Anger Control
The Anger Control Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 38 personal skills activities (728 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
We all experience anger. Perhaps you experienced it this morning on the freeway when a driver cut you off. Anger is a serious emotional state. It can vary in intensity from mild irritation to uncontrollable rage. It is accompanied by biological changes such as a red face and an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, hormones and perspiration. Anger is a natural, adaptive response to threats. A certain amount of anger is necessary to your survival, such as defending yourself if you are attacked. However, anger has to be controlled so you do not lash out at everyone that annoys you. Civil laws, social norms, religious laws, common sense, and decency place limits on your behavior when you are angry.
- Anger Facts
- The Nature of Anger
- What’s Another Name for Anger?
- Why People Want to Fight
- Anger Triggers
- Where Angels Fear to Tread
- Pet Peeves
- Self Image and Anger
- Happiest and Angriest Times
- Physical Warning Signs
- Red Hot Buttons
- Anger Messages
- Indirect Expressions of Anger
- Emotional Storms
- Button Down the Hatches!
- What If…
- Anger Log
- Ways to Express Anger
- Seeing Red
- Acting Out Behavior
- Your Heart
- What Would You Do If…
- In the Heat of the Moment
- Too Much Pressure
- Working Out Anger
- That Doesn’t Bother Me
- Tick Me Off
- Defusing a Bomb
- Defusing with Humor
- Ventriloquism
- Calming Statements
- To Spank or Not to Spank
- Appropriate Anger
- Venting Your Anger
- Frustrating Situations
- What Bugs Your Type?
- Frustrating Feats
- Anger by Gender
Building Friendships
The Building Friendships Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 28 social skills activities (580 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Friendships develop between business associates, school chums, neighbors, shipmates, soldiers, club members, church members, criminals, politicians, explorers and others. Even special bonds form between people and animals. A dog is often characterized as “man’s best friend.” Friendship should not be confused with friendliness, intimacy, sociability and support. Friendship is much more.
- Who Needs Friends?
- Who Am I?
- Friendly Conversations
- Man’s Best Friend
- The Presidents’ Best Friends
- What’s A True Friend?
- True Friends
- Birds of a Feather
- A Pretty Package
- On Whom Can I Lean?
- The Important People in My Life
- Show and Tell
- Giants
- Making New Friends
- What Are They Like?
- Strengthening Friendships
- Compliments and Eulogies
- Mending Fences
- Comfortable Shoes
- Opposing World Leaders
- Peer Pressure
- Friendship Assessment
- The Fox and The Hound
- Guess My Secret
- 3-D Illusions
- Walked On
- What Are They Thinking?
- Handling Unwanted Advice
Conflict Resolution
The Conflict Resolution Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 31 social skills activities (583 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Conflict is a part of life. It occurs between people and nations and within your own mind over wants, needs, drives, wishes, and the demand of others. Conflict is ever present in nature as when animals prey on each other. There is conflict when opposing sides compete as in sporting events or debates. Conflict can be as mild as disagreeing about music preference or as serious as going to war over land boundaries.
- Life’s Conflicts
- Constructive Conflict
- Conflict Styles
- Unresolved Issues
- Reacting to Unresolved Issues
- Resolve Conflicts
- Sources of Conflict
- Behaviors That Lead to Conflict
- Causes of Conflict
- What Causes Conflict?
- Concepts of Violence
- Settling Conflict with Violence
- Consequences of Violence
- Results of Violence
- Rewards of Nonviolence
- Benefits of Peaceful Solutions
- Advantages of Nonviolence
- Working it Out
- Steps in Resolution
- One Problem at a Time
- Identify the Problem
- What is the Problem?
- Willing to Change
- Accusations
- Listening Carefully
- Points of View
- Futile Attempts to Change
- Roadblocks to Resolutions
- Stumbling Blocks
- Thinking Rationally
- Past Resolutions
Confrontation
The Confrontation Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 22 social skills activities (380 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Confrontation frightens most people. They equate it with walking through a minefield and would rather avoid it than fulfill their needs. Some people think of it as anger and hurt to themselves and others. Others think it is aggressive behavior that demands bullying, domineering or using physical force or threats to gain compliance. There are two types of confrontation: aggressiveness and assertiveness. Aggressiveness is negative, coercive, self-enhancing behavior at the expense of others. It is forcing your will on someone else. Assertiveness is a positive behavior. It is the ability to express your feelings, opinions, beliefs, and needs directly, openly and honestly and to make a firm stand without violating the rights of others.
- Peer Pressures
- Positive and Negative Pressures
- Who Is This?
- Reacting to Pressure
- Yielding to Influence
- Group Problem Solving
- Experiences Shared
- What Are My Choices?
- Used Gum
- Passive, Assertive or Aggressive?
