🎦Please be aware that keeping your video enabled is a requirement for this course. If temporary circumstances require that a student needs to attend a single meeting without video enabled, please contact me and I may make an exception. (Students will still be required to check in on video at the beginning of class as this is OS safety policy. 🎦)

This class will consist of 12 lessons to help middle- school age children better understand and control their impulses. All of the topics listed below listed below both require impulse control and are an essential building block of impulse control. Activities/discussion may vary a bit depending on the number of students involved. That said, worksheets and drawing activities will commonly be used during this class. We will also practice impulse control through various activities. There will also be discussion questions posted in the classroom prior to the lesson. We may discuss some of these during class. You can also use these question ideas as a way to engage your learner outside of meetings. 

Examples include: 
What do you think of other people your age who don't use impulse control? What about those who do use impulse control? 
What makes one decision more important than another?
What are some ways that kids can relax and better control impulses when they are having strong emotions?

 I will also post worksheets to the classroom that are additional resources/activities for students/parents. You can print these out and complete them between lessons if you like to reinforce and practiced concepts learned in class. We will often go over some of these in class, but students will usually not need to have them printed to participate (though they are welcome to print them). If something does need to be printed to participate fully in the lesson, this will be included in the information that I send out before each individual meeting.

💥💥Because a I usually allow parents to decide when new sections start and because many parents want to take every lesson in the course, the sections of this course are on different schedules.  Below is a link to my ongoing course schedule.

💻https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/6/d/e/2PACX-1vRxG9YC5nZaIkaHcEg3q16AHCCXtnw92atCJqVypJpTDZlJxrwa_IDApucvo5c1W13AbXAUZA1553vT/pubhtml?gid=0&single=true

This will give you information about where a particular section is in the curriculum. Lessons can be taken in any order and I will continue teaching sections by starting over once I reach the end of the topic list unless otherwise noted on the schedule linked above.

Topic 1:
Impulsivity - what is it and how do I control it?
      We will learn about what impulses are and why we need to control them.  Students will think about their own strengths and weaknesses with impulse control and we will discuss strategies for improvement. 

Topic 2:
School Work - Slow and steady wins the race....Really!
     We will discuss the importance of slowing down to follow directions. Students will learn about and practice active listening and positive self-talk.

Topic 3: 
Problem Solving
     Students will learn about problem solving stages and tools and understand how to generalize them to different situations.

Topic 4:
Decision Making
   Students will learn and practice decision making skills and techniques

Topic 5:
Mood Management: Master of my emotional universe
   Students will learn about cognitive distortions, positive self-talk, and techniques to avoid rumination 

Topic 6:
Anxiety: Don't be a worry wart
     Students will learn general information about sources of anxious feelings, understand that there are different levels of anxious feelings, and learn coping skills

Topic 7:
Anger: Is temper taming anything like lion taming?
     Students will learn about anger triggers and will understand the progression of anger. They will learn skills to use impulse control when angry feelings arise.

Topic 8:
Empathy: How can I walk in someone else's shoes without getting athlete's foot?
     Students will be able to define empathy and recognize it's importance. We will discuss facial expressions, body language, and tone. We will discuss empathetic responses.

Topic 9: 
 Social Skills: Keeping it friendly
   Students will learn examples of behaviors that make up good social skills. Students will understand that when people feel good around you, they want to be around you. We will also talk about ways to select positive friends.

Topic 10:
Boundaries: Living and coloring within the lines
     Students will understand the importance of creating and respecting boundaries. We will discuss social boundaries and personal space boundaries. 

Topic 11:
Peer Pressure: Staying strong when others try to persuade me
     We will discuss areas of life that tend to be most influenced by peer pressure. We will discuss how peer pressure can lead to 
impulsive behaviors. Students will learn about using impulse control techniques to withstand peer pressure and say "no" in different situations. 

Topic 12:
Boyfriends & Girlfriends: Is it love, drama, or chaos
In this lesson, We will talk about things such as: Signs that someone might be attracted to you, the differences between love/care & control, traits of a healthy affectionate relationship, and ways to avoid gossip and drama.

***Please Note: This is a skill based class meant to help children identify the need for and have the skills to use impulse control. This is in no way intended to be or replace professional therapy or support.***