The summer is almost here, and it is a time that children and teens (and us adults 😉 ) have the opportunity to meet new people, make new friends, and build new relationships. Not everyone is born with the skill and courage to initiate conversations and friendships, but all of us can learn it and […]
When a child suddenly displays a marked change in behavior, don’t discipline or create a behavior plan immediately. Instead, find out what may have contributed to the change. Call the parents to find out what’s been happening at home, were there any recent changes or stressors, and is there any possible explanation for the behavior
What to do when a child suddenly displays a marked change in behavior Read More »
Why is it so important to address behavioral problems in children when they’re still young? Can’t we just be patient and let them grow out of it? Occasionally, that does happen. Yet more often, problematic behaviors become habit, and habit becomes part of a child’s character. That is why we teach social skills to children
Why teach social skills to children with behavioral problems? Read More »
It is the time of year when we review the progress of our students and decide which kids are ready to move on and be on their own. How can you help a student get ready for termination of services? Here is a sample social story I recently wrote with a high school student I
Are you wrapping up your work with a student? Read More »
Hi my Community of Friends, Families, and Colleagues, Today I got a shocking and deeply saddening call. Truth is, every couple of years I’d get a call from a total random stranger inquiring about the wellbeing of my dear mentor and teacher, Marilyn Nehls, who taught me all about the Red and Green Learning System.
It’s hard to believe that Marilyn Nehls is no longer with us… Read More »
Happy Monday! Perhaps you’ve seen my favorite way to teach problem-solving skills. It has four simple steps: 4 Steps to Teach Problem Solving: Say the Problem List 4+ Solutions Choose the best one(s) Do it! There’s one little trick in Step #2 that sounds ridiculous and counterintuitive, but it really makes a difference. What is
I know it sounds CRAZY, but it works! Read More »
My name is Miriam Schiff, CCC/SLP, MA, MS Ed, and I’m a longtime graduate of Dr. Devora Samet’s Red and Green Social Skills Training Course. I’d like to share a fun way I recently worked on problem-solving skills with a third grade student. We randomly went through magazine pictures and we tried to scout out
A fun and creative way to teach problem-solving skills! Miriam Schiff shows us how… Read More »
Yes, we all know about DISTRESS, but are you familiar with EUSTRESS??? Eustress is defined as moderate or normal stress that comes from happy events, not sad ones. Here are some examples of eustress and distress. However… Each person might experience the same event differently. An event that can be EUSTRESS to one, might be
Do you recognize eustress in your life??? Read More »
Yes, Pesach is coming… In fact, it’s less than two weeks away. Ouch, did that bring up lots of feelings??? We’ve established that feelings need to be discharged in order to avoid emotional explosions, but how do we actually do it? There are lots of different ways to do it. Here is one super simple
My feelings don’t make any sense… or maybe they do??? Read More »
How often has a kid told you, “Why talk about my feelings if nothing is gonna change?” How often have we said the same thing at some point in our lives? It sometimes feel useless just to talk about emotions when what we really want is action. But there’s truth to the idea that if
When your emotions are exploding… then what??? Read More »
