Basic Services of an Elementary Guidance Counseling Program
by Debbie Berges
January 15, 2008
The Onaga Elementary Counseling Guidance Program addresses three major areas of student growth and development:
1. Personal social development of the child addresses the social and emotional needs of children in learning to get along with family members, peers, teachers, friends, adults -- all people with whom they interact with in some capacity. The Character Word of Month is one venue of educating students about these personal needs. The Words of the Month include such qualities as kindness, respect, courage, and justice. Practicing tolerance and conflict resolution are two important skills within the personal social development of a child.
2. Educational development of the child addresses the need to learn and to do one's best in academic endeavors. With No Child Left Behind legislation, it is important students understand the need to complete assignments on time, to do their very best on every assignment, and to seek teacher help when not understanding a concept. In addition to the core subjects, students learn about each of the multiple intelligences and how each of these talents is also important in their education.
3. Career development of the child addresses the dreams of what "to be" when they grow up. A focus is placed upon basic core education as the necessity of all occupations. Students explore various careers, the tasks that make up that career, the work environment, and the education needed to enter that career field.
These three areas of development are addressed in various ways in an elementary guidance program:
⇒ Classroom guidance lessons. Each classroom is visited weekly with a guidance lesson for all students. Lessons center on a need seen in the classroom such as students getting along better at recess, current national event such as Martin Luther King Day that provides the opportunity to explore tolerance, or topics teachers are covering in the classroom.
⇒ Individual counseling sessions. These are requested by the student, by a teacher for a student, and/or by the student's parent to meet a more individual, private need of a student.
⇒ Group guidance sessions. If there is a small group of students with a common need, it is possible the counselor will meet from three to six times with that group of students to resolve the need.
To reach out to students in helping them understand global social needs, various activities are sponsored such as pull-tab collection for Ronald McDonald House. Other sponsored activities are corresponding to soldiers and veterans; collecting needed items for Topeka Rescue Mission, Veterans Administration Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, and the Onaga Food Bank; and providing a recycling service to the entire school system. A group of students with an idea may approach the counselor for consideration of a project.
Guidance and counseling include a wide variety of activities and information to meet a wide variety of needs of students coming from diverse backgrounds and needs. Consultation with other staff members and parents are a crucial part of a successful counseling guidance program. It is exciting, as well as challenging, to determine the best way to work with students and their families.
