What is THANKFUL?

I am Thankful for...

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  Why are we only THANKFUL during the holiday season?  Why are we not THANKFUL 365 days a year?

Teaching children to be thankful can be a bit challenging.  I tell my kiddos not to write down they're thankful for toys or games, they can live without them.  I want them to dig deep and think about what they're really thankful for and why.  My kiddos put down the obvious: family, parents, siblings, food, home, pets, teachers, school...just to name a few.  I had a few kiddos put down God.  They asked me if they could put down God.  I told them OF COURSE!!  If you believe in God and want to write it down, go ahead.  I do ask why they're thankful for God, just to hear what they have to say.  They tell me they're thankful for God, because he made me and believes in me, so I have to be thankful!  Fair enough!  Love was another thing some kiddos were thankful for.  Again, out of curiosity, I asked why love. The kiddos proceeded to tell me that without love, you don't have feelings.  WOW! AMAZING!  They also proceed to say that love is something that we all want.  We all want to be loved by someone.

Some of my kiddos got it!  They know what they're truly thankful for, other kids just copied down someones ideas and thoughts.  For those kiddos, maybe they don't understand what it is to be thankful.  So why do we only focus on being "THANKFUL" around Thanksgiving and not 365 days a year?  As a School Counselor, I believe we need to instill in our kiddos on what it means to be thankful everyday of the week.

I leave you with this, what are you THANKFUL for?  What does thankful mean to you?  Dig deep into your soul, mind, and heart.  Find the meaning of thankful, because as adults, it can be hard for us too!

Thanks for stopping by,
Counseling Kiddos


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Long time, NO posts!

Busy Counselor

Hi All,

   Sorry I haven't posted anything in a few months.  I have been busy creating lots of new games for my TpT account: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Counseling-Kiddos. 

  I have a lot of neat and awesome things on there.  Please check it out!  Below are some examples of what I have been doing and creating.  I have put my products to the test and my students LOVE THEM!!! 

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Besides making products to share and being busy with that, I was also busy watching NOVEMBER BASEBALL!!! After 108 years, my CUBBIES finally WON the WORLD SERIES!  It was an emotional ride for all of us in my house.  We are TRUE BLUE CUBS FANS!!!  Even now, when I see the last inning of the WS, it brings a smile to my face!  My family and I were part of the 5 million fans that attended the Parade/Rally.  It was an AWESOME experience.

I hope everyone had a fablous Thanksgiving!  We're in full gear for the Christmas/Holiday Season.  It's one of my favorite holidays!  I hope everyone is well!

Thanks for stopping by!
Counseling Kiddos

Who Has SKILLS?

 This week, I started my Social Skills Groups, with the help of my intern.  I have 3 first grade classrooms, 2 second grade classrooms, and 1 third grade classroom.  Each classroom is different and unique, they all work at different levels. I'm working with a diversity of students; from high ability to special needs.  All the students have a special gift in their skills, but I am here to teach more.

My intern, Ashley, came up with a monthly calendar to what topics we will cover in the group.  It is very well mapped out and keeps us on track.  We both collaborated together on what we would like to do and topics we would like to hit.  Our 2 biggest topics are MANNERS and DISABILITIES AWARENESS. 

•   Every child needs to have and learn their MANNERS.  We need to teach the children RESPECT.  They need to respect others beliefs, abilities, disabilities, and most important, they need to respect themselves.

•  Teaching and talking about disabilities is important, because helps the kids understand why kids use certain things to help them learn, speak, walk, focus, and even calm themselves down.  There are so many tools that are available to teach your students about disabilities and how to socially interact and accept our kiddos who have a difficult time.

This week was in introduction to the Social Skills Group and what plans and ideas are in store.  These are eager children, ready to start.  I have had the luxury to work with small groups daily, larger groups in 2 days or simply doing a whole class instruction.  I can't wait to see what's in store for these groups and how much the kids learn and understand the skills they need to succeed in life.

I will keep you posted on what's to come and what we've done as a group!! 

Do Your Best,
Counseling Kiddos

Mental Illness

 

Mental illness is becoming more and more prevalent in the elementary schools. I am seeing kids as young as kindergarten age with mental illness.  There is a misconception that it doesn't happen to elementary kids. Let me clarify, IT DOES!!

These children are often labeled as the "problem" child.  We look in from the outside and think, they don't listen, they're rude, impulsive, mean, disrespectful, unpredictable, and just plain out of control.  Yes, there are children who are like this, because they're a product of their own environment, but this is only a handful of children.  The majority of the children we encounter as educational professionals see something different.  We see a child calling out for help.  We reach out to the children and try to fix what were not capable of fixing, MENTAL ILLNESS.

Mental illness can be hard to detect in these young kiddos.  Could it be a behavior problem or mental illness?  As a school counselor, I am often on target with most of the children.  I believe that I have a knack, so to speak, for detecting what is really going on with these kiddos. I often observe their behaviors, mannerisms, and interactions with others.  What I have come to learn, there is much more to what meets the eye. Now, I am not an expert or a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but when you're with children for 7 hours a day, you can detect something is not right. Educators are advocates for early intervention, education, and detection.  Educators try to provide the resources and interventions that are available within the educational environment, but it exceeds our expertise and limitations to what we can provide for these children.

What we can do as educators?  It's simple, we need to LISTEN to what the child is saying.  We need to pay attention to the small things.  When we pay attention to the small details, it goes noticed in the child who is calling out for help. Don't let these children suffer in silence, be their VOICE, be their ADVOCATE.  You're the only one who will notice they're suffering with a MENTAL ILLNESS.

We all have a role in a child's life, don't overlook the small things, because the small things turn into something life saving.

What is a School Counselor

What is a School Counselor?

Who am I?

   My name is Kim and I am a Licensed School Counselor in the state of Indiana.  I have been in the educational field for over 11 years and prior to the education field, I worked in the behavioral/mental health field for over 5 years. I have over 16 years of counseling experience.  I graduated with my undergrad at Valparaiso University in 1998.  After 10 years of being in the counseling field, I decided to head back to grad school in 2009.  I graduated from Purdue University Calumet in 2012, with a Master's in Education, specializing in School Counseling.

   My husband and I have been together for 13 years.  Out of the 13 years we've been together, we've been married  for 4 years.  Together, we have one son, who is 11 years old.  Our son has mild autism, but does well academically and socially.  I am grateful for his teachers and school counselor in elementary school, who have molded him into the 5th grade middle school student he is today.  

 

   We enjoy camping and spending time outdoors. We spend a lot of time at our camper, sitting around the campfire with our family and friends.  During our winter months, we do a lot of nothing.  It's our time to relax and unwind, we work on a lot of things in our home that we didn't do during the camping season. 

My family and I are HUGE Chicago Cub Fans!  We watch every game and try to attend at least one game a year.  Our house bleeds CUBBIE Blue!  We're hoping they do head to the World Series this year, our team is great and the best in MLB.  We hope they keep going strong!!  #GoCubsGo

  I am excited to start blogging on Elementary School Counseling.  I have a lot of ideas, stories, and materials I want to share with all of you.  I hope you enjoy this journey in my professional role as a School Counselor!!

Thanks!!
Kim

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