Answer Key: Safe Spaces for Your Children

Lesson Plan: Create Safe Spaces for Your Children to Discuss Their Feelings

II. While Reading Activities

Word Inference

  1. *safe space noun : a place (as on a college campus) intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations … student volunteers put up posters advertising that a “safe space” would be available for anyone who found the debate too upsetting.
  2. etched  |eCH| verb [with object]  • (be etched) (of an experience, image, etc.) be permanently fixed in someone’s memory: the events remain etched in the minds of all who witnessed them.
  3. shenanigans  |SHəˈnanəɡənz  pl.noun informal  • silly or high-spirited behavior; mischief.
  4. boundaries  |ˈbound(ə)rē| noun (plural boundaries) a line that marks the limits of an area; a dividing line: the eastern boundary of the wilderness | the boundary between the US and Canada | [as modifier] : a boundary wall.
  5. communication the successful conveying or sharing of ideas and feelings: there was a lack of communication between Pamela and her parents.
  6. curfew a regulation requiring people to remain indoors between specified hours, typically at night: a dusk-to-dawn curfew | the whole area was immediately placed under curfew.
  7. influential |ˌinflo͞oˈen(t)SH(ə)l| adjective having great influence on someone or something: her work is influential in feminist psychology.
  8. empowered  |əmˈpou(ə)r   verb [with object and infinitive] give (someone) the authority or power to do something: nobody was empowered to sign checks on her behalf.• [with object] make (someone) strong
  9. identify  īˈden(t)əˌfī| verb (identifies, identifying, identified) [with object]   recognize or distinguish (especially something considered worthy of attention): a system that ensures that the student’s real needs are identified.
  10. Self-awareness  ˈˌself əˈwernəs| noun conscious knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires: the process can be painful but it leads to greater self-awareness.

Sources

New Oxford American Dictionary   

*Merriam-Webster

Grammar Focus: Structure and Usage

I -1- words

Those five words have been etched in my mind.

II – 1- spaces

How do we create safe spaces for our children?

III 1-children

Showing children how to calm down is important.

Reading Comprehension

Identify The  Speakers

  1. Shanicia Boswel (the author). ” Growing up, I always found my mother to be a safe space for me.”
  2. Taylor Quick, a licensed child therapist for Zola Counseling, a private practice in Charlotte, N.C.  Defines safe spaces as “the relationship that a child has to her parent or caregiver to feel understood and heard.”
  3. Lenaya Smith-Crawford, a licensed marriage, family and play therapist at Kaleidoscope Family Therapy in Atlanta. “I want the children and the family to identify and be aware of the feelings that they’ve experienced throughout their week but also be able to connect that feeling with a certain circumstance or event.”
  4. Daniel Goleman, Ph.D, the author of Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships. “Self-awareness, or knowing what you feel and how you feel it, is an important component of emotional intelligence.”
  5. Sloane Anderson, 7, of Atlanta, a friend of my daughter’s. “My parents listen to me because they want to support me and they want to be there for me.”
  6. Brian Tracy, author of book, No Excuses! The Power of Self Discipline,   He suggests,” we can ask our children how we are doing as parents.”