Hi Leawood Families, I am attaching a clip from CBS News 60 Minutes. I think that it is worth viewing as we think about what it looks like to raise responsible kids. Please feel free to leave a comment after you view the clip.
Thanks and have a great day!
Click here to view the clip: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/08/60minutes/main3475200.shtml
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Positive Behavior Support at Home
Positive Behavior Support is a nationwide, research based program that schools have adopted to increase positive behaviors in their schools. The goal of PBS is for adults to have a common set of behavioral expectations, simply stated in three to five rules. Within these sets of rules, teachers or parents teach, model, practice, and reinforce the specific behaviors that they are looking for in any environment. Instead of telling kids “don’t run in the hallway”, we say “we walk in the hallway”. We reinforce students with verbal praise, high fives, PRIDE bucks, and “thank you’s” when they show us these behaviors. If we notice that certain students or groups are not following the rules, we restate the expectations and practice the right way of showing the behaviors we want. For minor behaviors, we may say “let’s try this again” or “Show me the right way to …” If students continue to struggle with certain rules, we look more closely at their situation and put interventions into place to support their success in a positive way. Within PBS there is also a place for firm limits and consequences around unsafe or hurtful (disrespectful) behavior towards another child or adult. The most important component of PBS is CONSISTENCY. All adults need to agree on what the expectations are, how to practice and re-teach in a positive way, and how to reinforce as well as consequence.
Why do we have to keep teaching the same behavior?
· Kids don’t just “know” how to behave. It is our job to set the expectations, practice what this looks like, and reinforce them when their doing it. This helps kids internalize behavior, so that it becomes natural over time. If kids are not getting it, we need to figure out why and adjust what we’re doing so that they can get it.
How can I use PBS in my home?
It’s easy!! There are many levels of using PBS in your home.
· A basic level of PBS would be highlighting for your kids what your expectations are before a transition into a new routine or environment. You can determine how often this teaching needs to occur based on your child’s age and what types of behavior they currently display in any situation.
“We’re about to go into the grocery store. Remember, we walk. We ask before taking anything off of the shelf. We use our inside voices.” Praise or thank your kids as you see them showing these behaviors (sporadically or when you have left the store). The amount of times you say this depends on the age of your child and what their behavior looks like in the store.
“It’s almost bedtime. What’s the first thing we need to do? (Ask questions of kids to let them tell you what the expectations are). When we’re all done, then what?” Reinforce kids with your attention as they meet expectations at home.
A more involved way of using PBS would be to set up a structured matrix. Click HERE to see an example.
The following article "Getting Behavior in Shape At Home" by Laura Riffel and Ann Turnbull gives some great tips and ideas for implimenting PBS at home: http://www.come-over.to/FAS/BehaviorAtHome.htm
Why do we have to keep teaching the same behavior?
· Kids don’t just “know” how to behave. It is our job to set the expectations, practice what this looks like, and reinforce them when their doing it. This helps kids internalize behavior, so that it becomes natural over time. If kids are not getting it, we need to figure out why and adjust what we’re doing so that they can get it.
How can I use PBS in my home?
It’s easy!! There are many levels of using PBS in your home.
· A basic level of PBS would be highlighting for your kids what your expectations are before a transition into a new routine or environment. You can determine how often this teaching needs to occur based on your child’s age and what types of behavior they currently display in any situation.
“We’re about to go into the grocery store. Remember, we walk. We ask before taking anything off of the shelf. We use our inside voices.” Praise or thank your kids as you see them showing these behaviors (sporadically or when you have left the store). The amount of times you say this depends on the age of your child and what their behavior looks like in the store.
“It’s almost bedtime. What’s the first thing we need to do? (Ask questions of kids to let them tell you what the expectations are). When we’re all done, then what?” Reinforce kids with your attention as they meet expectations at home.
A more involved way of using PBS would be to set up a structured matrix. Click HERE to see an example.
The following article "Getting Behavior in Shape At Home" by Laura Riffel and Ann Turnbull gives some great tips and ideas for implimenting PBS at home: http://www.come-over.to/FAS/BehaviorAtHome.htm
Friday, February 6, 2009
Setting Healthy Limits
Setting healthy limits with our children takes a great deal of work! What we know about kids is that they crave routine, structure, attention, and consistent expectations from their parents and the adults that work with them. Despite this, we can all attest to the behaviors, choices, and verbal responses that kids show in their effort to push the limits we set for them. Whether it’s the whining for that toy that we just don’t think they need, the ignoring of requests to do their chores, or the statement “That’s not fair!!” parenting with consistent limits takes a lot of energy and time. But how do some parents make it look so easy?
According to parenting resources such as Love and Logic (Jim Fay and Foster Cline), Kids are Worth It (Barbara Coloroso), and Dr. Laura Riffel(Behavior Doctor), there are several strategies that parents use to make this constant effort less time consuming and more effective.
