SHAWNEE, Kan. — KC Healthy Kids, with a $10,000 grant from the 15 and Mahomies Foundation, helped fund six "Safe Spaces" at two local early learning centers.
"Safe Spaces" or "Calming Corners" provide students a place within the classroom to process big emotions and learn self-regulating tools.
The space is equipped with books, emotion charts, fidget toys, plush cushions and a tent with twinkling lights for a calm ambiance.
“A lot of school districts across the country are kind of moving in this direction," said Shelby Nace, a bilingual social worker at KC Healthy Kids. "The strategy itself is rooted in mindfulness."
With mental health diagnosis at an all time high, these "Safe Spaces" are a way to foster social-emotional learning.
Just like ABC's and 123's, self-awareness and emotional regulation must be learned.
Ultimately, it is preventative.
"The best thing that we can do for our kids is build in the resilience, and so that comes from the person to person connection, but that also comes from them having internal tools to regulate themselves," Nace said. "The sooner the kids can be introduced to these strategies, the easier it will stick with them throughout their lives."
All teachers also received trauma-informed training, which allows them to spot changes in student behaviors that may be caused by home life.
It poses the question — "what happened to you?" and not "what is wrong with you?"
Educators and mental health experts say traditional approaches to discipline do not always work anymore.
Students in preschool now are the first generation of children post-COVID who did not get the same social and emotional development needed for their growth.
But in the process of searching for "better" solutions, it is offering "healing" for those who came before.
"As an adult, I really wish something like this was around for me," said Amy Powers, a preschool teacher at New City Early Learning Academy. "It’s working."
—
KSHB 41 anchor/reporter JuYeon Kim covers agricultural issues and the fentanyl crisis. Share your story idea with JuYeon.
