February 4^th -8^th

National School Counseling Week

In honor of National School Counseling Week, we are formally changing our counselor’s, Ms. Ryan, title to School Counselor (formerly Guidance Counselor).  Please note the change to our webpage titles!  http://lcps.org/page/40388

Thank You to Parents, Staff, and of course the PTA for all your support!

Luv, Ms. Ryan :)

Please give a warm welcome to our Counseling Intern, Ms. Elaine Woo!  She will be working with Ms. Ryan on Thursdays & Fridays for the remainder of the school year.  Welcome Elaine! J

*New this year* Algonkian Guidance Advisory Committee - The advisory council is composed of school and community members. These members make recommendations regarding student and community needs, and they advise the school counseling staff as it strives to meet these needs.  The advisory council meets twice this year: November 26^th and June 3^rd at 3:00pm in Ms. Ryan’s office.  Please email Ms. Ryan at Theresa.Ryan@lcps.org if you are interested in joining this committee! 

 Our next scheduled meeting is on June 3^rd, 2013 at 3:00pm in Ms. Ryan’s classroom (Room 30).

 So what does an elementary school counselor do exactly? 

http://www.lcps.org/page/40404

ASCA (American School Counseling Association) definition of Elementary Counseling: 

http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=230

Guidance Lessons

This month students will continue to discuss the 16 career clusters.

All children need to move along the path to independence!  The best career and life skills preparation we can give young children is to make it safe for them to make mistakes and encourage them to think through decisions!

Did you know?!

Children who feel that their lives are entirely controlled by other people don’t learn to make decisions based on what is appropriate for themselves. Instead, their decisions are based on how they think others want them to be.  It’s about balance!  Too many limits, children don’t learn to make decisions. Too few limits, children feel confused and scared.  Children learn to make independent decisions when they are allowed to make mistakes.

How you can help your child:

Offer Choices - There are many opportunities to set limits and offer choices within those limits.  Children can be given a choice about what to eat in a restaurant, whether to buy the blue or red shoes, what small gift to buy, or which shirt to wear.  These kinds of choices offer guidelines, while at the same time they give your child the opportunity to have some control and ability to learn decision making skills.

Make Suggestions - Instead of telling your child what to do, state your ideas for a child situation as suggestions.  For example: “Maybe you could ask Karen to play.”

Ask for Your Child’s Ideas - When your child comes to you with a problem, ask questions to help your child learn to problem solve.  For example: “How do you think we can fix it?” or “What do you think may work?”