- Model the behavior we expect from our kids.
- Have clear expectations/rules and support them with reinforcement (praise, attention, “thank you’s”) and consequences (natural and logical).
- Find time to give kids our attention by playing with them, engaging them in conversation, listening to them, laughing with them, and encouraging them.
- Provide choices within a set of parameters. “It’s time for bed, do you want to read books first or brush your teeth first?”
Have you experienced success or stress with any of these strategies? What ideas can you share that have helped you in setting healthy limits with your kids?
Please take the time to read these articles. They really get you thinking about our role as parents, and how we can help our kids. Let us know what you think.
http://www.loveandlogic.com/pages/responsible.html
http://www.loveandlogic.com/pages/guidingchildren.html
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Raising Responsible Kids
I am excited to introduce the next series of blogs that I will be focusing on. After many discussions with teachers and parents, I would like to foster some on-line discussions on "Raising Responsible Kids." My plan is to introduce a series of parenting topics and resources to help raise responsible kids. I would like to spend about a month on each topic. I am hoping to create an open atmosphere that allows all of us to have an opinion about parenting, and to bring resources regarding raising responsible kids. This will be an opportunity for parents to have a voice, help one another with parenting issues, and create a resource for parents to gain insight into the role of a parent. I will be introducing our first topic early in February.
Please leave me a comment if this is something you are interested in or opposed to. I look forward to the conversations ahead. I will be posting more blogs very soon.
Please leave me a comment if this is something you are interested in or opposed to. I look forward to the conversations ahead. I will be posting more blogs very soon.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Grandparents & Special Guest Day
Our annual Grandparents and Special Guest day was a huge success. We had approximately 400 specials guests visit the Leawood students this day. Each classroom had a special performance for our specials guests. Our primary grades all performed some type of song and dance for our special guests. Our intermediate students all performed various oral interpretations. The students practiced diligently for the past few weeks to memorize and prepare for this big day.
In addition to the classroom performances, everyone had the opportunity to eat a spaghetti lunch. Our cafeteria manager Sue prepared this huge feast for everyone. Our staff, parent volunteers, and some students helped serve the food and cleaned the tables. This day is so big that we end up splitting each grade level for lunch. We set up the cafeteria and the gym to allow enough space to eat. As soon as lunch is over, our head custodian Vince and any volunteers he could find, helped transform the gym from an eating area of tables and chairs to an auditorium of rows of chairs for our special guests to enjoy the Leawood Choir. At the end of the day, everyone remaining in the building was invited to watch the Leawood Choir perform.
After Grandparents and Special Guest day is over, the intermediate grades pick the top oral interpretations to present to the whole school. This year we will video record the performances and play them on our school video network for all of our students to enjoy. In addition, they will be posted on our podcast site under special events so that our families can enjoy them too.
I hope everyone who attended enjoyed this special day. I look forward to comments from those who were able to experience the special day.
In addition to the classroom performances, everyone had the opportunity to eat a spaghetti lunch. Our cafeteria manager Sue prepared this huge feast for everyone. Our staff, parent volunteers, and some students helped serve the food and cleaned the tables. This day is so big that we end up splitting each grade level for lunch. We set up the cafeteria and the gym to allow enough space to eat. As soon as lunch is over, our head custodian Vince and any volunteers he could find, helped transform the gym from an eating area of tables and chairs to an auditorium of rows of chairs for our special guests to enjoy the Leawood Choir. At the end of the day, everyone remaining in the building was invited to watch the Leawood Choir perform.
After Grandparents and Special Guest day is over, the intermediate grades pick the top oral interpretations to present to the whole school. This year we will video record the performances and play them on our school video network for all of our students to enjoy. In addition, they will be posted on our podcast site under special events so that our families can enjoy them too.
I hope everyone who attended enjoyed this special day. I look forward to comments from those who were able to experience the special day.
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Leawood Silent Auction
Wow, what a great evening. The Leawood Silent Auction was a huge success. I have to start off by thanking all of the parents and volunteers involved for the incredible job they did in preparation for this event.
If you have never been to the Terrace Gardens, you may be a bit hesitant as you drive up to the building as it is nestled back behind other buildings. The area is at first unfamiliar and you question where you are going. Once you walk into the building, you suddenly realize that you have entered a very elegant and formal dining room. You check in to get your name tags and auction numbers. You look across this huge open room and see familiar faces, a very nice dining area, and off in the distance you see where the silent auction items are.
Once you claim a seat, find where the bar is, and realize the process of opening a credit account and how you end up paying for things, you start to relax and enjoy the night. The silent auction items were amazing. The grade level baskets were filled beyond the brim of the baskets, there were massages for everyone, games, technology, toys, vacations, . . . the items went on and on.
