Terri Akin

These ready-to-use lessons recognize that making wise choices is a teachable process and that learning the skills and habits of wise choice making reduce the incidence of risky behavior and leads to more success in school and in life. Focusing on developing key areas like self-concept, personal strengths, and supportive, healthy relationships these activities cover essential health and safety information while teaching vital decision-making skills. Fun and engaging, yet packed with plenty of important information and skill practice to help kids learn to make good choices, develop healthy friendships, identify positive support groups, recognize and affirm their positive qualities and develop good decision-making and problem-solving abilities. Use these interactive lessons, discussion questions and reproducible worksheets to put kids on a speedy path to wise choice making. Topic areas include: - Assertiveness- OTC Drugs, Smoking & Marijuana - Stress Management- Peer and Gang Pressure - Self-Esteem- Resistance and Refusal Skills - Decision Making and Problem Solving- Media Influences - Anger Management- Health and Safety - Friendship- Role Models and Support Systems

Grief, fear, and anger are significant emotions-so weighty, in fact, that they often drive children to think irrational thoughts and engage in unreasonable behaviors. Such responses, left unchecked, can easily spiral into destructive actions. If we want children to succeed in life, we must equip them with the tools to manage all feelings, especially those that are intense and difficult. These activities, discussions, role plays, simulations, and worksheets are designed to help children explore, understand and express their feelings in safe and acceptable ways. Easy-to-understand explanations coupled with skill practice promote healthy responses to intense and sometimes overwhelming emotions. Children become more centered and focused, communicate more effectively, and demonstrate greater interdependence and understanding. Use these practical and powerful activities to help children: -understand and successfully cope with grief and loss -learn strategies for effectively dealing with fears and worries -develop practical ways for overcoming irrational fears and anxieties -learn how thoughts impact feelings -discover how to substitute moderate thoughts for anger thoughts -identify feelings that precede or precipitate anger -practice acceptable ways of expressing negative feelings -learn self-control and self-management strategies -learn simple meditation experiences to relieve stress and regain emotional balance