- Doormat, Bully or Leader?
- Proactive Behaviors
- Obnoxious Customers
- Being Assertive
- Secret Confessions
- Hurtful Remembrances
- The Baby Picture
- Handling Ridicule
- Celebrity Picture
- Replies to Criticism
- Guess the Phrase
- Closed Doors
Conversation
The Conversation Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 31 social skills activities (539 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
The French artist, Van Gogh, painted a portrait of himself. We can look at the picture and see the color of his eyes, the shape of his nose, and the color of his skin. What we can’t see is his character, his education, his interests, and his values. If we were able to have a conversation with him he would paint a different kind of portrait of himself. His speech and thought patterns would reveal much about him, and he would paint a portrait of himself with every word he spoke. You also paint a portrait of yourself with every word you speak. What kind of portrait do you paint? When we meet people for the first time we want to make good impressions. The manner with which we speak influences our listeners. Sentence structure, grammar, adjectives, adverbs, and tone all have a bearing on the way we speak. Our choice of words also helps shape first impressions.
- How Do I Communicate?
- Like, You Know, Okay?
- Conversing With a Celebrity
- My Most Embarrassing Moment
- Loosen Up a Little
- Relax Before You Speak
- Eliminating “I”
- Important Phone Calls
- Detailed Introductions
- Death of a Conversation
- Starting Conversations
- The Interview
- Communication Styles
- Happy Talk
- Filibusters
- Can’t End It
- Stop! End It Now
- A Double Hanging
- Mud Slinging
- Gossip Galore
- The Dangers of Gossip
- Effects of Gossip
- Impressive Vocabulary
- #$!%@ # Profanity!
- Dangerous Topics
- Warning Signals
- What Did You Say?
- Offensive Sounds
- Sick in Bed
- Not So Comforting
- Being Compassionate
Courtship
The Courtship Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 17 family skills activities (445 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Throughout history courtship has always been an interesting process. Even though courtship patterns varied, and still vary across cultures, all courtship patterns have similarities.
- Falling In and Out of Love
- Why People Marry
- Cold Feet
- Opposites Attract
- Courtship Styles
- Defining Sex
- Premarital Sex
- Double Standard
- Living Together Before Marriage
- Realistic Expectations
- Taking Off Rose-Colored Glasses
- The Perfect Marriage
- A Blueprint for Marriage
- Getting Rather Than Giving
- Perspective In-Laws
- Personal Disclosures
- Calling It Off
Creative Thinking
The Creative Thinking Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 31 cognitive skills activities (638 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Creative thinkers are valuable assets to any family, organization, or company. The creative person knows that there is always room for improvement. Every problem that has been solved can be solved again in a better way. Creative thinkers do not subscribe to the idea that once a problem has been solved, it can be forgotten, or to the notion that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” A creative thinker’s philosophy is that “there is no such thing as an insignificant improvement.” Activity Titles
- Command Center of the Body
- Left-Brained or Right-Brained
- Two Faced
- Dominance and Mixed Dominance
- Lefties
- What Is Creativity?
- Not Accepting What Is
- Pictures in Your Mind
- Divergent Thinking
- Brainstorming
- Divergent and Convergent
- Stimulated Imagination
- An Attitude of Creativeness
- Stimulate the Imagination
- Thinking of Alternatives
- Exercising Your Brain
- 13 Steps of Inventing
- Inventing a Structure
- Combining Unlike Things
- A Stretch of the Imagination
- Visualizing
- Visualizing Success
- Visualization Sharpened
- Visualizing an Object in Space
- An Exercise in Visualization
- Left and Right Partners
- Compare and Contrast
- Can Success Cause Apathy?
- Failure Can Inspire Creativeness
- A Healthy Brain
- Practicality of Ideas
Customer Service
The Customer Service Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 33 employment skills activities (645 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
In today’s highly competitive marketplace, no business can survive if it alienates its existing customers through poor customer service. Depending on the industry involved, getting a new customer can cost 5 to 10 times more than keeping an existing customer happy. Keep in mind that every customer lost is a customer gained by the competition. Can your employer afford to aid the competition because of poor customer service skills? Definitely not! So how do you go about keeping customers happy? First of all, you have to be happy yourself. Activity Titles
- Who is a Customer?
- Know Your Customers
- Customer Wants
- Think Like a Customer
- Lines
- Tiresome Waits
- Service and Satisfaction
- Serve and Satisfy the Customer
- Is It Really Service?
- Market-Driven or Customer-Driven
- Not Over ‘Til the Fat Lady Sings
- Make Success Happen
- A Customer Service Audit
- Is the Customer Satisfied?
