All students at WHES are able to participate in small group counseling sessions focused on different topics. Most of these groups are psychoeducational by design, but there are groups where actual counseling does occur. Each group of students take a pre-test about the skills we are focusing on and then our activites are designed around the areas of weaknesses the students are exhibiting by these pre-tests and classroom behaviors. Below are the descriptions all the groups that are conducted at WHES. Groups are conducted during recess, once a week and for six-eight weeks at a time. They begin in October and end in the beginning of May. If you feel your child would benefit from these wonderful opportunities, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected].
Social Skills
Social skills are the ever important life skills that we need to succeed socially and academically. These skills include, but are not limited to, listening, following directions, emotion management, how to ask for help, how to get along with others, how to initiate a friendship and how to talk to people. I run groups on this topic for all grade levels, but have more in K and 1st that participate.
Anger Management
Students in this group are taught where they feel their anger in their body so they can recognize when they need to use the calm down skills that are taught. We also discuss how anger is really a secondary emotion so that they understand why they eventually got to be angry. We also discuss taking responsibility for our behavior in this group. Typically, these groups are for children in grades 3-5 but can work for students in younger grades.
Paying Attention and Concentrating
This group is designed for students who are struggling paying attention and concentrating in the classroom. They may or may not be officially diagnosed ADD/ADHD. We don't focus on whether or not the child has one of these disorders. We focus on training our brains to pay attention and concentrate. One of the things we do is examine the Stroop Effect. This is a widely researched and utilized strategy to assess psychological abilities. I do not use it as that type of tool. It is used as a game in group to demonstrate how we must take our time to pay attention to all the details needed to do well on any given activity. Take a look:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroop_effect
We then discuss strategies that many students have used in the past and found success in helping them focus and pay attention better.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroop_effect
We then discuss strategies that many students have used in the past and found success in helping them focus and pay attention better.
Self Esteem
We do a lot of self-discovery in our self esteem groups. We like to learn more about ourselves so we can celebrate who we are and feel comfortable with that. We do a lot of communication in this group as well.
FISH-Families In Separate Houses
This group is open to all ages. We get together and discuss each other's unique situation and how we can support each other in their journeys. Some students are dealing with divorce, court battles, getting used to going from one house to another, step-parents or their parents dating or possibly a blended family situation. We talk a lot about how to cope with the changes.
Friendship Skills
We are all hard wired at birth to want to belong with others. But, not all of us are hard wired to know how to be a good friend. In this group we learn about communication, reciprocal play, how to avoid drama, and other issues we have with friends. This group looks very different from Kindergarteners to Fifth graders and sometimes is only made up of girls.
Grief
This group is typically the only cross age group that I run. Sometimes we have third graders all the way up to fifth graders participate. We learn about the five stages of grief, where we are in those five stages, how to deal with anger surrounding their loved one's death, getting to the point of acceptance even though it is tough. We do crafts like memory boxes, memory rocks and balloon releases.
Study Skills
We are utilizing a new curriculum this year called Step Up to Better Grades to help ensure our students who need a little boost in their study skills have those skills they need. We focus on listening, following directions, goal setting and prioritizing, how to study, and paying attention.