Basic Social Skills for Youth: A Handbook from Boys Town

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic for my middle school students!
Review: During my first year teaching 6th grade, I had no idea what to do with my students. My classroom management was a disaster and I didn't have a positive culture of respect and understanding. I purchased this book from advice from a good friend and it completely turned my classroom around. It took a while to teach each social skill, but it paid off. I HIGHLY recommend this book for any parent or teacher struggling to manage a child's behavior. It's all about TEACHING those basic skills that we sometimes take for granted.

Rating:
Summary: Just what the doctor ordered
Review: If you grew up in a healthy family where appropriate behaviors were naturally reinforced, and need to teach others who have been too, this book is not for you. But if your childhood family did not reinforce appropriate behavior and you are trying to figure out how to teach it to others, this book gets the essentials very plainly. It seems to me that 90% of all misbehavior can be dealt with calmly with just the first skill, Following Instructions: 1. look at the person, 2. say okay, 3. do what you've been asked, and 4. check back.
This specific instruction has been very useful for me so that when I am trying to get my children to behave, we all have the same definition of what it means to be behaving.
The list I have for following instructions also includes "keep calm in face, voice, and body." I had a great discussion with my children on keeping a calm voice; that it doesn't include yelling, laughing, or crying, or any sound like them. I don't see that item here, but nevertheless there is a good task analysis of each behavior.

Rating:
Summary: Just what the doctor ordered
Review: If you grew up in a healthy family where appropriate behaviors were naturally reinforced, and need to teach others who have been too, this book is not for you. But if your childhood family did not reinforce appropriate behavior and you are trying to figure out how to teach it to others, this book gets the essentials very plainly. It seems to me that 90% of all misbehavior can be dealt with calmly with just the first skill, Following Instructions: 1. look at the person, 2. say okay, 3. do what you've been asked, and 4. check back.
This specific instruction has been very useful for me so that when I am trying to get my children to behave, we all have the same definition of what it means to be behaving.
The list I have for following instructions also includes "keep calm in face, voice, and body." I had a great discussion with my children on keeping a calm voice; that it doesn't include yelling, laughing, or crying, or any sound like them. I don't see that item here, but nevertheless there is a good task analysis of each behavior.