School Year Kids/Teens 09-10 - Session 4

Hi, Parents:

We had twelve kids tonight, and did sort of a holiday theme. They came in, and we talked about the LUNCH Points program. I showed them what parents need to do, and how the kids can earn raffle tickets when their parents fill them out. They were also reminded that they each have a “secret behavior” that, when they do it, will get them bonus raffle tickets. They were reminded that their parents are not supposed to ask them what the behavior is. So, it is their responsibility to tell their parents what the behaviors are. Parent are you listening? Don’t ask, please. We also spent time talking about what would happen in January; particularly the first parent meeting / raffle for the kids, followed by laser tag at the second meeting in January. They were uniformly excited about this.

At the start of group, the kids watched a short movie, which I took with permission with a new child, “N,” who will be joining the group in January.

The star of the show tonight turned out to be Sophie (the Samoyed). She hadn’t made an appearance in group since the summer, and some of the kids were struck by how much she had grown. Others simply were seeing her for the first time. I was surprised at how calm she was being around all the kids. She simply walked around, and, for the few kids who did not want her to come up, she did not; she just ignored them and walked right by. For other kids who wanted her to spend more time with them, she did her “standing up hug,” but also immediately got down when asked. So, that was nice to see. She remained quite calm given the circumstances.

We went to dinner early tonight. Dinner was at Tony Roma’s. We left shortly after 5:00. It was a good thing, because Tony Roma’s always manages to take longer than I anticipate, even when I anticipate. We finished up at Tony Roma’s at about 6:25, leaving us just enough time to come back to the office, where the kids watched a couple of animations.

If you have any questions about the LUNCH Points program, please view the video tutorial, send an email, or contact us and we will walk you through it over the phone. The behavior bonuses will start shortly. As long as you fill it out at least once or twice a week, that will be plenty.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, and I look forward to seeing you in January, 2010.

--Bruce

School Year Kids/Teens 09-10 - Session 3

Hi, Parents:

Tonight can best be described as “action packed.” We had our full group present, including one new group member (new “S”), and the group really rose to the occasion to help him feel comfortable, even though some of his behaviors were not exactly appropriate. He adjusted initially but then became somewhat bored as the other group members were doing animation, working on their projects and enjoying being an audience. However, he came around as the group went on.

We went for Chinese food tonight, and initially some of your kids said they didn’t like Chinese food, but none of them complained about going. (All right, maybe just one or two, but it didn’t last very long.) All of the group members interacted with one another; they were socializing during mealtime; they tried new foods; they respected children who had certain diet restrictions, and most importantly, they simply engaged in conversation.

Prior to dinner, what we did was focus on continuing a project where, in pairs, the kids come up with a joke together, create a comic for that joke that can be anywhere from one to three strip panels, and then read, i.e. narrate, the comic in front of everyone else. We completed three of these tonight, which means that six of the kids had turns to do theirs. As you’ll see when we post that on the web after next group, the majority of the kids are coming up with comics which may or may not be so funny, but some of the kids are coming up with comics that the group absolutely loves. In an exercise like this, it is easy for some moments to be boring for other kids, and working on self-regulation behaviors at these times is very important.

It’s dark now, very dark as we transition, and I have split the group up into two so that there are two counselors monitoring each seven or so kids. It makes the navigation part easier, and, in my opinion, safer. All of the group members are being pedestrian safe; we are not having any challenges in that area.

The thing that we will be focusing on from this point forward is not worrying quite so much about externalizing behaviors, because the majority of kids who exhibit externalizing behaviors are already showing more control and improvement. Instead, we will be focusing more on those internalizing behaviors that are present exclusively in some of your kids, such as shyness, difficulty with conversations and not noticing another person’s feeling state. We will be trying to be more effective in those areas with all of the kids.

Additionally, we started working more on manners tonight; not just eating manners, such as not banging the spoon and fork together or turning the plate upside down, but also working on how you ask for things. Going to Uncle Chen’s is a nice experience because the staff there is very comfortable with the kids, and they are well treated. All in all, a very nice evening; a very busy evening for the counselors and myself. We will be doing audio progress notes after the next group, so towards the end of December you will see you first audio progress notes for the kids. As a reminder, there will be parent meetings in the office the first week in January. More to come about that.

Thanks very much, and happy holidays. -- Bruce