Counselor’s Corner, October 2025
Welcome to October! With a month of school behind us, students are settling into the routines and rhythms of the year. October is a wonderful time to check in with your child, reflect on how the year has started, and set goals for the months ahead. With progress reports coming home soon and conferences on the horizon, this is a natural opportunity to talk with your child about their growth and areas to work on.
To support those conversations, here are a few simple strategies you can use at home to encourage a growth mindset:
- Set realistic goals and praise progress. Help your child set achievable goals and celebrate the effort they put into reaching them. Goals are a great way to motivate your child to do their best.
- Focus on effort, not just results. When your child succeeds, highlight the hard work and strategies that helped them get there – not just the outcome.
- Encourage challenges. Children grow most when they push beyond what is easy. Remind your child that stretching themselves is how they learn new skills. They’ll never learn if they never try.
- Reframe mistakes as learning opportunities. Mistakes are part of growth! Reframe them for your child as opportunities to learn and improve. Teach your child to view the word “fail” this way: FAIL is an acronym that stands for First Attempt In Learning.
- Model positive self-talk. You are your child’s first teacher. Consider how you talk about your own challenges and mistakes. Let your child hear you use encouraging words with yourself. This shows that, even in your life, challenges take effort, time, and patience.
Finally, with conferences coming up, please feel free to email me at cshaw@st-johnschool.org if you would like to schedule a meeting. While I’m always happy to meet throughout the year, conferences provide extra openings in my schedule, so please do take advantage if needed!
October Resources
- Mental Health Resource: Care Solace is a free and confidential care coordination service available to all St. John families. Care Solace helps quickly match families with treatment options based on their needs. To use this service, you can call 888-515-0595 or visit their website. You are also welcome to contact me directly, and I can submit a referral on your behalf.
- Parent Talks: This year’s Parent Map ParentEd Talks lineup looks great, and St. John families can attend for free! Learn more and register here.
- Words to Parent By: This is a great list of 10 Words & Phrases to Use Once a Day with your child. These simple but powerful ideas help strengthen daily connection.
