Hi, Parents:
Tonight, we had everyone there; quite an accomplishment. Congratulations for pulling it off. As far as the group itself, it was an interesting and enjoyable night for pretty much everyone, I think. The group settled in quickly. Two of the group members (the two “C’s”) decided that they would hold session #2 of their “talk show.” They went around an asked group members what they had done since Thanksgiving. We then turned the tables on the two “C’s” once we went into the large group. The people who had offered information were asked to raise their hands, and each of the “C’s” had to guess what they remembered of what the other teen had said. It went off pretty well and appeared to be pretty good-natured. Also, we learned that seven other group members would also like to be “talk show hosts.” So, kind of an impromptu activity, but one that the majority of them seemed to enjoy.
Some of the kids had just a little bit of trouble settling in, either complaining a bit more than the others (“E”) or asking an excessive number of questions (“J” and “G”). But, within a short period of time, all of them had settled in and appeared to be enjoying themselves. After updating the kids about the upcoming LUNCH points program, which will begin on Monday, they went around, and each added different behaviors that they wanted to be able to work on outside of group. This was impressive, in that this was probably the greatest number of additional behaviors that I have every seen in a group session. Whether it is due to how I run things or the members themselves, I haven’t a clue, but it was impressive to watch. So, you will be seeing that as part of the LUNCH points program; where, if your behavior report matches what they said they wanted to do, there will be some bonus points for them.
Finally, we talked about the kinds of projects we would do, and it was fairly evenly divided. About half of the group liked doing the technology, and the other half of the group wanted to do something else. So, since we have four adults plus myself, we are going to divide in half, and next session that is exactly what we plan to do. Some of the group will be playing games, and other members of the group will be doing some technology. The in-office portion of the group ended with me teaching them how to do something called an animated “jist.” It is a simple online way for them to create a single picture that can do very simple animation.
Then it was time to go off to Uncle Chen’s. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. They certainly ate enough! I talked to them about really working on manners while they were there, and, by and large, the group really showed some nice manners. Since they didn’t have sodas at the group (except for one), we ended the evening with ice cream Drumsticks from Gelsons, and they had a chance to hang out just a little more before parents arrived.
So, that wraps it up. A good evening overall. Look for the online LUNCH points tutorials, located under “current families.” Please contact us if you have any questions. -- Bruce