- Don’t Blame the Competition
- Set Standards
- 99.9% or 100%
- The Company Image
- A Gold Standard
- Appearance
- First Impressions
- Improve Quality Products
- Prejudiced Feelings
- Value the Customer
- Silk Purses and Sows’ Ears
- It’s a Jungle Out There
- Exceed the Customer’s Expectations
- Surprise the Customer
- Names
- Playful Humor
- Appropriate Humor
- Know the Customer Personally
- Bad PR
Decision Making
The Decision Making Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 25 cognitive skills activities (418 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
You make decisions every day of your life. You decide when to get up in the morning, what to wear, what to eat, what to say, what to do, and when to call it a day. Some decisions are easy to make and require little thought. Other decisions, such as removing the life support system from a loved one who is gravely ill, are much harder to make and require much thought. Many factors influence the decisions we make. Activity Titles
- Rational and Irrational Thinking
- Why Mistakes Happen
- Mistakes and Excuses
- Making the Same Mistake Again
- Avoid Making the Mistake Again
- Handling Mistakes
- Steps in Rectifying Mistakes
- Taking Care of Mistakes
- Fixing a Mistake
- Personality Styles and Decision Making
- Poor Decision Making
- Logical and Emotional Decision Making
- Head or Heart Decisions
- Making Decisions with Your Head and Your Heart
- Dilemma Decisions
- Impulsive Decisions
- The Ripple Effect
- The Ripple Effect
- Environmental Influences
- Influences in Your Neighborhood
- Making Wise Decisions
- Overcoming Undesirable Influences
- Controlling Your Destiny
- Feeling Ashamed
- Confused
Discipline
The Discipline Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 44 family skills activities (855 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- Two Purposes
- Modeling Parents
- Shifts in Attitudes
- Why Parents Don’t Discipline
- Denial
- A Disciplined Parent
- Parents United
- A United Front
- Family Rules and Consequences
- Too Many Rules
- Problems at Home
- Testing Boundaries
- When It’s Hardest to Give Love
- Too Much Love
- I Want It and I Want It Now
- Early Discipline
- Spanking
- Spanking Alternatives
- Harsh Punishment
- Discipline in Public
- After the Punishment
- Avoiding Confrontations in Public
- Types of Discipline
- Needing and Wanting Discipline
- Discipline by Personality Style
- Immediate Rewards
- Ineffective Discipline
- Empty Threats
- All Bark and No Bite
- Taking Action
- Misbehavior That Pays Off
- Attention, Power, Revenge, Disability
- Rewarded With a Spanking
- Rewards and Bribes
- Expecting the Impossible
- Expecting Too Much Too Soon
- Is Punishment Always Necessary?
- Encouragement vs. Reward
- Compliments
- Speak Less and Act More
- Logical Consequences
- Learning Through Experience
- Look for Good Behavior
- Affirmations
Diversity
The Diversity Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 19 social skills activities (310 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men [and women] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness…” This quote is a small portion of the United States Declaration of Independence, which was an action taken by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. Because of the many infringements on their liberty, all thirteen colonies in America unanimously declared they were separating themselves from British rule. Since that historic day, it has been the ideology of the American people that everyone should be en-titled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our country has gone through many growing pains to define and ensure those rights. As a people we have not yet reached diverse maturity. We are still trying to define those rights. To better understand the rights of others it is necessary to explore the subject of diversity.
- What’s Below the Surface?
- Sources of Prejudice
- Where Do They Come From?
- Accepting Others
- Tolerating Irritating Behaviors
- Same and Different
- How Would I Feel If
- Orange You Glad You’re Tolerant?
- You’re Not From Around Here
- Melting Pot or Smorgasbord?
- Smug or Humble?
