Counseling Department Overview

Abby Dreher

(803)476-4682

afdreher@lexrich5.org

Click HERE to view the Counseling Department's Mission & Vision Statements.

How School Counselors Help Students

• Teaches classroom lessons that focus on life skills such as managing feelings, getting along with others, dealing with problems and making wise decisions.
• Counsels individually with students in need by student request, staff request and/or parent request. Counselors provide counseling services that affect a student’s academic, social or emotional growth. School counselors do not provide therapy.
• Leads small group counseling sessions that are growth-centered, issue-centered or crisis-centered.
• Intervenes in crisis situations.

How School Counselors Help Parents

• Consults with parents to assist students with life issues that affect learning and emotional growth.
• Provides resources to parents to help guide them in seeking help for their child or family.
• Provides practical parenting tips and information about child development and specific issues affecting children today.

Third Grade Lesson Information

Throughout this school year third grade students will focus on peer relationships. Students will learn problem solving strategies, setting boundaries, and about different types of peer pressure and ways to stand up to it. Below you will find information on the lessons and strategies taught in third grade.

Peer Pressure

Students will learn that peer pressure is when you are influenced by someone when making a decision, whether it be positive or negative. Students will be introduced to the following 8 types of peer pressure:

1. The Why-Notter: Someone who will debate or argue with you. This person likes to respond with a "why not?" to every answer you give.
2. Smooth Talker: This person can sweet talk you into something using his/her words. This person often can't be trusted.
3. The Broken Record: This person will repeat the same them over and over until you give in.
4. The Humiliator: This person will embarrass you or make fun of you until you do as requested.
5. The Threatener: This person threatens to take away a friendship. An example would be, "If you __________________, than you can't play be my friend."
6. The Huddle: A group that leaves you out unless you conform.
7. The Follower: When you do something just because everyone else is doing it.
8. Chicken Caller: This person tries to get you to prove yourself.

Peer Pressure can be Positive.

But is often negative.

Strategies to Withstand Negative Peer Pressure

Students will have the opportunity to learn about multiple ways to stand up to negative peer pressure. This will include the students working with a partner to create their own strategies. Some suggested strategies are listed below:

• Say no over and over (without a reason)
• Use humor
• Get away quickly
• Find an adult to help
• Say “No thanks.”
• Walk away
• Say “If you were my friend, you wouldn’t ask me to do that.”
• Say “So What?” or “What’s your point?”
• Without a word, just do what you feel is right.

Boundaries

There are boundaries in life that should not be crossed. While these boundaries are invisible, they still provide limits for our actions, thoughts, and words. Just like in a sport, if we cross a boundary there are unwanted consequences. You are your own referee, which means you are in charge of keeping yourself within the boundaries.

The four main areas of life with boundaries are:

• Safety
• Rules/Laws
• Responsibility
• Respect

Decision Making

Students will learn about 3 steps in decision making:

1. Stop to think about all of your CHOICES.

2. Think about the CONSEQUENCES, both negative and positive, for each choice.

3. Make your DECISION based off your choices and consequences.

8 Testing Strategies

1. Re-frame Your Thinking- This means to change your negative self-talk to positive self-talk, such as "I think I can."
2. Be Prepared- Students can be prepared by having all materials needed, studying, completing homework, eating a good breakfast, and getting a good night of sleep the night prior to a test.
3. Stop! Look! Listen!- It is import for students to stop what they are doing, look at the teacher, and listen to all directions.
4. Stash the Trash- This means to mark out any information the students do not need to know in a word problem. It also refers to the process of elimination in regards to multiple choice problems.
5. Jail the Details- This is when students highlight, circle, or underline important information in a word problem.
6. Pace Yourself- This refers to not moving too quickly through a test. It is important to take your time and give your best effort.
7. Check It Out- All students should go back and check their work before turning in a test.
8. Plug it In- If a child is unsure of the correct answer for a fill-in-the-blank question, they can plug each answer choice into the blank to see which makes the most sense.

Career Information

Students are given opportunities to gain career awareness during their elementary school years. This year third grade will focus on understanding personality types and their connection to different career fields. Click here to view more career awareness activities you can complete with your child.

Parenting Resources

Sleep Importance

(kids-first.com)

A too-late bedtime may lead to:

1. Difficulty getting to sleep. Once your child passes his natural “sleep window” his body will produce cortisol and even adrenaline (hormones that stimulate the body). When this happens, you might notice that you child gets a ‘second wind’ and could be up for hours.
2. Night waking. Often when children go to bed too late, their sleep will not be as sound and they often wake during the night. This causes the chemical cortisol to be released in their body, causing poor sleep quality.
3. Early morning waking. It doesn’t seem logical, but children’s sleep experts say that children who wake very early in the morning, are often going to bed too late.
4. Less sleep overall. Research has shown that children with a late bedtime get cumulatively less sleep than kids who have earlier bedtimes. This means that the old wives’ tale about making up for missed sleep by sleeping later or napping longer is not really true at all.

Want to know more ways to support your child in building decision making skills?

Click here to learn about five ways to develop your child's decision making abilities.

Want to read more about Peer Pressure in Elementary School and ways to support your child?

Click here for more information.

30 FUN QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD AT THE DINNER TABLE

Does your child respond with "I don't know" or "I can't remember" when you ask about his/her day? Click here to find 30 fun questions that can be used in place of "How was your day?"

Coronavirus Resources

Click HERE for information for supporting your child at home.