Peace In Kindergarten

My little Kinder friend had trouble keeping his cool. He had a quick temper and when he was angry, it usually didn't go well. The classroom teacher was concerned about his level of anger and what might happen if he got really upset, so I got involved. This was the first of many stories. This first step was to get him to identify his anger and just tell his teacher. Then the teacher could help. After he got this down, we taught him calming strategies, how to advocate for himself and so on. Now he is able to get through many things that get him down, and we just don't see the explosions that we can say, are thankfully in his past. 

In Kindergarten I am in class with a lot of kids. Sometimes my classmates make me mad. When I get mad, I need help calming down.

If I feel this way, I need to let my teacher know that I am upset by using words to tell her.
I need to try to quietly go to my teacher and tell her "I am upset." Then I need to tell her why.
My teacher can help me. She will make it better.

If I use my words instead of my actions, things will be peaceful in my Kindergarten classroom. We will all have a great day.

Listen To My Brain

This friend seemed to always end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and his peers soon learned that they could tell him to do anyhing and he would do it. There were some kids who thought that it was big fun to tell him to do things he shouldn't. One of the worse forms of bullying by the by, so I had to put an end to this. We worked with him on brainstorming good choices vs. bad choices and taught about consequences for the choices he made. I wrote this story, we practiced choice making and I kept my eyes  on my friend and the bully boys on the playground. He did make better choices after some time, but I was there when there were slip ups and was able to take advantage of on the spot lessons. Enjoy!

My brain is so smart! I have lots of good ideas.  I need to always try my best to listen to my own brain. 

If someone  tells me to do something that I should not do,  I need to try to listen to my brain and say “NO!”

My choices are the best  choices and listening to my own brain will help me make good plans. 

If I listen to my own brain and do what I know is right then I will have a great day!  

Going To The Symphony

Field trips or events that aren't on the agenda or don't occur on a regular basis can throw our friends for a loop. I write stories like these when out of the ordinary events are on the calendar. When kids know what is going on and what to expect, they tend to go with the flow. This friend loved Alaska (although he had never been). I connected the symphony to Alaska and Star Wars and Looney Tunes which helped him buy into the fact that the symphony was going to be a great event. He loved it! Keeping the kids in the know pays off in the end. Enjoy!

On Tuesday I am going to the symphony. 

The symphony is a very cool place (just like Alaska). 
There are very comfortable seats. 

They turn the air condition on full blast, so it is cold, like Alaska. 

Watching the musicians is awesome!
Many times they play Star Wars and Looney Tunes songs that I already know.

It will be a great trip! 

I can’t wait to go! 

Life Isn't Fair

It is often tough to stay firm and strong and consistent with friends who pitch a fit to get their way. This friend was a master of tantrums. His favorite line was "It's not fair." When that came out of his mouth, a tantrum was sure to follow. He was taught several calm down strategies and then there was a ton of practice. His tantrums decreased. When you give your friends a strategy or way out of the throwing fits cycle,  they have other options that feel better and help them calmly get through their disappointments when things don't go their way. This is never a quick fix, but if home, school and the kid all have the same strategy in place, you will see results. Try it yourself. Enjoy!

I am in 3^rd grade, but will soon be in 4^th. There are times when life is not fair. I don’t always get to do what others are doing and don’t always get to have what others have.

That is the way things are. I get what I get and shouldn’t throw a fit. When I feel like things aren’t fair, there are many strategies to try.

First, I should try to take slow deep breaths. If that doesn’t work, I could count backwards. (20, 19, 18, 17, 16,15,…) If that isn’t working, I could try to talk about it or journal about it. If that isn’t working, I could take a break. I have lots of options.

I have to calm down. It doesn’t do any good to lose control. Life will never be fair. I can’t always have what others have and I may not always get to do what others do.  If I try to use my strategies for times when Life Isn’t Fair, then I may be able to calm down and have a rockin’day.

Life In A Family With Two Sisters

When families see how well social narratives or stories work, they often ask if I could write some for home. This girlie was having many problems with her sisters. I needed to acknowledge the fact that sisters can be a pain and then provide her a reason to try to be more understanding and flexible when it came to dealing with her sisters. I gathered info from her and her parents and then came up with this. It helped, according to her family and when she got fed up with her sisters, her parents brought out this story to remind her how to proceed. Enjoy!

Everyone is an important part of their family. Families help you out when you have problems and are always there for you. Usually things work well in families, but sometimes there are glitches

I have two sisters. Stacy is the youngest. She can drive me crazy at times. She gets into my things and always wants a lot of attention. It makes me mad sometimes. I need to try to remember to be patient. She is only two and 2 year olds need a lot of attention because they are learning so much everyday. I need to try to help her learn and maybe that will make me less frustrated with her.

Beth is my big sister. She has many talents and things come pretty easy to her. Older sisters can be bossy and sometimes like to tease their younger sisters. (That is very common). I need to try to have patience with her too because I could learn a lot from her since she is older and has more experience than I do.

Sisters can be very fun! They are people who are always there for you. If I learn to have more patience with my sisters, things will work a lot better in my family. I can help my sisters and they can help me. If we all get along, it will thrill my parents as well. When we all get along, life in a family runs a lot smoother and everybody is so much happier.

Learning At School

This friend was somewhere else even when he was at school. He had mastered the check out / tune out strategy and it was my job to get him back to the planet and most importantly to the classroom so that he could soak up some instruction and gain some skills. I had to tell him the expectations and also follow that with the "why". The "why" part is as important as the expectation part. Giving reason helps kids connect and relate to why they need to follow procedures. Read on if you have a friend who needs to get with the program. Enjoy!

I am in 6th grade this year.

My teachers have important things to teach to me.

There are several things that I need to try to do in order to learn.

One thing is to look and listen to my teachers when they have something to say.  If I don’t look and listen, I will miss what they are trying to teach me.

I also need to think about what they are saying. When I think about it, it will lock into my brain.

I need to keep my words and noises inside my mouth

so that it doesn’t disturb others in the class.

My body should be still and my head should never be on my desk.

If I do these things when my teachers are teaching, I will learn a lot.

I will be BRILLANT!

Stop Don't Kick

This friend thought that kicking was a good strategy when she would get frustrated. I had to teach her that it wasn't. This story was written right away so that her peers would not fear standing or sitting by her. This had to stop. We taught several replacement strategies including deep breaths, counting backwards, and request for a break. Since we gave her other options for handling frustration, we saw an immediate decrease in kicking. Give it a try. Enjoy!

My foot can kick.

When I touch someone with my foot, that is kicking.

Kicking others hurts.

I need to keep my feet to myself.

When I do, I will have lots of friends.