- Respecting the Handicapped
- Famous Handicapped People
- Seen, Unseen, Heard
- Visible Handicaps
- Learning Respect
- Gender Discrimination
- Different Points of View
- Respecting the Views of Others
Divorce
The Divorce Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 23 family skills activities (675 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- Marriage Facts
- We Can Always Get a Divorce
- Irreconcilable Differences
- A Covenant Marriage Contract
- Painful Legal Procedure
- Strained Relationship
- Death of a Marriage
- The Grieving Process
- Burying Grief
- Loss-of-Custody Grief
- Emotional Baggage
- Filling the Void
- Shedding an Identity
- We’re Getting a Divorce
- Helping a Child Understand
- Your Father Is Rotten
- Devastating News
- For the Sake of the Children
- Added Turmoil for Teens
- Helping Children After A Divorce
- Getting Back Together
- The Ex
- Let It Go
Effective Sellers
The Effective Sellers Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 19 employment skills activities (465 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
The sales profession is an important part of the free enterprise system that supports our nation’s economy. It can be a satisfying and financially rewarding occupation that offers unlimited opportunity. Many salespeople are selling goods and service every day, seven days a week. Some salespeople are bad and some are good. If you are entering the sales profession or are already in sales, this section contains a few things you need to know to be an effective seller. Activity Titles
- The Right Sales Job for You
- Selling Styles
- Personality Style Motivation
- Clues
- Buying Styles
- Some Ways People Learn
- Adjust Your Selling Style
- Know the Product
- Believe in Your Product
- Read
- Be Green and Educate Yourself
- Go to School
- Know the Competition
- Smell Like a Rose
- Dress Well
- Put on Your Face
- Time Is Money
- Use Time Wisely
- You Win Some, You Lose Some
Emergency Preparedness
The Emergency Preparedness Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 22 family skills activities (650 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- From a Gold Perspective
- Survival
- 72 Hours
- Survival Kits for the Car
- Storing Food
- Frugality and Wisdom
- Grinding Wheat
- Store a Meal
- Eat What You Store
- Rotating Stored Food
- Gain Knowledge
- Dried Food
- Sprouting in Your Kitchen
- A Green Thumb
- Water to Live
- Dehydrated Water
- When Water Is Scarce
- Worth More Than Money
- 10 Things to Inquire About Before Moving
- Mapping Out a Plan
- Pack Up
- Load Up
Empathy
The Empathy Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 20 social skills activities (290 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Have you ever said, “My heart was touched,” “My heart goes out to you” or “I feel for you”? If you have made comments like this then you have empathized with another person. Sometimes we speak of empathy as walking in someone else’s shoes. Empathy is imagining how others feel and having a deep sense of appreciation for what they are experiencing. Empathy, like any other virtue, can be learned and developed regardless of personality type or gender. Before you can empathize you must first learn to sympathize with others. Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone without trying to understand how that person really feels. Young children have very little conscious empathy for others because they are self-absorbed-they have not yet learned to think about the welfare of others and they have limited life experience. The writer, Samuel Johnson, wrote in his book The Rambler, “Those who do not feel pain seldom think that it is felt.” If you have never been hungry for a long period of time you cannot fully appreciate a homeless person’s hunger. However, going without food and water for a day, or occasionally working at a food kitchen for the homeless, can give you a greater appreciation for those who do not eat regularly. Actually experiencing physical and/or emotional pain in life helps you gain a better understanding of how others feel in similar situations. Because you have “been there,” you are able to see yourself in them. However, empathy can be felt without having gone through a similar experience. Imagining someone’s pain can be just as empathetic.
- Destructive or Empathetic
- Male vs. Female
- Express Your Feelings
- Caring Behavior
- Footprints of Empathy
- More Than Concern
- Listen Before Replying
- Mirroring
- Silent Expressions
- Hand Gestures
- Notice the Body Language
- Silent Language
- Silent Communication
- How Well Do I Listen?
- Verbal Barriers
- Helpful Questions
- Peeling Away Subjectivity
- Being Objective
- I’m Sorry
- Indirect Apologies
Etiquette
The Etiquette Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 11 social skills activities (225 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Have Codes of behavior have existed since the beginning of time and have regulated behavior in every culture. Most of today’s formal etiquette originated in the French royal courts from 1600-1700. Standards of behavior were demanded of those who were in the presence of nobles, thus the word “courtesy” came about. A list of proper social behaviors was called an etiquette, meaning ticket. These were explicit rules of conduct for ladies and gentlemen of good breeding. Etiquette expanded to include numerous practices, many of which are viewed as foolish by today’s standards. For example, in nineteenth century Victorian England: It was bad manners for a young man to speak to a young woman until she acknowledged him first. It was improper for an unmarried woman under thirty years of age to be in the company of a man without a chaperone. There were many rules for leaving calling cards. There was a steady coarsening of western society in the twentieth century, especially after 1960. By the end of the century society was more self-centered and less mannered despite being better educated and more conscious of civil rights. Many people wondered where civility had gone.
- What’s Acceptable?
- Being Courteous
- Why Good Manners?
- More Civilized?
- Restaurant Etiquette
- Dinner at Home
- Which Fork Do I Use?
- Finger or Fork?
- Courtesy
- Handshakes
- May I Introduce…
Finances
The Finances Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 26 family skills activities (570 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- The Breadwinner
- “…and for worse”
- Financial Woes
- Can’t Share
- Bank Accounts
- Coming Into Money
- Sharing Responsibility
- Four Perspectives
- Respect for Money
- Slaves to Money
- Self-Control
- Being Smart
- Hazardous Times of the Year
- Cha-Ching
- Tight Budgets
- Turn Off the Lights
- Cooking From Scratch
- Streeeetching Meat Dollars
- More Bang for the Buck
- Swallowing Dollars
- Vending Machines
- Gas Hogs
- Buy or Lease
- Being Frugal
- Frugal People and Tightwads
- Preparing for the Inevitable
Flexibility
The Flexibility Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 31 personal skills activities (675 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Flexibility, as defined in the business world, is the ability to adjust easily to change. In today’s unpredictable marketplace, change seems to be a constant part of every business. Employers want to hire versatile employees who can meet the demands of whatever situation they are in. If you want to turn a short-term job into a long-term career, then you will have to have a variety of skills at your disposal. You will need to adapt in order to hold on to your job.
