The middle school counselors offer various types of group counseling experiences throughout the year. The following are some of the groups offered through the counseling department. Interested students and parents should contact the counselors for additional information or to register to participate in these offerings.
Grief Group
This group is for students who have experienced the loss of a parent, sibling, other family member or friend. Do you need a “safe place” to discuss your feelings? These meetings are very casual and you may feel comfortable discussing how the death has affected your life.
Relationship Group
Do you find yourself wishing for a “better” relationship with your friends or family members? Do you want to conquer shyness, be a better listener or be able to talk confidently to others? This group is designed to help you improve your relationships with others.
Anger Management/Conflict Resolution Group
We all get angry. But, like other emotions, anger can and should be managed. Anyone who has encountered a person with “out of control” rage knows the fear and embarrassment that person may experience. We will discuss why this happens and positive ways to handle emotions.
Healthy Life Styles/Self Exploration Group
Do you think you need some help with developing healthy ways of living and dealing with life stresses? Are you spending too much time watching television or text messaging your friends instead of getting some exercise? This group will give you some tips on how to motivate an “active change” in your life.
ADD/ADHD Rap Session
This group offers support for students with attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. If you struggle with this identity, you may feel comfortable talking with others who have some of the same issues. This group will give you additional support in improving organization and problem solving.
(article from momscape.com)
Those of us who invest our time, energy, and money into raising a family know it better than anyone: there is no substitute for quality family time.
Here are ideas for fostering the closeness of your family:
- Refocus. It’s easy to lose sight of the greater picture. The pursuit of wealth can be so engrossing that we forget the real reason for our pursuit. And often this involves being a nurturing and caring provider for our loved ones.
Today, make a commitment to identify and to live from your true values and priorities.
All children (and spouses) deserve to be cherished and adored. In the end, that’s really all they need from us. Make sure your children find that today. If you have this as your only goal for any given day, you’ll find the goal easy to meet – and your relationships with your spouse and children will strengthen and thrive.
- Commit yourself to doing something special to nurture the family relationship each and every day. It doesn’t have to be big or expensive. A simple phone call, a special bedtime song, a note in your child’s lunchbox, an “I love you” post-it on the dashboard of the family car… The simplest sentiments are often the most lasting and impressive.
- Create regular family traditions. Traditions add ritual and meaning. Family traditions could be a monthly pizza night, a weekly TV night, or a simple daily ritual of lighting candles at the dinner table.
- Pay attention. Work on being truly present with your family. Kids are particularly adept at knowing when parents are distracted. Practice mindfulness and good listening in your home life.
- Involve the entire family in household chores. When a family works together toward a certain end, each family member gets a better understanding of responsibility – and what it means to be part of a team. Add some magic by making it fun to care for the house and lawn. Crank up some music and dance – or play games as you all get the work done. You do your children a tremendous service when you demonstrate as a family that productive work is truly one of life’s greatest pleasures.
The best part of family life is having a safe, nurturing environment to grow into a confident, happy adult. Enjoy creating that zone of happiness and health today.
Plan a Family Game Night
Brought to you by Hasbro Games.
What is Family Game Night?
Mix together kids and parents, take the phone off the hook, turn off the TV, bring out a board game and what do you have? An evening of fun, learning and laughter that brings all of you closer together. Sound good? Then maybe you should be planning your own Family Game Night. Family Game Night is a way to spend quality time together and create a family tradition that you and your kids will remember and cherish for years to come.
What will playing games do for the kids?
- Social Interaction:Gameplay allows your kids to learn from you and from each other. It encourages a sense of connectedness and respect among family members.
- Learning:Games are a learning tool. For instance, Clue is good for learning deductive reasoning. Scrabble is ideal for teaching math and spelling skills. Throw 'N Go Jenga is perfect for teaching hand-eye coordination.
- Life Skills:Games teach kids important life skills such as patience, concentration, teamwork and perseverance.
How do I get a Family Game Night started?
Family Game Night can be as simple or as detailed as you and your children would like it to be. Before you plan your Family Game Night, here are some things to think about:
- Decide which night of the week will work best for your family
- Select your family's favorite games
- Create a fun way to mark the calendar each week so that everyone will know when the next Family Game Night is!
Increase the fun of Family Game NightInvolve the kids in the planning. Let them:
- Pick the game(s)
- Select the snack(s)
- Choose teams
- Invite guests
- Take turns picking each week's snacks or games.
Keep a fun scoreboard:
- Put each week's winner(s) on the refrigerator
- Create a fun Family Game Night ''crown''
What games should we play?
When picking games for Family Game Night, you should consider:
- The age(s) of the kid(s) playing
- Their specific interests
- What games you liked to play as a kid
To get you started on your Family Game Night, here are some of America's favorite games to consider:
- Ages 6-8: Sorry!, Monopoly Jr., Clue Jr., Scrabble Jr.
- Ages 8-10: Sorry!, Clue, The Game of Life, Monopoly, Throw 'N Go Jenga
- Ages 10-12: Scrabble, Monopoly, Yahtzee, Clue, Throw 'N Go Jenga
- Ages 13 and up: Scrabble, Monopoly, Throw 'N Go Jenga
All games teach the following life skills:
- Cooperation/Teamwork: Taking turns and working with others; respecting other family members including extended family
- Responsibility: Playing by the rules; taking care of the materials and putting the game away to it will be ready next time
- Perseverance and Patience: Waiting for your turn or for that ''special card'' or throw of the dice; sticking it out to the end; trying again
- Honesty: Playing fair; being able to admit mistakes and learning from them
- Understanding/Accepting both winning and losing: Knowing that we can try to win, but sometimes we will lose, and being able to cope with wins or losses tactfully and graciously
- Making choices and accepting the consequences of the choices you make
Different games teach different types of skills:
- Yahtzee: Math skills; counting, totalling and record keeping
- Scrabble: Vocabulary and spelling skills
- Sorry!: Counting, colors, strategy
- Clue:...memory, deductive reasoning, and record keeping
- Monopoly and The Game of Life: Attention span, problem solving, strategy, negotiation, compromise, money skills
- Jenga: Eye-hand skills, perception, observation, concentration
- Payday: Planning and money management skills
GET INVOLVED
Neither high school nor junior high school is just about the classes you take. Look around and discover other ways to make middle school meaningful.
Contribute to your community by volunteering. Your assistance will help others and make you feel good, too. Organizations constantly in need of volunteers include:
- churches,
- synagogues,
- area food banks,
- children's shelters,
- hospitals,
- nursing and retirement homes,
- museums, and
- your community library.
Learn about other volunteer opportunities by visiting the Youth Service of America (www.ysa.org) Web site. After you volunteer for a while, you might even be eligible for the President's Student Service Award (www.student-service-awards.org). Have fun sharing your talents!
Extracurricular activities are important to your future. How you use your "free" time — the time when you're not in class — is important to high schools, colleges, universities, and even employers.
Keep track of all your activities throughout middle school and high school.
Organize them and put them all down on paper to create your extracurricular-activities resume. You can submit your resume when you apply to college and/or for scholarships. In today's world, participation and community involvement are valuable because they say a lot about who you are. Make them part of your regular schedule.
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