School Year Teen 09-10 - Session 15

Dear Parents,

So it happened. Some of your kids “graduated” tonight and I won’t be seeing them again except perhaps in the maintenance program scheduled to begin in November. We had all but three of the kids and it was clearly an action packed evening. We started off where CP, CH, and CB, who had begun this “talk show” format with other group members, continued this and that occurred for about the first twenty minutes of group. Then we transitioned and took a walk over to Libbit Park where your kids played a form of touch football using a Frisbee.

They immediately took out horseshoes and attempted to play badminton. We stayed there for about half an hour and then took a walk over to CPK, which is where they had elected to have dinner. Everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood and a lot of kids were talking with other peers whom they had not necessarily interacted with much previously. You all received final updated parent rosters and you may want to ask your kids if there are other group members who they would like to get together with.

At CPK, they were incredibly well behaved. Some of the kids shared crab cake appetizers and fancy looking pizzas. Others simply just enjoyed meals by themselves, but everyone seemed to be patient and was having simply a good time. It was GS’s birthday and we decided to have two cakes. He likes strawberry so we had a strawberry shortcake for him complete with candles and then we had a second chocolate fudge cake. Of course nearly all of the kids wanted some of each so I was assigned cake cutting duties and sliced it up as quickly as I could for them, barely keeping up with the demand.

We did the parent pickup across the street at John O’Groats because we were looking for a safe, relaxed place so parents could talk for a few minutes if they wanted to and that worked out wonderfully.

As you can tell, it was a busy time and it was a little sad to see those of your kids who I won’t necessarily see again leaving. But it has also been wonderful having a chance to see how each of them have grown in different ways. Thanks so much for all of your participation and support. And perhaps I will see you sometime in the future. Our next group for the summer will begin in July and will run through early August, and then we will have a school year group for 2010-2011 that begins in October. Best wishes to all.

School Year Teen 09-10 - Session 14

Hi Parents,

Truly, we're in a winding down mode.  The kids know it too, although a couple of them were surprised to learn that we only have one more group meeting.... that's an executive functioning deficit.  They go on, living in the present, and forgot to anticipate or plan for upcoming events.  They don't even get onto their radar.  What to do?  Practice, create visual schedules, practice/rehearse some more.  What not to do?  Yell, threaten, punish.  Not only will they learn nothing, it can affect their self-esteem (yes... really!) and makes them feel intellectually inferior.  Ironically, the more gifted the child, the more inferior they tend to feel and hold on to it.

Tonight's activity was  a community out for miniature golf, followed by a quick walk to the Galleria for dinner.  Whenever we try something new, I always feel a bit apprehensive, wondering if everything will go smoothly.  I'm pleased to say that it went off without a hitch and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves.  There was one counselor with each group of kids.

We had 13 teens attending and they split up into three groups of foursomes and one group of five (they finished first, somehow). Everyone balanced having a good time, socializing, and playing.  I got plenty of exercise  traveling among the three groups taking pictures.

After they finished, we had tokens for them to play in the arcade for about 15 minutes before it was time to travel to the Galleria for dinner.  No one complained when it was time to stop and we collected outside.  I drove (so I could bring the counselors back and the three counselors went with the teens).  By the time I had parked and walked over the Fuddruckers, out meeting place, they were just coming up the walkway.  It couldn't have been timed any better.  What I especially liked was how cohesive they all looked.  Some slightly out of breath.... no one in an apparent foul mood or complaining.

As it turned out, there were two other food places near Fuddruckers, Quiznos, and a Japanese restaurant.  I let them choose among the three and we congregated outside at the tables.  Everything went smoothly and they just ate and socialized during this time.

I was worried about the pickup, even to the point of checking with an LAPD Traffic Control Officer after being informed by a parent that our planned pickup may not be safe.  He assured me that the turnout was designated for that purpose, just not to park and leave the car.  Because it is painted red, not "white," I can see where this is confusing (wrote down his badge number just in case).  As worked out, the pickup went very smoothly and nearly all of the parents picked up their kids on time.

So, one more meeting left.  You will be receiving two emails from Stacy.  The first is to help us determine whether you are interested in the Summer Program.  The second is our "end of year" parent feedback.  We are doing it one session ahead, primarily for families who need to have reports completed for summer.

One parent dinner coming up, Tuesday, June 1st and our final meeting is on Thursday June 3rd.  We'll be going to the park and then to CPK for our final dinner.  How time flies!

School Year Teen 09-10 - Session 13

Parents,

Tonight was a very smooth night for the teens. A little bit sad in that we talked about there being two sessions left, but we planned out the next two sessions out as a group and I think they’re going to have a nice time. Next meeting, we’re going to be having miniature golf, arcade and then walk for about fifteen minutes and go to the Galleria for dinner so you’ll be dropping them off at one place and you’ll be picking them up at another place. Stay tuned because we’ll send you a flyer on that next week. Then for our final meeting they decided and it was EF who suggested it that we go to the park. She said that hadn’t happened and she really wanted to do that. The group agreed with her and so we’ll going to go to the park and then go to California Pizza Kitchen and we will meet back at Gelson’s as per usual to say goodbye to everyone. So there we have it, what’s going to happen later this month and in early June. Don’t forget that there will be a parent dinner on June 1, Tuesday. Please call in and make your reservations for this.
So tonight, it was really about socializing and tolerance. We did a barbecue and so they shopped for their barbecue. Rather than doing steaks, hotdogs and other things, we just got hot dogs for everyone and that worked more smoothly. They socialized, they appeared to enjoy socializing, and we had three kinds of raffles. There was the blue ticket raffle, there was the hero ticket raffle where eight kids had a chance to win, and there was the LUNCH points raffle and two prizes were handed out for that. There was a parent’s meeting as well and what was impressive was how quietly and respectively the kids came in when they either needed water or to use the restroom.

The parent meeting in itself was nice in that there weren’t a lot of questions about generalization, but there were questions more about “What do I do with my child when they’re no longer coming to this group?” and this is very relevant and sometimes hard to answer, but parents talked about community services through organizations like J Nolan and about some of the things that their kids are doing where they’re getting out into the community more. One father (KV’s) talked about how his son is calling other kids and that was impressive. All in all, they were well-behaved, they helped set up chairs, they helped clean up, and it was a well rounded evening. One final thing we talked about was what to do with kids who are more isolated and this is hard because it seems to be a blend of how much they feel attachment to others and how much anxiety they experience and how competent they feel in having conversations. This is something that requires continued focus on the part of parents and my take is to have your kids immerse in different social situations so it gradually can become more comfortable. But that’s about it for tonight parents. I will look forward to seeing your kids in two weeks as we continue the winding down process. Thanks.