- Undergoing Changes
- Staying Flexible
- Be the Water, Not the Rock
- Giving Advice
- The Next 50 Years
- Personalities and Vision
- Versatility
- Do Something Different
- Changing Paths
- Ability to Change
- Change Direction
- Considering Alternatives
- More Than One Way
- Open to Suggestions
- Bouncing Back
- Resilience
- Who Resists Change?
- Let It Slide By
- Roll With The Punches
- Let It Roll Off Your Back
- Flexible Rules
- Crime and Punishment
- Strict or Lenient
- Strict Parents
- The Red Heart
- Funny Attire
- Laughing at Myself
- Finding Humor in Life
- Changing Bad Habits
- Risky Business
- Exotic Food
Following Leaders
The Following Leaders Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 20 social skills activities (425 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
History shows that when people group together they want leadership (government) to help establish order and enforce laws. Individuals cannot pick and choose which rules and laws they will follow. They must obey the laws prescribed by the general will of the people. Each person in the group must cooperate by obeying rules and laws in order to maintain order and ensure everyone’s rights and safety. Without leadership and government we would be living in an anarchical society of chaos. There would be nothing to limit the taking of someone’s property if another desired it. Each person would be on his own to protect and defend whatever he believed to be his. Everyone would live in a state of fear. Dwellings would be fortresses rather than homes and weaponry would be a popular means of defense. A leader without followers has no power or influence. Followers are like the spokes in a bicycle wheel. All of the spokes support the wheel. If one spoke is broken the wheel moves on but if many spokes are broken the wheel collapses. To keep the cause live followers give support and work to get the job done. Leaders are important, but just good followers are equally important.
- Someone to Lead
- Keeping a Group Focused
- Blind Obedience
- Military Authority
- Being Too Obedient
- No Authority to Help
- Making Rules Yourself
- Laws for No Man’s Land
- Purpose of Laws
- How Do I Feel About Authority?
- Resisting Authority
- No One Is Perfect
- Everyone is Subject
- Skirting the Law
- Impeachable Behavior
- Obey, Esteem, Support and Sustain
- Rights and Privileges
- Privileges Are Not Rights
- Accepting “No”
- Reacting to Authority
Giving Instructions
The Giving Instructions Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 22 social skills activities (345 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Employees give instructions and they receive them. Instructions range from simple to complex. Sometimes they are given orally and other times they are written. It is important that everyone be able to give good, clear instructions that are accurate and complete.
- Being Understood
- This is How to…
- What’s The Point?
- What’s the Purpose?
- Explicit Details
- Ambiguous Instructions
- Difficult Instructions
- As Clear As Glass
- Interpretations
- People and Robots
- Steps in Instructing
- Clear Written Instructions
- Map Making
- Too Much to Remember
- Verbal vs. Written
- Learning Styles
- Learning Preferences
- I Don’t Understand
- Questions to Ask
- Ask Questions
- Order of Importance
- Following Step-by-Step
Goal Setting
The Goal Setting Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 18 personal skills activities (435 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Goal setting is the formal process of setting personal targets in a variety of areas. The process of setting goals on a routine basis helps you decide what you want to achieve with your time, and then set the precise personal targets that will lead you achieve this. In 1953 researchers polled the graduating class of Yale University and found that 3% of the graduates practiced goal setting and had a set of clearly defined written goals. Twenty years later, researchers went back and visited the class of ’53 and found that the 3% of the graduates who had clear and written goals had amassed a fortune worth more than the other 97% combined. This is powerful evidence that goal setting is a proven process in creating and defining success.
- What Do You Want In Life?
- I Need Some Direction
- What Do You Want?
- You Have A Year to Live
- Role Models
- Visualizing the Future
- Setting Short Term Goals
- Achieving Short Term Goals
- Personal Success Secrets
- Setting Realistic Goals
- New Year’s Resolutions
- Making Dreams Come True
- Making To-Do Lists
- Daily Goals and Objectives
- Breaking Down Long Term Goals
- Knowing What to Expect
- Maps and Obstacles
- Mission Impossible?
