Tonight was a full group, just one child missing. Four group members had LUNCH Points and we held a "surprise" raffle at the end of group, giving away one $15 gift card. The entire group participated in our continuing project, "The Awesomest Pet Contest. Go to http://lunchgroups.com/group_projects/group_projects_main1.html to view. Last session they selected several different kinds of animals they liked and named some of the characteristics for them. Tonight different members offered YouTube videos they had seen for their "pets" and the group watched, and voted. We will plan to finish this up next session.
Dinner occurred at Rosti's, which is just down the street. They serve a pretty good kid's meal and it gave the kids a chance to practice everything from manners and conversations to ordering politely and how to pass things to others. They seemed to have a pretty good time. In keeping with our soda rules, we did allow them to have a soda tonight, but after one glass, they switched to water. Similarly, the restaurant gave cookies, but they were packed up and one of the counselors broke them in half (they were largish) for the kids and had them practice taking the one that was closest to them, not evaluating and trying to grab the bigger piece (we tried to make them as even as possible).One of the things we did tonight was to more uniquely target behaviors that were individualized for each child. Liberal use of raffle tickets (blue tickets for routine prosocial behaviors and red "Hero" tickets for more challenging behaviors). The kids are starting to understand the system better and the power of this portion of the program is beginning to become more meaningful for them.
Then, it was back to the office for a quick LUNCH Points raffle; we gave away one prize, some of the kids played the Wii for a few minutes, and the others either talked or looked at magazines.
Parent pickup went pretty smoothly. All of the families, except one picked up the kids within 10 minutes. Not yet as good as the Tuesday group parents, who did it in five minutes, but improving.
Interesting moment: One child asked me if I could call him mother to pick him up early, saying he didn't feel well. Since the regularly scheduled pickup was only 20 minutes away, there did not seem to be much point, which I explained. Whether or not he was sick, I don't know. I like to believe kids when they say that, but I am also away it is often an "escape tactic." I mentioned to the child that we advise parents, when their children are sick, to make certain they get lots of rest later that evening and not to watch TV or use the computer. He then shared with them that usually when he goes home sick from school, he spends the rest of the day laying in bed, watching TV. I reminded him that, if a child is truly ill, getting sleep and rest is probably best. I also suggested that maybe he says he is sick when he isn't, to which he smiled and nodded his head. So, the lesson to be learned here is that you can usually tell when your child is ill, but if you can't, expressing great concern over their health and advising them it will be a "no TV, no computer" time for most or all of the day may help you figure out whether or not your child is ill or trying to escape from something else.
Important Notice:
We are meeting again next week (due to my being away at a conference the following week) and we will hold our parent meeting. The kids come at the regular time, 4:15pm, but the parents come to the office at 6pm for the meeting which lasts until 7pm. This is a "mandatory meeting." It is where you will learn more about how your kids are doing in detail, hear exactly what techniques we are using, and have opportunities to ask questions. Please come and be on time. We begin at 6pm sharp. Your kids will be having dinner and participating in two raffles while you are in the meeting. Also, please, please please.... no siblings! It makes things very chaotic and disruptive. Questions? Contact me please.
Thanks!
Bruce