A Message from the Guidance Counselor
for Kindergarten Parents & Guardians

The five steps in our ProSocial Skills Model are as follows: 

1.  Stop and Think  
2.  Make a Good Choice   
3.  What are my choices?  
4.  Just Do It!  
5.  Say, “Good Job!”

When using this model, we are able to “Stop and Think” before we make a choice.  We discussed feelings, how they impact us, and how they may cause us not to make a good choice, especially if we are angry.  When we stop and think, we are able to calm ourselves down, by taking deep breaths, counting to 10, etc. and then we are able to make a good choice.  We read Franklin’s Bad Day.  In the story, Franklin is sad about his friend, Otter, who moved away.  We discussed how sadness can lead to anger, and it is so important to share our feelings when we are having them.  Franklin does not share his feelings of sadness, so he becomes angry at everyone and everything around him.  Our discussion led us to share what Franklin could have done instead of kicking his tower of blocks.  The children shared how he could not kick his tower of blocks.  We read on and learned that sometimes the adults in our lives have to help us understand our feelings and they can give us some good ideas of how to help ourselves when we are feeling sad and angry.  Franklin acted angry towards others and they did not deserve it.  Father suggested that Franklin write or call Otter so they could stay in touch and be friends forever.  This helped Franklin feel better and he knew that tomorrow would be a better day. 

Another important part of our lesson was when we talked about how we can deal with teasing.  This is a skill that all children need to be taught.  Knowing how to take care of ourselves when someone is teasing us helps us to feel comfortable in the many settings we are a part of.  The following was taught and modeled for the children.

Dealing with Teasing

• Stop and Think
• Make a Good Choice
• My choices are:  Walk away (Ignore), Use an “I Care” Message, Get Help
• Just Do It.
• Say, “I did a good job.”
  

When the roles plays were done, they were first done by an adult with a child, and then we watched children role play the good choices they learned from the other modeling.   Of course, we know the teaser is making a bad choice.  The child who teases may think this is the way to make friends, but we know that gaining attention in a negative way is not the way to make a friend.  We will be discussing the topic of “Bullying” during another lesson this year.
I appreciate your help in reviewing these steps with your child.  It is important that your child feels he/she has a voice and understands the power of using the voice to help solve problems.  The “I Care” message is powerful and it is used consistently throughout our school to help resolve conflict.  It looks like this:  “I feel _____________ when you _____________________________.  I need you to_____________________.  When we give our children the words needed to resolve conflict, we are empowering them to feel good about who they are.  Everyone has the right to feel respected and when we give our children the tools to be able to be respected; we help our children to grow into confident, peaceful citizens.

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful time of year! 

Sincerely,
Mrs. Judy Brunner, Counselor
Miss Adrienne Simon, Intern