Group Membership
The Group Membership Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 19 social skills activities (420 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Involvement with groups is part of everyone’s development. Groups are your friends, your family, your equals and organizations to which you belong. Everyone belongs to groups. Everyone has peers. Peers are those individuals who are of the same societal group based on age, grade, or status. Being a member of a peer group is important to most people, and especially to adolescents. As members of a peer group adolescents usually dress alike, enjoy the same music, share secrets and use each other as a sounding board to test ideas and develop a standard by which each person judges himself/herself. No matter how old you are, you care what others think about you because you want to fit in and be accepted. The desire to be accepted into a group is a strong motivating force that can influence how you think and behave. We all have heard of peer pressure, but what is it? It is the influence that a group has on its members. Peer pressure usually has a negative connotation. We usually think of bad people trying to influence good people into doing things they shouldn’t. However, peer pressure can be a positive influence. Dealing with positive peer pressure is easier than dealing with negative peer pressure.
- What’s the Criterion?
- Do You Belong?
- Which Group Do I Join?
- How Do I Join?
- Lion or Pussycat?
- Man or Mouse?
- Feeling Like an Outcast
- Making a Club Charter
- Somebody Dropped the Ball
- How Well Do You Know Them?
- Family Personalities
- Overcoming Boredom
- Rational or Irrational?
- Morale Killers
- What My Family Means to Me
- Fantastic Families
- Family Unity
- Strong Families
- Family Member Roles
Handling Complaints
The Handling Complaints Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 21 employment skills activities (350 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
How businesses handle their customer complaints affects their reputation and profits. According to the United States Office of Consumer Affairs, a dissatisfied customer will tell at least nine other people about his or her bad experience. Losing one customer may be a loss of hundreds or thousands of dollars a year. A customer whose complaint is resolved satisfactorily will recommend the business to an average of 15 other people. It pays to satisfy customers. Activity Titles
- Customer Wants and Don’t Wants
- Blaming Others
- Listen Intently
- Don’t Interrupt
- Ask, Then Listen
- Telling the Customer Too Much
- Irritating or Calming?
- Spoiling for a Fight
- Don’t Accuse the Customer
- May I Help You?
- Words to Avoid
- Okay?
- Empathize, Calm, Make Restitution
- Give the Customer a Choice
- Escalation
- Upset Customers
- Abusive Customers
- Dress Rehearsal
- Stay Emotionally Detached
- Non-Complainers
- When to Refuse Service
Health
The Health Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 29 family skills activities (725 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- What Is Good Personal Hygiene?
- Being Clean
- Taking Stock.
- A Skunk or a Rose
- Clean Hands
- A Visit by a Dentist
- Tooth or Consequences
- Halitosis
- Clean Hair
- Reasons for Drug Use
- Serious Statements
- Influences of Advertising
- Parties, Drugs, & Alcohol
- Alcohol Content
- How Much Do I Know?
- Do I Have a Problem?
- Getting Help
- The Value of Independence
- Do I Want to Be Addicted?
- Should I Smoke?
- Experimenting With Caffeine
- Caffeine Addiction
- Sluggish Brains
- Exercise
- Couch Potatoes
- Getting Your Zzzzz’s
- Insomnia
- Help for Insomnia
- Sleeping Pills
Home Organization
The Home Organization Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 31 family skills activities (760 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- Preventing Chaos
- Organizing Your Life
- Attitudes About Organization
- Put It Back After You Use It
- When You’re In the Mood
- Putting It Off
- Not Getting It Done
- Just Do It
- What Is Time?
- Time Wasters
- A Typical Day
- Getting Started
- Paying Bills
- Streamline
- Efficiency
- Less Morning Stress
- A Place for Everything
- Maximizing
- What Is Junk?
- Is It Junk?
- White Elephants
- Prioritizing
- Organizers/Planners
- Before Moving
- Making a Plan
- Arranging the Pantry
- Safe Storage
- Keep a Calendar
- Daily To-Do List
- Problems Prioritizing
- Less Time in the Kitchen
Home Safety
The Home Safety Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 19 family skills activities (455 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- Child Safety Hazards at Home
- Childproofing the Home
- Unsafe Toys
- Caveman Basics
- Carbon Monoxide
- Radon
- Using a Fire Extinguisher
- Fire in the House
- It Can Happen To You
- Overloaded Electrical Circuits
- The Old-Fashioned Fuse Box
- Electrical Outlets
- Safety Tips
- To the Rescue
- Water Pollution
- Careful Handling
- Wash It Well
- Cook It Well
- The Refrigerator
Housework
The Housework Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 25 family skills activities (640 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- Who Likes to Clean?
- Preferred Chores
- What’s the Big Deal?
- How Dirty is “Dirty”?
