1.
What
is your children’s book, Katie’s Really Bad Day, about? Katie is a cheerful 2nd grade girl
who sometimes gets anxious, especially before taking tests. Her teacher, Miss
Julie, does not know this until one day, Katie panics as she is about to take a
spelling test, scribbles on her desk and just can’t do the test at all. Miss
Julie gently handles the situation and learns more about why Katie worries
before taking tests. They work together on calming techniques and eventually
the whole class gets involved belly breathing with Katie before a test. It’s a
cheerful story overall about a very relatable issue. Katie’s classmates are
kind and sympathetic. Everyone benefits from realizing they are not the only
ones who worry!
2. You were an anxious kid in school. How did you deal with it
back then? I had very supportive
parents. My Mom was an elementary teacher and understood anxiety personally. We
would talk through the worries as they arose. Overall, I liked learning, was
capable and socially adept, but there was an underlying school anxiety. While
researching this book and writing a bio, I traced it back to separation anxiety
that started in the early days of kindergarten. Like Katie, I had a very
bad second grade day, so my mom brought me into school the next day. She had a
chat with my teacher who then realized how upset and sensitive I was, mostly I
think because my cheerful personality hid my anxiety. The problem was resolved
for that year, however eventually I developed test anxiety. Also, back then we
did not have calming centers like today and anxiety was not an open topic.
3. What can children do today to combat test
anxiety? Practicing basic test
taking strategies and studying skills they are taught in the classroom. Parents
can reinforce this at home. Kids can also do practice tests at home. Mindful
breathing techniques before or during a test. Tell the teacher and caregiver if
they are anxious about a test coming up and ask for help. Teachers have many
resources for anxious kids including calming activities available in the
classroom for all students as the need arises.
4. Do children try hard to cover up their test
anxiety? Yes, not only are they
feeling fearful, but it’s also embarrassing, and the child feels inadequate
even though they’ve learned the material. Many kids study hard but worry they won’t
remember the answers. The familiar panic sets in, they may freeze or go blank,
then underachieve on the test because of it. I remember the feeling well.
Studies have shown that test anxiety affects reading comprehension affecting
test scores. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5487000/
5. What impact might Covid, and learning deficits
and social awkwardness, have on Generation Alpha and Gen Z? The time spent zooming from home vs. face-to-face
classroom time, plus masking in the classroom, during formative years of
socialization would affect social cues contributing further to social
awkwardness. Also, special services provided in the classroom for
learning deficits would be affected as well. On top of this, kids are
exposed to smartphones at an early age which also hinders face to face
socialization and social skills. Teachers tell me anxiety in school since covid
is at an all-time high.
6. Throughout your book, there’s a message that
appears multiple times. It says: “Be kind. Work hard. Know that you are loved.”
What does that mean to you? Being kind
is a basic human behavior critical to our health and wellbeing. We all
need to give and receive kindness, and children must learn to practice this
especially when another child is upset or had an embarrassing moment like
Katie. Working hard is energizing and encourages an enthusiasm for learning and
challenges. It’s also a necessity for living life well, supporting fruitful,
sustainable work and contributing to society. Children need to know they
are loved, which sends the message that this means in school too! Some children
may not feel loved outside of school so it’s a message that the classroom is a
safe loving place.
7. You offer free “breathing boards” for
download on your site, www.kathleenjeffreyauthor.com. What do
these do? Breathing boards are
an easy exercise that feels like a fun game and has a calming effect. The
child traces a figure eight, triangle or other shapes with their finger
following the arrows, breathing in and out. It’s another way to encourage
mindful breathing that is also visual, sensory and tactile.
8. Is your book teaching a great lesson now? Yes. Kids must be
encouraged to speak up to let their teachers and caregivers know they are
struggling. Also, they need to understand they are not alone, that many kids
worry before tests and there are calming tools to help. It also brings
more awareness to test anxiety that can start between 2nd and 4th
grade. It may carry through into college and beyond if not addressed.
Early intervention is the key in any school related anxiety as that can lead to
test anxiety eventually.
9. What do you say to critics of our young generation, where they
say that kids are too soft and coddled, how they only know video games, social
media, their phones, and Netflix? Between the helicopter parenting of my generation that started
with our millennial children, smart phones and all the alluring addictive
technology and algorithms, adults, children and society overall need a better
balance. Jonathan Haidt, the author of the new bestseller, ‘The Anxious
Generation,’ ‘How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of
Mental Illness,’ shows an alarming increase in mental health issues among
teens, from the time smart phones were introduced in 2010. Full access to
the internet through smart phones has created a virtual “phone-based childhood”
vs. the unstructured “play-based childhood” of my generation and before. This
book is informative, and the author’s research compelling. I think every parent
should read it.
Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?
Brian
Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page
views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors like
you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30
years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres.
Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!
About Brian
Feinblum
This
award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts
over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by
BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021
and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”
For
the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He
formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the
head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director
of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time,
self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors
and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine
Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren
Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy,
Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.
His
writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s
The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).
He
hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and
has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah
Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association,
Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and
Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the
2024 IBPA Book Awards.
His
letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal,
USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester)
and The Washington Post. His first published book was The
Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook. It
was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.
Born
and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids,
and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog
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