Module 2: Weekly Caregiver Information: The Coping Power Program
Please note that there are separate videos for this week’s classroom lesson and small group sessions, since the two groups are learning different content. Please watch whichever video(s) are relevant to you and your child!
Classroom Lesson 10
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This is video ten of the Coping Power Caregivers video series. We’re glad you’re back! As a reminder, this video focuses specifically on what your child is learning in their classroom. If your child is also participating in the Coping Power small group sessions, we encourage you to watch the additional video focused on the content of the small group!
In the classroom, your child has been learning how to be an active listener and communicate effectively through I-Messages. I-Messages focus on sharing the speaker’s feelings without placing blame on anyone else. As a result, these statements are more likely to lead to positive outcomes, and less likely to cause further disagreement.
Now that your child has a solid grasp on their effective communication and social problem-solving skills, they’re going to be reviewing everything they’ve learned throughout the program so far. They are compiling all of their strategies, including active coping skills, thought-based coping and positive self-talk, relaxation, self-control, and assertive communication into what we call their Coping Power toolbox. Your child has learned how to consider and better understand another person’s perspective, how to PICC apart a problem, utilize self-control and active coping skills, interrupt negative thought patterns, utilize relaxation strategies and communicate effectively. Now they are just practicing putting all of this together!
Your child is focusing on selecting the strategies that have been the most effective for them or the ones they are most interested in practicing more often in the future. The goal is for your child to have default strategies and supports that they are comfortable using when they face challenging situations or conflicts in the future.
Each child in the class is constructing their own unique toolbox of coping strategies that is most beneficial for their needs, feelings, personality, and communication styles to help them in managing their emotion thermometer.
It’s important that your child has multiple different strategies that they are comfortable using in a difficult situation because they will unfortunately experience barriers that prevent them from using just one strategy all of the time. For example, they can’t rely on petting their dog when they’re riding on the school bus or playing soccer or singing in the middle of a test.
Your child is practicing identifying various barriers to accessing certain coping tools in the moment. They are also learning how to plan ahead for times when they already know their favorite strategy available (such as listening to loud music while the class is taking a test), so that they have a backup strategy (such as engaging in deep breathing). By planning for effective responses during barriers to coping, your child can transition more quickly, problem solve, and utilize an alternative coping tool.
As always, we’ll wrap up by giving you a few suggestions for continuing to practice these skills at home. For this week’s power practice, we encourage you to brainstorm challenging moments your child might experience where they cannot use their favorite coping skills. What alternative strategies could they use in these moments instead?
Ask your child to consider all of the coping strategies they’ve learned throughout the program so far. Have them consider which they’ve tried so far, which they’ve found the most helpful, and what situations might best fit with which coping strategy.
We hope you are seeing all of the phenomenal learning your child is doing, and that they are beginning to effectively use many of these strategies at home and outside of school. Good luck with this week’s Power Practice, and we’ll see you next week!
Small Group Session 10
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Welcome to video ten of the Coping Power Caregivers video series. We’re glad you’re back! As a reminder, this video is specific to your child’s small group session. If you’d like to hear more about this week’s classroom lesson, please check out the Coping Power Caregivers: Classroom Video as well!
In previous weeks, your child learned how to manage interpersonal conflict through assertive communication skills such as I-messages, using active listening to understand someone else’s perspective, and practicing strategies for delivering an effective apology. This week your child is learning the next critical step in assertive communication and handling conflict: refusing peer pressure.
It is important to learn and practice refusal skills to counteract peer pressure since peer pressure can lead to potentially harmful activities, like lying, stealing, or cheating. These activities can be hurtful to your child, or to others in the community, and it’s important that your child recognizes when they need to remove themselves from an unkind or even dangerous situation.
It is common for children to choose to engage in risky peer activities for many reasons. Common reasons children and adolescents typically describe include: they want to be accepted into a particular friend group, they are threatened or teased until they join in, or they are told they won’t get caught. Refusal skills are designed to support children in defusing pressure from friends and peers.
Students are learning two tiers of strategies for responding to peer pressure. Some examples of first level refusal skills are: replying “no thanks”, changing the subject, or suggesting a better and safer option or idea. The second level of refusal skills are then for situations where peers don’t respond to a child’s initial statement or request to do something else. Effective second tier refusal skills include: repeating yourself, making an excuse, or leaving the situation all together. Your child is practicing both the level one and level two skills in mock-peer pressure situations, to get them comfortable expressing their boundaries and thoughts in real-life situations that they may face.
For this week’s power practice, we encourage you to talk with your child about activities they have felt pressured to do by their peers at school or outside of school with friends. What was that experience like for them?
Discuss the most helpful ways to respond to these peer pressures. Try to problem solve by weighing the consequences of different choices and picking the one that won’t lead your child to regret their choice.
Enjoy this practice with your child, and we’ll see you next week!
Classroom Lesson:
Small Group Session:
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Caregiver Feedback Form
We welcome your feedback as we continue to improve the Coping Power program for students and families. Let us know what you thought of this week’s lesson!