Dinner was also great. The food was delicious. It was a buffet of salad, roasted veggies, mashed potatoes, roast, and chicken. Everyone continuously commented on how good the food tasted.
After the silent auction items were closed the live auction began. The auctioneer Adam Nevil was incredible. He was fun and entertaining. He used that professional auctioneer voice and threw numbers at you so fast it was hard to follow at first. He made our families feel comfortable and enjoy themselves. There was a ton of laughter and excitement as our families bid on various items.
At the end of the night, the line to claim prizes was not too long. No one had to wait around for too long before going home with a handful of new things.
I want to thank the Leawood families and friends that joined us that night to make our silent auction such a huge success. I am so impressed with the generosity and determination that our parents had this night. With less than 30% of the Leawood families in attendance, we managed to raise over $23,000. I have to thank this small group of parents and families over and over for the commitment to our students and the support of Leawood. We are very lucky to have such committed families and I thank you.
If you have never been to the Terrace Gardens, you may be a bit hesitant as you drive up to the building as it is nestled back behind other buildings. The area is at first unfamiliar and you question where you are going. Once you walk into the building, you suddenly realize that you have entered a very elegant and formal dining room. You check in to get your name tags and auction numbers. You look across this huge open room and see familiar faces, a very nice dining area, and off in the distance you see where the silent auction items are.
Once you claim a seat, find where the bar is, and realize the process of opening a credit account and how you end up paying for things, you start to relax and enjoy the night. The silent auction items were amazing. The grade level baskets were filled beyond the brim of the baskets, there were massages for everyone, games, technology, toys, vacations, . . . the items went on and on.
Dinner was also great. The food was delicious. It was a buffet of salad, roasted veggies, mashed potatoes, roast, and chicken. Everyone continuously commented on how good the food tasted.
After the silent auction items were closed the live auction began. The auctioneer Adam Nevil was incredible. He was fun and entertaining. He used that professional auctioneer voice and threw numbers at you so fast it was hard to follow at first. He made our families feel comfortable and enjoy themselves. There was a ton of laughter and excitement as our families bid on various items.
At the end of the night, the line to claim prizes was not too long. No one had to wait around for too long before going home with a handful of new things.
I want to thank the Leawood families and friends that joined us that night to make our silent auction such a huge success. I am so impressed with the generosity and determination that our parents had this night. With less than 30% of the Leawood families in attendance, we managed to raise over $23,000. I have to thank this small group of parents and families over and over for the commitment to our students and the support of Leawood. We are very lucky to have such committed families and I thank you.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Leawood Carnival
Wow that was cold!!!!! It took me 2 days to thaw out from the dunk tank at the carnival.
I had so much fun at the welcome back carnival. I was so impressed with all the activites, students, families, and fun that was being had regardless of the gray sky and rather cool weather. I have to say over and over again thank you to the PTSA and all the wonderful volunteers that we had. These great community events cannot happen with out the support of our Leawood Families. Thank you.
I hope everyone agrees that the carnival was a great way to provide a safe and fun community event for our kids. The hot dogs were grilled to perfection. The bounce houses, velcro wall, obsticle course, nascar tire station and the slides were endlessly used. The cotton candy machine was pumping out the cotton candy. The crazy hair station proved to create some crazy hair styles. Kids were earning tons of tokens from the carnival games. I have to say that it was a great success and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did.
These types of community events are one of the many things that supports Leawood and shows the strength of the community and school. I am so excited to be part of this great school. I look forward to many more fun events. Oh, by the way, our Dairy Queen night is Tuesday September 9th from 5-8 pm. And definitely don't forget our only fundraiser of the year, the silent auction, on Friday November 7th. See you then!!!
I had so much fun at the welcome back carnival. I was so impressed with all the activites, students, families, and fun that was being had regardless of the gray sky and rather cool weather. I have to say over and over again thank you to the PTSA and all the wonderful volunteers that we had. These great community events cannot happen with out the support of our Leawood Families. Thank you.
I hope everyone agrees that the carnival was a great way to provide a safe and fun community event for our kids. The hot dogs were grilled to perfection. The bounce houses, velcro wall, obsticle course, nascar tire station and the slides were endlessly used. The cotton candy machine was pumping out the cotton candy. The crazy hair station proved to create some crazy hair styles. Kids were earning tons of tokens from the carnival games. I have to say that it was a great success and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did.
These types of community events are one of the many things that supports Leawood and shows the strength of the community and school. I am so excited to be part of this great school. I look forward to many more fun events. Oh, by the way, our Dairy Queen night is Tuesday September 9th from 5-8 pm. And definitely don't forget our only fundraiser of the year, the silent auction, on Friday November 7th. See you then!!!
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