social skills program

: There’s a group called Collage that publishes material on just this subject. They’re in Newtown Square, PA.But it sounds to me like you’re well on your way to knowing what you need to do. 1/2 hour a day isn’t all that much time and with only 3 children, you should have plenty of room to observe and figure out your next step from the nature of their interaction. Helping them with “Me first!” behavior would also be on your list. Listening when others speak and listening to really hear what’s being said. Being comfortable sharing.I know College starts off every group with a sit down and everybody tell one thing that happened during the week. Others are asked to respond with the appropriate congratulations or sympathy if it was a bad week. Then the engage in a planned activity and counselors help with the issues that come up during the planned activity… drawing in the ones who don’t play, calming down the overly needy etc.I have been asked to run a social skills program with 3 kindergarten
: children. We will meet 1/2 hour daily. I have no training in this
: area and,to date, I have not been given a program to use. Goals
: have not been set out for me, however, I do know these children
: and have a good idea where we need to start. Our goals will be
: basic, starting with being taught to look those they are
: communicating with in the eye. I have been given a book full of
: notes from a training program that another special ed teacher
: attended. If I had the 20 or so hours to get through the notes and
: make up a program I would, sadly time does not allow that luxury.
: If you know of something I could use, I would appreciate your
: feedback.: thanks, Joy

It will also be worth assessing why these children have been suggested for social skills training. In particular, how well do they read and understand non-verbal communication (facial expression, tone of voice, body language, etc.). My own daughter (now 10) has nonverbal learning disorder — in part this involves and inability to process nonverbal communication in the right hemisphere of the brain — but the good news is kids like her can learn a huge amount through teaching and memorizaiton of rote skills (when you meet someone smile and say hello, etc).there are various resources on this, ranging from charts of facial expressions (identify what feeling the face shows) to books. Try Nowicki and Duke, Teaching the Language of social success, or some similar title. They have 2 very good books, can’t remember second title, but one is listed in catalogs as Nowicki and Duke, the other as Duke and Nowicki. Amazon.com will have them. You might also consult a speech therapist for pragamatic language exercises that help with tone of voice and interpreting meaning from social cues.Have fun! These kids can benefit SO much from this direct help at an early stage.: I have been asked to run a social skills program with 3 kindergarten
: children. We will meet 1/2 hour daily. I have no training in this
: area and,to date, I have not been given a program to use. Goals
: have not been set out for me, however, I do know these children
: and have a good idea where we need to start. Our goals will be
: basic, starting with being taught to look those they are
: communicating with in the eye. I have been given a book full of
: notes from a training program that another special ed teacher
: attended. If I had the 20 or so hours to get through the notes and
: make up a program I would, sadly time does not allow that luxury.
: If you know of something I could use, I would appreciate your
: feedback.: thanks, Joy

PASSWORD>aaNN3X.PL2piwHi Joy, Can I suggest that you use Skill Streaming the Pre-School child, or Skill Streaming the Elementary school child. I think the author is Goldstein…he breaks social skills are broken into very specific tasks. I run programs with various age groups. Lots of simple instructions to things like interrupting, asking questions, listening, seeking help etc are used. I use role-play, thinking out loud ( I teach the teacher to do this too), drama, art and media resources. Make it simple & get them to practice a lot. There are also lots of good books that you can use….Make sure thaty ou keep the teachers informed so that they can re-inforce all of the new learned behaviours. Good luck, Sylvia I have been asked to run a social skills program with 3 kindergarten
: children. We will meet 1/2 hour daily. I have no training in this
: area and,to date, I have not been given a program to use. Goals
: have not been set out for me, however, I do know these children
: and have a good idea where we need to start. Our goals will be
: basic, starting with being taught to look those they are
: communicating with in the eye. I have been given a book full of
: notes from a training program that another special ed teacher
: attended. If I had the 20 or so hours to get through the notes and
: make up a program I would, sadly time does not allow that luxury.
: If you know of something I could use, I would appreciate your
: feedback.: thanks, Joy

PASSWORD>aaNN3X.PL2piwHi Joy, Can I suggest that you use Skill Streaming the Pre-School child, or Skill Streaming the Elementary school child. I think the author is Goldstein…he breaks social skills into very specific tasks. I run programs with various age groups. Lots of simple instructions to things like interrupting, asking questions, listening, seeking help etc are used. I use role-play, thinking out loud ( I teach the teacher to do this too), drama, art and media resources. Make it simple & get them to practice a lot. There are also lots of good books that you can use….Make sure thaty ou keep the teachers informed so that they can re-inforce all of the new learned behaviours. Good luck, SylviaI have been asked to run a social skills program with 3 kindergarten
: children. We will meet 1/2 hour daily. I have no training in this
: area and,to date, I have not been given a program to use. Goals
: have not been set out for me, however, I do know these children
: and have a good idea where we need to start. Our goals will be
: basic, starting with being taught to look those they are
: communicating with in the eye. I have been given a book full of
: notes from a training program that another special ed teacher
: attended. If I had the 20 or so hours to get through the notes and
: make up a program I would, sadly time does not allow that luxury.
: If you know of something I could use, I would appreciate your
: feedback.: thanks, Joy

: I have been asked to run a social skills program with 3 kindergarten
: children. We will meet 1/2 hour daily. I have no training in this
: area and,to date, I have not been given a program to use. Goals
: have not been set out for me, however, I do know these children
: and have a good idea where we need to start. Our goals will be
: basic, starting with being taught to look those they are
: communicating with in the eye. I have been given a book full of
: notes from a training program that another special ed teacher
: attended. If I had the 20 or so hours to get through the notes and
: make up a program I would, sadly time does not allow that luxury.
: If you know of something I could use, I would appreciate your
: feedback.: thanks, JoyDear Joy,I am a speech-language pathologist who specializes in social skills training with school-aged kids (including autism, Asperger’s, NVLD). The best programs that I have found can be gotten through Thinking Publications, Inc. You can request a catalog. For K-1st graders I use the “Caring Kids” program; 2nd-5th “Social Star” program; 6th through adolescence “Social Skill Strategies”. Any programs written by authors Mayo, Gajewski, Hearn are EXCELLENT, very easy to use with very litte advance preparation. These authors have also developed boardgames “communicate” and “communicate jr” to supplement their programs. I can’t say enough good things about them!Hope this is helpful! Good luck!Melissa