- It Looks Okay to Me
- Housekeeping Standards
- Self-Respect
- Basic Equipment
- Edible Cleaning Products
- Old and New Ways of Cleaning
- Substitutes for Commercial Products
- Controlling Pests
- What Is Dust?
- Mildew Concerns
- Moldy Bathrooms
- Clean Bathrooms
- Nursery Odor
- Speed Cleaning
- A Clean Kitchen
- Smelly Dog and Cat
- Work to Get Out of Work
- Good Use of Time
- Car Interiors
- Sorting, Washing, Drying
- Stain Masters
Integrity
The Integrity Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 26 personal skills activities (550 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Each footstep on a wet beach leaves behind an imprint in the sand. Life is like a wet sandy beach. Every step we choose to take is evidence of how we live our lives. What we do leaves an imprint on us and on others. In the past, people valued integrity. They highly regarded stories of honorable acts such as George Washington telling his father the truth when asked if he had cut down the cherry tree and Abraham Lincoln walking several miles to return a penny. People valued upstanding character. A person’s word was as good as his/her bond. Legal contracts were bypassed because people gave their word and shook hands on it. Integrity was important, and people of integrity were highly esteemed. People of integrity live without fear and never have to look over their shoulders and worry of being found out. Their behavior is beyond reproach, and they have clean consciences. They walk with their heads up because they are not ashamed. They are honorable people for whom family, friends, and the community hold in high esteem. Their footprints are ones in which others can walk.
- Who Am I?
- Who Would You Trust?
- Cryptic Messages
- What Is Trust?
- Curious Contents
- Dependable or Unreliable
- Trusting a Friend
- Good and Bad Advice
- Tests of Trust
- Sidewinders
- Regaining Trust
- Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
- Truth or Consequences
- What Would You Do?
- Doing the Right Thing
- Honesty is the Best Policy
- What You Are and What You Do
- The Whole Truth
- I Will Catch You
- Cheaters Never Win
- Like a Thief
- A Woeful Feat
- Liar, Liar Pants on Fire
- My Valued Things
- The Cable Car
- Getting Back on Track
Interview Communication
The Interview Communication Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 19 employment skills activities (435 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
The interview gives you the opportunity to sell yourself by communicating your personality and qualifications to the interviewer. The impression you make in a job interview determines whether or not you are hired. If you make a good impression, you will increase your chances of being hired. If you make a poor impression, your job application will be filed in the wastepaper basket. Activity Titles
- When the Company Calls
- Know the Law
- Managing Stress
- What Color is the Interviewer?
- The Interviewer’s Name
- Phony or Real?
- Revealing Yourself
- Tell It Like It Is
- Eliminating Yourself
- Describe Yourself
- Qualifications Briefly Stated
- No Rambling Rose
- Preparing for Stressful Questions
- Tough Questions
- Dead Meat Questions
- Trophy Questions
- Tired Out Expressions
- Writing: A Basic Skill
- Interviewed by a Group
Interview Follow-Up
The Interview Follow-Up Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 18 employment skills activities (350 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Whew! The interview is over. Now you can sit back and wait for the company to call. Wrong! There is still work to be done to cinch the job. Follow-up is a vital part of the job-seeking process. Activity Titles
- Job Applications
- Following Up
- Creating a Sample Letter
- The Follow-up Call
- Keeping Track
- You Can’t Win Them All
- Was It My Fault?
- I Blew It
- Words to Know
- The Company’s Expectations
- A Tour of the Place
- Safety First
- A Basis for Wages
- What Salary Do You Have In Mind?
- Your Price Tag
- Pushing for More Pay
- Negotiating for Benefits
- A Work-At-Home Job Offer
Interview Preparation
The Interview Preparation Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 14 employment skills activities (260 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Athletes must prepare for competitions, performers must prepare for concerts, and job applicants must prepare for interviews. Handling yourself well will help you obtain the job that you desire. Activity Titles
- Job Etiquette Do’s and Don’ts
- Making a Checklist
- Arrive Sober
- Clothes for the Interview
- Dress Up or Down?
- Appropriate Dress
- Conservative Dress
- Conservative Dress for Success
- Dress for Success
- Go Alone
- Be Punctual
- Arrive Early
- The Early Bird Catches the Worm
- Burning Your Bridges Behind You
Job Hunting
The Job Hunting Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 26 employment skills activities (490 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Many people go about job hunting as if they were looking for the worst job stead of the best job. They don’t prepare themselves, they don’t know where to look for work, and they sloppily fill out job applications. They fail to understand that finding a satisfying position with opportunity, benefits and a future is a full-time job in itself. If finding a good job is left up to luck, chances of finding one are pretty slim. No one wants to “beat the bushes” and “pound the streets” looking for work for very long. It is helpful to understand effective and ineffective job hunting methods to minimize the time it takes to find employment. Activity Titles
- Finding Gold and Striking it Rich
- Best Job or Worst Job
- Job Hunting: A Full-Time Job
- Why So Much Fuss?
