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Show Family Weekly/ January 17, 1971 for Childhood’s Worries listen ... care... and solve youngsters’ problems The counselor will invite the girl in have learned to see good in others.” for a talk. By getting her to speak freely about the things that are disturbing her, she may be able to clear up the problem right there. However, she may also schedule a case conference with the teacher, the school nurse, the principal, and even a consulting psychologist as well. By SALLY OLDS CONSULTATION The elementary-school guidance counselor can often help a child by consulting with his parents or teachers, and then bringing about changes in parental or teaching practices. Nineyear-old Billy, for example, was not turning in his homework. Billy com- If a child’s problem is “not living up plained to the counselor. “My mother to his potential”, the counselor may recommend psychological testing to makes me do the whole page when my find out what’s keeping him back. The and then my mother never likes the teacher only asks for three exercises— result may show that the child is really doing the best he can—but that the parents have set unrealistically high goals for him. In that case, a counselor will have to get the parents to understand that not everyone can be an “A” student. ‘ When a troubled child has the problem of a difficult situation at home— such as a mother who is an alcoholic or a father who has deserted the fam- Using one or more of the four C’s, counselors are able to probe beneath troubled behavior — such as withdrawal (1.), teasing (above) or fighting (below)— to get at root of youngsters’ anxieties. ily—the counselor will work with the child to help her marshal her own resources while a social worker seeks out the parents. Mrs. Smith would each mark their charts according to the number of times Jimmy followed the behavior described. If their charts matched, Jimmy got a star. When he hadfive stars, he received an inexpensive miniature CLASSROOM GUIDANCE “We get the most mileage out of counseling when the school counselor works closely with the classroom teacher,” says Doctor Dinkmeyer. Manycounselors meet with teachers regularly and visit their classrooms, to model car. After six weeks of keeping the chart, Jimmy was able to control his behavior with no rewards. Recent studies in Ohio and California show that most teachers in elementary schools with guidance counselors are enthusiastic about their services. “There are a few teachers who feel that the counselor is usurping their role or threatening their ability to work with children,” says Ira Weiss, another Port Washington counselor. “But we carefully approach the teacher with the attitude that we want to help him, and the overwhelming majority welcomes our assistance.” share with them a wide range of counseling techniques. With the help of specially developed materials, such as photographs or fil sirips, the counselor or teacher may lead class discussions on such topics as how to make way I do it!” When the counselor phoned Billy’s mother, she admitted that she became impatient when she people feel good, how to makefriends, tried to help her son with homework howto share. Such group activities are planned with specific goals. When Alice Goldfarb, a Columbia, Mo., teacher, realized and agreed that it should be left between Billy and his teacher. Freed from maternal coercion, Billy did better on his own than he had with her well-intentioned “help.” Ten-year-old Emily had always been she had in her class a child whom the others ridiculed, she instituted a new project. Each morning the children a would write down why they liked the chiid of the day—because he “has clean teetli,” “doesn’t push in line,” or “doesn’t tattle.” After all the children had their turn, reached fifth grade, when slice seemed unable to complete assignments or concentrate in class. The counselor felt Emily was under too much pressure to compete with her unusually quick classmates, and talked about this with Emily's teacher. The teacher then arranged an individualized reading program for Emily, and relaxed some of her homework requirements. Jimmy, a restless fourth-grader, was Miss Goldfarb reported in the professional journal Elementary School Guid- ance and Counseling, “The ridiculing has stopped entirely. Even my quiet children are being more included and more appreciated. I feel the children conscientious student until she constantly jumping up out of his seat, speaking out at the wrong time, picking fights, and, in general, driving his teacher crazy. After meeting separately with Jimmy and Mrs. Smith, his teacher, the counselor devised a behavior chart that both of them would keep. It listed such items as “walking quietly through the halls,” “staying in your seat during math,” and “raising your hand to ask a question.” At the end of each day, Jimmy and Elementary school guidance has many phases—all important. Just how important can be illustrated by a note taped to the wall of counselor Ira Weiss’s tiny office in a corner of the noisy ground-floor cafeteria in the Port Washington elementary school. In neat block printing, it says, “THIS IS FOR YOU BECAUSEI LIKE YOU.”It is a reward like this that makes the guidance counselor realize his value to a growing child. |