We were so happy to see everyone today! The kids were bummed that the rainy weather kept us from running around and hanging outside. We are already looking forward to next week when the weather will allow us go burn some after school energy in the backyard.

Today we focused on Big Problems vs. Little Problems. We read the book What Do You Do With a Problem which focuses on a little boy who starts worrying about something but never comes up with a solution. The more he thinks about it, the more he worries. The more he worries, the more nervous and anxious he gets. Eventually, he realizes that he has a lot to learn from a problem and that he can grow from it. After we read the book, we talked about the difference between big and little problems. It was really interesting to hear the different things the kids had to say. We defined them as this:

Little Problem-something that may annoy you but won't hurt anyone else and can be ignored. Some examples:

- a friend is taking too long at the water fountain

- you look at your peer and instead of doing their spelling work, they are doodling

Big Problem-something that may cause danger to you or others. This is something that you would want to share with a grown-up

- a friend at your lunch table doesn't have any lunch for a long period of time

- a friend got mad at another friend during a craft activity and threw their scissors at them

It was interesting to not only hear how the kids interpreted these different scenarios but how they focused on recognizing the bigger picture - think about what the problem is and if you can ignore it or you need to talk to a grown-up about it. We will continue to work on this over the next few weeks.

Going forward, we have some big goals for the group. We want to work on flexibility and being part of a group which means doing what everyone else is doing even if you don't like the activity. It's come to our attention that a lot of our kids don't like to do things that are not in their comfort zone. Whether it be doing a craft activity or doing freeze dance to a song they don't like. The other thing we would like to work on is tone of voice and how the way we talk can have an impact on how others feel. The last big thing we will continue to work on is body awareness and respecting other's personal space. This is something that we all need to work on one way or another.

If there are things that you want us to focus on in our final weeks, please let us know. We have been asking the kids what kinds of things they would like to do so we will be trying to work on improving all the social skills mentioned above.

We look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday! Have a great week!

Meghan and Sondra