How Can Guidance Help?
- Social-emotional development is an essential aspect of children's learning, especially in their early formative years. It is explicitly addressed in Heath's Core Values (respect, grow, engage), in classroom meetings (Responsive Classroom), and in our anti-bullying program (Olweus). Implicitly, social cooperation permeates all interactions among students and staff, be it in a friendly greeting, a show of concern for someone in trouble, a “random act of kindness,” or some other helping hand.
- The guidance/school psychology staff provides in-class help with social/emotional and behavioral issues as they arise. They offer consultation to both teachers and parents regarding any questions about a student's psychological well-being, whether they pertain to peer relationships, coping skills, or self-regulation of emotions and behavior.
- Outside the classroom, the guidance/psychology staff sees children individually or in lunch groups, where we develop and practice norms for cooperation. The goal is that children at Heath will learn through direct instruction, modeling, talking, and actual experience how to become well-adjusted, respectful, kind, and self-confident members of the school community.