What's the Buzz?

Book excerpt: Some children, for all manner of reasons, struggle to make friends and fit in socially. What’s the Buzz? is a unique sixteen-lesson social skills enrichment programme designed to explicitly teach children how to think and relate to others in social situations. This lively, highly practical role-play and play-based programme targets everyday themes: how to greet, make and keep friends, fit in, read one’s own emotions, read the feelings of others, deal with competition and cope with worry, frustration and disappointment more constructively. Based on an extensive body of research believed to stimulate social thinking and accomplish powerful outcomes, What’s the Buzz? is: Sequenced – it follows a logical breakdown of each skill Active – it uses role-plays and rehearsal with feedback Focused – it dedicates time solely towards teaching a specific skill Explicit – it teaches a specific social/emotional skill each session. The programme has proven wide appeal to teachers, counsellors, psychologists, teacher assistants, support staff and parent volunteers in schools. While tailored for small specific groups of children, it also has a broader multi-purpose scope with larger mainstream classes. Each lesson also includes extensive notes offering parents and teachers handy ideas to reinforce the themes presented. This book is complemented by the website www.whatsthebuzz.net.au which offers online training modules and wealth of other resources..