."
• A New York Times article, "Tips for Talking to Children About the Shooting.
• Advice from National Child Traumatic Stress Network, "Talking to Children about the Shooting."
• Advice from the National Association of School Psychologists, "A National Tragedy: Helping Children Cope."
• A resource from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "Tips for Talking to Children and Youth after Traumatic Events."
• Fred Rogers' advice from Family Communications, "Helping Children Deal with Tragic Events in the News."
• Advice from the American Psychological Association, "Helping Your Children Manage Distress in the Aftermath of a Shooting."

 

Just some Holiday facts!

Okay --- A little holiday fun facts ---

HANUKKAH

~ Latkes, or potato pancakes are a popular Hanukkah dish, usually served with applesauce and sour cream

~Jewish holidays are based on a lunisolar calendar, which is based on the movement of the sun and moon – the Hebrew calendar ranges from 353 to 385 days - therefore - Hanukkah does not fall on the same date each year

~A Hanukkah menorah as nine candles – one for each of the eight nights of Hanukkah and an extra one to light the others – the world’s largest Hanukkah menorah – at 32 feet high – can be found during the festival of lights in New York’s City’s Central Park

~A dreidel is a popular Hanukkah toy – to play the game, players start out with the same amount of money (or candy) and they gain and lose depending on which letter turns up when they spin the top – the four letters on the dreidel’s sides form the initials of the message, “A great miracle happened there”

~ One Hanukkah tradition is the giving of the gelt, or gold coins – in the past children would give gelt to teachers and charities – now a reward for winning dreidel games – chocolate candies wrapped in gold tinfoil are sold to mimic real gelt.

CHRISTMAS

~ The word Christmas is Old English, a contraction of Christ’s Mass

~ The abbreviation Xmas is not irreligious – the letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ

~ Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895

~ 7.6 million Christmas trees are sold each year

~ Christmas became a national holiday in America on June 26, 1870

KWANZAA 

~ In December 1966 Kwanzaa was first celebrated – the holiday was started by Dr. Maulana Karenga – the name comes from a Swahili phrase meaning first fruits

~ The three green candles symbolize the future

~ The single black candle symbolizes unity

~ The three red candles symbolize the struggle out of slavery

~ The Kwanzaa holiday is celebrated for seven days and on each of the seven days you are suppose to work on a certain trait – unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, faith

New Year’s Day 

~ New Year is the oldest of all holidays, it was first observed in ancient Babylon as many long as 4000 years ago

~ New Year is celebrated like a festival throughout the world and everyone around is in a festive mood, partying, singing and dancing to ring out the old year and ring in the new

~The tradition of making New Year resolutions dates back to the early Babylonians

~ Noise making and fireworks on New Year’s Eve is believed to have originated in ancient times, when noise and fire were thought to dispel evil spirits and bring good luck

~ The Tournament of Rose Parade dates back to 1886 – that year members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers to celebrate the ripening of the oranges in California

Three Kings Day 

~ On this day Los Tres Reyes gave three gifts to Baby Jesus – gold, frankincense and myrrh

~ Children write letters to their favorite Wise Man or Rey Mago asking for presents

~Children leave a bucket of water and hay for the animals

~ Milk and cookies are left for the Three Wise Men to eat

~Children place their old shoes under their beds before going to sleep – the Wise Men will leave them the presents they wished for in their letters in these shoes

 

 

 

 

 

 

War of 1812

You did read the title right ----- I did say War of 1812 ----- did you look twice?

Some exciting news came through the Library listserv regarding the completion of a Collection of War of 1812 Papers which are now online!  Check out the press release from the Connecticut State Library and then check out the collection link below:

The Connecticut State Library has recently completed the digitization of the “Chauncey Hosford War of 1812 Papers” and has made them available online as part of the State Library’s Digital Collections   http://cslib.cdmhost.com/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15019coll1

During the War of 1812, Chauncey Hosford (1784-1855) enlisted as a first lieutenant in Capt. Elizur Warner’s Company of the United States Infantry Thirty-seventh Regiment on April 30, 1813.  His prior military service included a commission as ensign in the Third Company of the Fourteenth Regiment of Connecticut Militia as of April 28, 1810.  The Thirty-seventh Regiment was stationed at Fort Griswold in New London.

Hosford was assigned to the recruiting service and spent much of the time in his home town of Canaan in Litchfield County recruiting men from the area.  Most of this collection of 101 items reflects his recruiting activities. Included is correspondence, orders, weekly recruiting returns that list the names and towns of recruits, and receipts for recruiting expenses.  Also included is a muster roll for Capt. Elizur Warner’s Company.

The “Chauncey Hosford War of 1812 Papers” was donated to the Connecticut State Library by David A. Gibbs and Rosemary Pereira in 2012 and is part of the David Arthur Gibbs Collection of Hosford and Gibbs Family Papers.

SERC Authors Report listed on The Family Center on Technology and Disability Website!!

Janet Zarchen

Smita Worah

Congratulations to SERC authors Smita Worah, Ph.D. and Janet Zarchen!  Their report Providing Access to Common Core Language Arts Standards to Students who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) has been listed on the The Family Center on Technology and Disability national website!  Check out the report here http://ctserc.org/aac-core/Providing%20access%20to%20Common%20Core%20Language%20Arts%20Standards%20to%20Students%20who%20use%20Augmentative%20and%20Alternative%20Communication%20%28AAC%29%20%282%29.pdf and The Family Center on Technology and Disability website at http://www.fctd.info/

Inclusion Schools Week - December 3rd - 7th!

 

Inclusive Schools Week 2012 December 3-7, 2012

This year's theme for the 2012 Inclusive Schools Week is Social Inclusion: More than a Seat in the Class!

Check out this information from Inclusive Schools Network and for more information, check out their website at http://inclusiveschools.org/inclusive-schools-week/:

About Inclusive Schools Week

Inclusive Schools Week is an annual event sponsored by the Inclusive Schools Network (ISN) and Stetson & Associates, Inc., which is held each year during the first week in December. Since its inception in 2001, Inclusive Schools Week has celebrated the progress that schools have made in providing a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population, including students who are marginalized due to disability, gender, socio-economic status, cultural heritage, language preference and other factors. The Week also provides an important opportunity for educators, students and parents to discuss what else needs to be done in order to ensure that their schools continue to improve their ability to successfully educate all children.

How to Celebrate

You care about the dignity of all children—those with disabilities and those from diverse backgrounds—and you know that your school and community can do a better job of meeting their needs through the use of inclusive educational practices. We encourage you to take the lead in coordinating Inclusive Schools Week in your school, school district, or community. Thousands of individuals—teachers, family members, and schools administrators—local, state, and national organizations and advocacy groups, and entire school districts have enthusiastically stepped up to this task—and have found this experience to be extremely rewarding in terms of its impact on children and youth.