Small+Groups+FAQ

Q: Will my child definitely be in a group if I sign the permission form? A: No. On average, about 35% of students return permission forms, so with 200+ students showing interest and/or need, I rarely get to include a student in groups more than once per year. In cases where a student has participated during a previous year, I may not be able to find a spot for them at all during the current school year.  Q: Will my child be able to participate in more than one group each week? A: No. I do one topic per grade level at a time, so the student attends only once per week. Please indicate on the form which topic is most important to address first.

Q: How many kids are in a group? A: I only have room for 6 students in my office.  Q: What do you do, exactly, during group time? A: We play games and sometimes do an art or movement activity. I rarely use pencil/paper tasks. Most discussion and learning happens in the process of doing the activity. For instance, during board game play, students have to practice eye contact, getting input about what move to make, waiting for responses from each person or waiting for their turn, handling frustration if game play or input is not what they expected, self-calm skills, taking perspectives of others, showing empathy if another student is frustrated or sad about the game outcome, etc. etc. No matter what the focus of the skill group is (assertiveness, anger mgmt, coping with loss), the small size of our group helps reinforce the needs of each individual. Since it takes place during lunch, we always start out eating and check in with each student to see how their day is going before jumping it to the planned activity.

Q: Am I allowed to know what happens about each week? A: Yes. Typically, I tell students what we will be doing and get their permission to share with parents. I do not send home a weekly report, but I do encourage students to share some of the activities we do with loved ones at home.  Q: Can my child change their mind and decide not to come? A: Yes. I tell all the students at the first meeting that they get to choose each week if they want to come or not. Some weeks there may be a special opportunity that a classroom teacher has offered that a student may prefer to do instead of group and that is totally ok.  <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Q: How do you explain to the students why they are going to group? <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A: I tell them they were invited because I got a signed permission form from their parents and that I thought they would be a good fit to work together. I tell them the name of the skill group (Good Examples, etc) and tell them what skills we will learn about. I try to describe it as a privilege and something 'extra' and 'fun' they get to do. I find that most kids love being in a quieter setting than the cafeteria and want to come every week. They especially look forward to the small celebration at the end.