May-Assertiveness Skills

-
May- Assertiveness Skills
Assertiveness skills are used to defend yourself in a respectful, non-violent manner. Being assertive is often referred to in reference to being bullied. Parents and teachers should teach these skills to young children so they are able to stand up for themself and make their feelings known if someone is picking on them. While this is a very good point it is not the only reason young children should learn assertiveness. At Don Earl we have an assertiveness group for students who may be shy or quiet all around. Our school social worker gives them the skills they need to find their voice within the daily activities of the classroom.
Some simple assertiveness skills to teach young children are keeping it cool, ignoring, and answering yes or no. Keeping it cool meaning teaching children about listening to their own emotions. If someone takes their toy away they may be angry at first. Teaching them to count to 5 and then politely ask the other child for their toy back. Ignoring, if another child is bothering them they can ignore the behavior by turning their body away from that child or walking away. Last, answering “yes” or “no”. This teaches children that just because another child ask for something they have, does not mean they have to share it. In preschool we put such an emphasis on sharing because young children are so egocentric but that does not mean they have to give up everything someone asks them for. So instead we teach them to answer “yes” or “no” that a friend can play with it, or in my classroom I like to teach them to say “not right now” or “when I am finished”. This allowing young students to share but also ensuring they have the time they want with a prefered item.

It is also important that young children know that if their voice is not being heard or their assertiveness skills are not working they can ask for adult support.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Creating the perfect environment to improve behavior

-
Image
Welcome to another school year!  Each month we will post a new topic on our blog. At open house we handed out PBS Parent Packets.  Some of you might be thinking, what is PBS?  PBS is short for Positive Behavior Support.  We have been implementing PBS in our building for 10 school years.  PBS is a proactive approach to systematically teaching and responding to behavior in a positive and consistent way and providing support and interventions as needed.  This is a 3 tiered model.  This year for our blog topics, we are going to dive into Tier 1- our universals and give you tips on how you can incorporate some of this at home.  The first tip of the year is the quote (there is a visual below): “The goal of Positive Behavior Support is not “perfect children”. Rather the goal should be creating the perfect environment for enhancing their growth.”- Randy Sprick. For example, in a classroom setting if there is a book shelf right next to the circle time rug and students are pulling books off the
Read more

February- Stress Management

-
Stress Management Stress is a normal reaction to challenges and changes and an inevitable part of all of our lives – even our kids! Some stress can be a good thing, but overwhelming stress can be damaging to your health and have negative effects on parenting skills. It’s good to have some tricks up your sleeve for trying times! https://adrenalfatiguesolution.com/parenting-stress/ http://www.parenting-ed.org/handouts/stress_management.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJiUUbxyZ78 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJiUUbxyZ78 FUN FACT: Parents who are more sensitive to their infants’ needs and respond quickly to emotional cues tend to raise children who are better at regulating their own emotions. Successfully managing your own stress is vital to being responsive to your children! DID YOU KNOW? There are free programs available for parents that provide counseling, resource linkage and hands on training to help ensure healthy children and healthy families. For m
Read more