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CIS is committed to supporting the holistic well-being of our students. The specialist team of counsellors helps students to develop personal “toolkits,” or sets of skills and strategies, to strengthen their mental health and resilience. Strategies focus on improving self-awareness, managing time and stress, building healthy relationships, and, crucially, learning how to learn. 

You are not alone. 2020 proved to be an especially stressful, unpredictable year for many families worldwide. In such moments, we all look to our “toolkits” for coping strategies and we draw on our reserves of well-being and resilience to get us through. We encourage all students and parents to reach out to our counsellors for information, ideas and support at any time. Foremost, we want you to know that CIS cares. 

To see how CIS is working behind the scenes during distance learning, as well as maintaining a state of readiness for the return to on campus learning, check out our YouTube series “Behind the Scenes of DL”

Student Support Services 

The Student Support and Counselling Team at CIS always strive to support the parents and children of the CIS community.We are available to support your children as they readjust to a different learning platform and schedule. In order to look after our physical and mental health, the value of healthy habits related to eating well, exercising and having a good night’s sleep is important to reflect upon as both individuals and families. Finding interests, routines or activities that support our children and families manage stress or anxiety are helpful. Some of the things that children find helpful when managing anxiety would include painting, walking, reading, exercising (running, sports), talking to someone trusted, family time, and deep breathing. 

Contact CIS Counsellors

If you would like any support in regards to Distance Learning or difficult-to-manage feelings, we are available to answer questions, provide support, and take meetings online. Send an email or communicate with your child’s teacher if you would like to meet regarding your child.

Sheila Mills

SK to Grade 4

Sheila
sheila.mills@cisp.edu.kh 

Annie Cadwell

Grades 5 to 11

Annie
annie.cadwell@cisp.edu.kh

Hi Students & Families,

Though school has moved to Distance Learning, We are still available to support you with a variety of things as if we were still on campus. If you would like any support in regards to Distance Learning or difficult-to-manage feelings, we are available to answer questions, provide support, and take meetings online. Send an email or communicate with your child’s teacher if you would like to meet regarding your child. 

Best,

Sheila Mills: 

Nursery to SK and Grade Two (sheila.mills@cisp.edu.kh)

Kimm Renaud: 

Grade One, Grade Three to Five. (kimm.renaud@cisp.edu.kh)

Below we have attached some information about anxiety, managing anxiety and staying organized during distance learning (DL):

The drastic changes in our routine, lifestyle and the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic can cause a number of different thoughts and feelings for people.  It is a normal reaction to feel anxious or stressed during these times. However, if you are having too many negative thoughts and feelings, it can make this situation feel much harder to handle.

Anxiety can feel different to different people. Here are some ways to recognize anxiety:

  • It can make you feel really angry or really sad and change your emotions a lot 
  • It can make you feel scared of the situation or future outcomes
  • It can make you want to avoid all your responsibilities and even your friends and family
  • It can make you want to sleep a lot, or hard to sleep 
  • It can also affect your appetite, making you overeat, or not feeling hungry. 
  • Some people even feel it in their bodies with feeling like their heart is beating too fast, feeling short of breath, shaking or sweating

Learning how to recognize and respond to anxiety helps us to adjust to our current situation, and prepares us to deal with difficult or hard circumstances in the future. 

Try Some Coping Strategies 

Click the link for a fun list of strategies to try to start practicing managing stress and anxiety better.  You can also try some new activities if you are feeling bored. Stay connected! Ask a friend to join you online to try it together.

Anxiety/Stress Reducing Exercises 

Click on the link for instructions on exercises to combat stress and anxiety.

Mindful Breathing Video or past into your browser (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmFUDkj1Aq0)

Follow along with this video to practice mindful breathing to reduce anxiety and stress

Learning to manage your school work from home without the structure and routine of a physical classroom can be challenging but you can do it!

Tips for Online Success

  • Outline and stick to a routine – including your classroom hours, breaks and meals.
  • Work at a desk
  • Before you begin your school work, outline your plan for the day to make it more manageable
  • Use a planner to keep track of due dates
  • Contact your teacher or counsellor directly if you are having any difficulty. Ask questions!

Hi Students & Families,

Though school has moved to Distance Learning, I am still available to support you with a variety of things as if we were still on campus. If you would like any support in regards to Online Learning or difficult to manage feelings, I am available to answer questions, provide support, and take meetings online. Send an email or a Google Chat with your request to get started.

Best,

Ms. Cadwell

Email: annie.cadwell@cisp.edu.kh

December 2nd, 2020

Self Care

There are a lot of misconceptions around the word “self-care”. Self-care is not only indulgences, it really means having a balanced and orderly life. A balanced life is managing all things that you are responsible for, your activities, your sports, your family, homework, school, friends, etc. while still taking care of yourself and the people who are important to you. A well-balanced person has a far greater ability to focus their attention and energy on attaining their goals, is less stressed, and tends to be positive and happy. 

Practicing Self Care

If practicing self care is new for you, first look at different situations to see what adds stress to your life and what helps you relax. Follow along with Balancing Stress and Relaxation to get started. 

