| By: Committee for Children Team Players, Part 2: Tough Love and Treading Water Summer is waning, school is on the near horizon, and my thoughts turn to my ten-year-old son’s very different but equally effective summertime coaches, Coach T (baseball) and Mr. Switzer (swimming). In the previous installment, we met Coach T, a baseball coach who waxes poetic while teaching kids how to be highly skilled baseball players…and excellent human beings.Read More
| By: Committee for Children Helping Bystanders Stand Up to Bullying Bullying is complex in that it involves more than just the student who is bullying and the student who is being bullied. It frequently involves bystanders, who can contribute to the bullying situation and make it worse.Read More
| By: Committee for Children Book Review: Will I Have a Friend? by Miriam Cohen. Illustrated by Ronald Himler.Reading Level: Preschool to Grade 1 Hovering on the outskirts of all the play, Jim spends his first day of school wondering if he will have a friend. All the other children already seem to have made connections with each other, but Jim doesn’t know how…Read More
| By: Allison Schumacher Chicago: A First Day of School Like No Other By Allison Wedell Schumacher Making the transition to a new school is never easy. But imagine the challenge of making that transition because your school was actually shut down. Imagine the questions flooding your mind: How will I get to my new school? Will the kids there like me and be nice to me? Will I fit in? Thousands of children and their families in Chicago have been asking these questions and more in the wake of Chicago Public… Read More
| By: Committee for Children Assertiveness The fourth-editionSecond Step curriculum teaches four main Skills for Learning that are important for children's success in school: listening, focusing attention, using self-talk, and being assertive. Assertiveness includes many actions, but in Second Step, it involves teaching students to ask for help in a calm, confident, and positive manner.Read More
| By: Committee for Children Massachusetts Safe and Supportive Schools Act On May 30, 2013, Committee for Children submitted testimony encouraging the Massachusetts Legislature to support S210/H420, An Act Relative to Safe and Supportive Schools. The bill: Requires all schools, by 2016, to develop actRead More
| By: Committee for Children Online Staff Training Designed to Reflect Real-World Challenges Get a glimpse into the thinking behind our new Second Step Bullying Prevention Unit’s online staff training.Read More
| By: Committee for Children Introducing a New Second Step Solution to Bullying! You probably know and love the Second Step program (since most of our website visitors do), and now there’s even more of a reason to love it: the new research-based Bullying Prevention Unit. Here are some anticipated frequently asked questions to satisfy your curiosity.Read More
| By: Committee for Children The Second Step Program and the Bullying Prevention Unit: A Powerful Combination We here at Committee for Children have long recognized that there are solutions that help reduce the levels of bullying in schools. The new Second Step Bullying Prevention Unit is such a solution. The Unit was created for elementary students and staff so the skills, behaviors and attitudes that help prevent bullying are instilled as early as possible and alongside…Read More
| By: Committee for Children Bullying Down, Academics Up with SEL The Second Step program empowers schools to create positive classroom climates where students thrive Every state but one has adopted anti-bullying legislation. By now, many school districts have developed and put into place policies and procedures that outline actions to take against bullying. These policies are necessary in setting the groundwork for promoting a safe, positive climate for…Read More