By Guest Blogger Chloe Cohen
The Children’s Center, a program of North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center located within the Nassau County Family Court, provides care and early learning for children (infants to 12 years old) while their parents or guardians handle court matters. Here at The Children’s Center, we partnered with Sesame Street’s “Sesame Workshop,” which provides resources, games, and webinars aimed to aid children of all ages to become “smarter, stronger, and kinder” according to Sesame Street. Throughout the duration of the summer thus far, we have been implementing these educational resources to over 70 children enrolled at the Children’s Center The Workshop features several topics ranging from emotional well-being, art, and friendship to more difficult topics such as divorce and trauma that have proven to educate and open the minds of children to these topics at an understandable and age appropriate level.
By using beloved Sesame Street characters and engaging content, the Workshop creates a safe and supportive environment for children to learn and grow. These resources not only foster healthy habits and resilience but also promote empathy, understanding, and inclusion, ensuring that children are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for a happy, healthy, and successful future.
Healthy Minds and Bodies
The Sesame Workshop features three subsections of countless resources- the first two are “ABCs and 123s”, which outlines core academic subjects and approaches them in an entertaining and educational manner, and the second is “Healthy Minds and Bodies.” I would like to highlight this subsection, as Sesame Street leverages familiar and friendly Sesame Street characters to make learning about health and wellness fun and effective for young children.
While topics such as nutrition, mindfulness, social emotional learning, and hygiene are not typically touched upon by school curriculum, their importance to the development of children remains critical. By learning about topics related to healthy minds and bodies, we are actively working to set the foundation for lifelong habits that can be established at a young age. Understanding these concepts early on helps children to develop self-care routines and habits that can lead to healthier lifestyles. Additionally, learning about emotional well-beingequips children with skills to manage stress, build resilience, and navigate social interactions effectively. Sesame Street highlights a holistic approach within this subsection that fosters overall well-being for developing children by ensuring they are physically active, emotionally balanced, and socially adept.
The Approach to “Tough Topics”
Of the topics presented within the Workshop, we have found the third and final subsection, “Tough Topics”, to be the most effective. Understanding difficult topics such as divorce, trauma, and grief can be extremely hard for young children, and it can be even harder for caregivers to introduce such matters. The online resources for “Tough Topics” are designed to help children and their caregivers navigate sensitive issues with age appropriate and familiar characters who provide them with the tools they need to manage these challenges together. These topics can be difficult to approach for caregivers as they can even be seen as a taboo to be mentioned in schools or among children’s peers. The Sesame Workshop can open the conversation between children and their caregivers as well as allow them to pack their toolbox with skills to get through these difficult times. Additionally, caregivers who review these resources are able to learn how to communicate with their children through these journeys in a healthy way.
These topics, such as divorce and separation, have been especially useful in The Children’s Center as we are located within a family courthouse that regularly deals with these issues. Children who are literate are able to pick the topic they would like to learn more about during their time with us, and a number of children have chosen these tough topics potentially due to their own family situation or the situation of a loved one. By offering these resources to children who may be struggling, we are actively utilizing the Sesame Workshop to its fullest potential, and we hope to continue to make a difference in the lives of these children, though our time together is limited.