Need some ideas for activities? Try a new Self Care Activity

Feeling stressed? Try one of these Relaxation Activities today and listen to some soothing music in the background  Relaxing Hang Drums.

Routine

To feel the benefits of relaxation during our self care activities, we need to do it regularly. Schedule your self care activities into your daily routine and do it everyday! If you haven’t started using one already, set up your time with this Online Planner. Read through the next section to learn how to balance self care and responsibilities.

Student Skill Focus: Time ManagementTime Management - List of Top Tips for Managing Time Effectively

How do you balance all the things you need and want to do in a day? Learning to manage our time from home is a new skill, and it is easy to become overwhelmed by your workload if you don’t have a strong organization and time management system. How are you supposed to finish 5 assignments on the SAME day, watch Tik Tok, chat with friends, and study for a test? We all get the same 86,400 seconds in a day. How can you make the most of your time?

Time Management – Check out this quick video on the positive impact of effectively managing your time!

How to Manage your Time (From Home and in the Future):

  • Start each day by organizing all your school and personal activities or task in priority of importance 
  • Select the most important tasks to complete within the day’s time frame
  • Break down each task into smaller steps
  • Take small breaks between each step to stay focused and productive. Stop for food and movement breaks
  • Stay motivated and disciplined

Time Management

Follow along with this activity to start organizing your time. If you are awake at 3am doing school work, this skill is meant for you 🙂

As always – send Ms. Cadwell a message if you have any questions or would like to meet!

Nov. 16th – Coping with the Change 

The drastic changes in our routine, lifestyle and the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic can cause a number of different thoughts and feelings for people, some of those may be negative. It is a normal reaction to feel anxious or stressed during these times. However, if you are having too many negative thoughts and feelings, it can make this situation feel much harder to handle.

Recognizing Anxiety

Anxiety can feel different to different people. 

  • It can make you feel really angry or really sad and change your emotions a lot 
  • It can make you feel scared of the situation or future outcomes
  • It can make you want to avoid all your responsibilities and even your friends and family
  • It can make you want to sleep a lot, or hard to sleep 
  • It can also affect your appetite, making you overeat, or not feeling hungry. 
  • Some people even feel it in their bodies with feeling like their heart is beating too fast, feeling short of breath, shaking or sweating

Coping Strategies for Anxiety

Learning how to recognize and respond to anxiety will help you adjust to our current situation, and prepare you to deal with difficult or hard circumstances in the future. When we cannot control the situation, we can try different coping skills to improve the way we feel about it. 

Try Some Coping Strategies

Click the link for a fun list of strategies to try to start practicing managing stress and anxiety better.  You can also try some new activities if you are feeling bored. Stay connected! Ask a friend to join you online to try it together.

Anxiety/Stress Reducing Exercises

Click on the link for instructions on exercises to combat stress and anxiety.

Mindful Breathing Video

Follow along with this video to practice mindful breathing to reduce anxiety and stress

Student Skill Focus: Organization

Learning to manage your school work from home without the structure and routine of a physical classroom can be challenging. 

Tips for Online Success

  • Outline and stick to a routine – including your classroom hours, breaks and meals.
  • Work at a desk
  • Before you begin your school work, outline your plan for the day to make it more manageable
  • Use a planner to keep track of due dates
  • Use your resources – Contact your counselor or teachers directly. Ask questions!
  • Stay connected – use your google classroom and google chats to talk to teachers and peers

If you are struggling to get organized, email Ms. Cadwell for a meeting!

Stress and Anxiety – The Physical Experience

Did you know our thoughts and feelings can change our physical state of wellbeing? When you or your child experience stress and anxiety with the ever changing Covid-19 situation, various physical symptoms may develop that look like illness. These symptoms may be unrelated to illness or a medical concern, but a physical response to their emotional state.  

Potential physical symptoms related to stress/anxiety:

  • Stomachaches, diarrhea, vomiting
  • Headaches, nausea
  • Sleep disturbances (troubles sleeping, extreme fatigue)
  • Changed eating habits (increased or decreased appetite)
  • Behavioral changes (defiance, agitation, crying) 

What can you do to support your child if they are experiencing physical symptoms of stress/anxiety:

  • If symptoms are persistent – first rule out illness and see a doctor to assess concerns
  • Talk with your child – find out how they are feeling about the current situation, lockdown and online learning

Understanding the current situation helps to reduce fear that contributes to physical feelings of stress/anxiety:

  • Limit their exposure to panic inducing information – monitor their social media use
  • Provide age appropriate information 
  • Talk with your child about their concerns. It is helpful to focus on what is being done to manage the outbreak rather than the unknowns 

For Children and Parents: Watch the read along of a story book:Captain Corona and Covid-19 Warriors to learn about how everyone is working together to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Providing support and reassurance to your child along with healthy lifestyle practices will help reduce their experience of stress and anxiety while contributing to their overall health and wellness. 

Need fun at-home activities? Look no further! 

Virtual Travel and Tours

STEAM

Videos

  • Crash Course is an educational Youtube channel that is appropriate for Middle School and High School students.

Dancing and Hands-on Activities

Podcasts

Apps

  • Audible is an app that allows you to listen to your favorite book! Listen to “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” “Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland,” “Winnie the Pooh” and so much more!