Stop and Think Social Skills Program
The Jarvis Social Learning program is using the Stop and Think program to give kids the strategies they need to deal with a variety of social situations.
The Stop and Think program teaches kids effective evidence-based approaches to help children solve just about any social problem or challenge that they might face. The social skills taught are grouped into four clusters:
o Survival Skills: are used directly or indirectly in performing other skills.
Listening *
Following Directions*
Ignoring Distractions*
o Interpersonal Skills: help students interact appropriately with peers, siblings, older and younger students, parents, teachers and other adults. They are the skills that help students to build and maintain social relationships.
Beginning/Ending a Conversation
Giving/Accepting Compliments
o Problem-Solving Skills: help students solve individual or group problems.
Asking for Help*
Apologizing*
Accepting Consequences*
Setting a Goal
Responding to Failure
Understanding Your/Others' Feelings
o Conflict Resolution Skills: help students to deal with personal and emotional situations and to resolve conflicts.
Dealing with Teasing*
Dealing with Anger*
Walking Away from a Fight*
Dealing with Accusations
Dealing with Being Rejected or Left Out*
Dealing with Peer Pressure
Dealing with Fear
Dealing with the Anger of Others
The ten core social skills (marked with an *) were selected as those most important for creating positive and safe classrooms as well as prerequisites for more advanced skills.
The Stop and Think program uses a five-step approach for teaching, reinforcing or using any of the social skills listed above. These five steps are:
o Stop and Think! This step is designed to condition children to take time necessary to calm down and think about how they want to handle a situation.
o Are You going to Make a Good Choice or a Bad Choice? This step provides children with a chance to decide what kind of choice they want to make. With help from parents and teachers, along with the meaningful positive and negative consequences for various choices, children decide to make a “Good Choice.”
o What Are Your Choices or Steps? This step helps children to develop a specific plan before implementing a social skill. Here is where parents and teachers assist children by providing possible good choices or by actually teaching specific skills by breaking them into their component behavioural parts. This step helps children to “think before they act”.
o Just Do It! Here is where children actually perform their “Good Choice” behavior. If the specific skill or choice works, great. If not, the child is either provided with additional choices by their parents or teachers, or they are taught a new skill to use. Sometimes they are prompted to go over the steps of a previously taught skill to make sure they are using it properly. Once successful, it’s on to the next step.
o Good Job! This step prompts children to reinforce themselves for successfully using a social skill and successfully responding to a situation or request. This step is important because children—and adults—do not always reinforce themselves for making good choices.
We spend about two weeks learning each social skills through direct instruction of the steps, modeling appropriate behaviour, student and teacher role plays and rehearsal throughout the day.
We believe our students will benefit from the implementation of this program. If you have further questions, please speak to Ms. Palmer.
The Stop & Think Social Skills program is was designed and written by Dr. H. Knoph from Project Achieve. It is evidence based and has been implemented in more than 1500 schools throughout the US and Canada since 1990.
You can visit the website at www.projectachieve.info/stop-think/stop-and-think.html.
The Stop and Think program teaches kids effective evidence-based approaches to help children solve just about any social problem or challenge that they might face. The social skills taught are grouped into four clusters:
o Survival Skills: are used directly or indirectly in performing other skills.
Listening *
Following Directions*
Ignoring Distractions*
o Interpersonal Skills: help students interact appropriately with peers, siblings, older and younger students, parents, teachers and other adults. They are the skills that help students to build and maintain social relationships.
Beginning/Ending a Conversation
Giving/Accepting Compliments
o Problem-Solving Skills: help students solve individual or group problems.
Asking for Help*
Apologizing*
Accepting Consequences*
Setting a Goal
Responding to Failure
Understanding Your/Others' Feelings
o Conflict Resolution Skills: help students to deal with personal and emotional situations and to resolve conflicts.
Dealing with Teasing*
Dealing with Anger*
Walking Away from a Fight*
Dealing with Accusations
Dealing with Being Rejected or Left Out*
Dealing with Peer Pressure
Dealing with Fear
Dealing with the Anger of Others
The ten core social skills (marked with an *) were selected as those most important for creating positive and safe classrooms as well as prerequisites for more advanced skills.
The Stop and Think program uses a five-step approach for teaching, reinforcing or using any of the social skills listed above. These five steps are:
o Stop and Think! This step is designed to condition children to take time necessary to calm down and think about how they want to handle a situation.
o Are You going to Make a Good Choice or a Bad Choice? This step provides children with a chance to decide what kind of choice they want to make. With help from parents and teachers, along with the meaningful positive and negative consequences for various choices, children decide to make a “Good Choice.”
o What Are Your Choices or Steps? This step helps children to develop a specific plan before implementing a social skill. Here is where parents and teachers assist children by providing possible good choices or by actually teaching specific skills by breaking them into their component behavioural parts. This step helps children to “think before they act”.
o Just Do It! Here is where children actually perform their “Good Choice” behavior. If the specific skill or choice works, great. If not, the child is either provided with additional choices by their parents or teachers, or they are taught a new skill to use. Sometimes they are prompted to go over the steps of a previously taught skill to make sure they are using it properly. Once successful, it’s on to the next step.
o Good Job! This step prompts children to reinforce themselves for successfully using a social skill and successfully responding to a situation or request. This step is important because children—and adults—do not always reinforce themselves for making good choices.
We spend about two weeks learning each social skills through direct instruction of the steps, modeling appropriate behaviour, student and teacher role plays and rehearsal throughout the day.
We believe our students will benefit from the implementation of this program. If you have further questions, please speak to Ms. Palmer.
The Stop & Think Social Skills program is was designed and written by Dr. H. Knoph from Project Achieve. It is evidence based and has been implemented in more than 1500 schools throughout the US and Canada since 1990.
You can visit the website at www.projectachieve.info/stop-think/stop-and-think.html.