- Effective and Ineffective Job Hunting
- The Largest Job Market
- The Job Market of the Future
- Being Self-Employed
- Owning Your Own Business
- Flextime
- What Is a Network?
- Networking Skills
- Talking to a Contact
- Contacting a Referral in Person
- Leaving a Good Impression
- Contacting a Referral by Phone
- Who Does the Hiring?
- Reviewing the Facts
- A Networking Club
- Reading the Help Wanted Ads
- Help Wanted Ads
- No Stone Unturned
- Uncommon Sources of Information
- Corporate Personality Styles
- Do Your Homework
- Gain an Edge
Job Preparation
The Job Preparation Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 32 employment skills activities (815 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Looking for employment is hard work! It takes patience and perseverance. Competition is keen because every day hundreds of people with good skills are looking for employment. Some people think that getting a job only involves going into a place of business and filling out an application. Looking for employment involves much more. To gain an edge over the competition requires preparation. Part of this preparation includes:
- Having a positive attitude
- Analyzing your weaknesses
- Setting goals
- Identifying your interests
- Making sacrifices
- Identifying your strengths
- Brushing up on skills
- Soliciting a coach
- Preparing a resume
- Researching your occupation
- A Prescription for Unemployment Blues
- When You Are Feeling Down
- Mixed Feelings
- Roller Coaster of Emotions
- Tightening Your Belt
- Feelings About Work
- Attitudes About Work
- Wear Out or Rust Out
- An Attitude of Success or Failure
- Work and School
- Choosing a Career
- Taking Control of Your Career
- Reading: A Basic Skill
- Like, Ya Know
- I’m Sorry
- I Wasn’t Listening
- Strengths and Weaknesses
- Analyzing Interests
- Likes and Dislikes
- Uniqueness
- My Skills
- Identifying Strengths
- Shooting Yourself in the Foot
- Blow Your Own Horn
- Money or Job Satisfaction
- A Look at Job Satisfaction
- You Couldn’t Pay Me to Do That!
- Sacrifices
- The Night Shift
- Shift Work
- Long Hours
- Are You Willing to Pay the Price?
- Fired!
Job Retention
The Job Retention Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 30 employment skills activities (585 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
There are jobs and there are careers. A job should be a rung on the ladder to a specific career instead of just a way to earn subsistence. Working toward a career gives you a positive, hopeful outlook. It is like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey to keep him going-he keeps running to catch the carrot and hopes to eventually get it. Your carrot is the hope of having established a career by the time you reach the top of the ladder. You do many different jobs on the way up, each one increasing in skill and responsibility. Activity Titles
- A Career Attitude
- Shouting Attitude
- A Winning Attitude
- It’s No Dream Job
- Making the Best of Things
- Self-Motivation
- What Motivates You?
- Burned Out
- Great Expectations
- Wearing the Company’s Shoes
- Ideal Employee Qualities
- A Job Well Done
- Standards of Excellence
- Adjusting to the New Environment
- Start With Humility
- Unwritten Rules
- Trying Too Hard
- An Honest Day’s Work
- Working Overtime
- Getting Organized
- Good Work Habits
- Remembering to Follow Up
- Taking Messages
- Contributing to the Meeting
- Pros and Cons
- Increase Your Worth
- Unsafe Conditions
- Your Worth
- Asking for a Raise in Pay
- Are You Worth a Raise in Pay?
Leadership
The Leadership Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 25 social skills activities (383 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Some experts feel that leadership is inborn and others feel that leadership can be learned. Others feel it is a combination of the two. Everyone is born with leadership potential, but potential is an untapped resource that needs developing before it can become an actuality. Individuals can be trained to be good leaders. Steven R. Covey, author and lecturer, likens leadership to farming. Farmers cannot harvest a crop unless they prepare the ground, sow the seeds on time then water and cultivate the plants. If they sow the seeds too late in the season, they cannot cram and hurry growth along. Farmers have to prepare and work hard to have a successful crop. Becoming a good leader cannot be achieved overnight. It takes preparation. Personal improvement, listening, observing, and taking formal courses all contribute to leadership training. If the basic principles of good leadership are learned, all that is needed are opportunities to practice. Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, and Napoleon are famous leaders in history. We associate their names with conquest and tyranny. Too often people think that being a leader means giving orders and wielding authority. Some think it is a rank. Leadership is much more and is demonstrated in many different ways.
- What Makes a Good Leader?
- Passing the Peace Pipe
- Keeping the Beat
- Leader Characteristics
- Leadership Pennants
- Leadership Words
- Campaigning
- The Perfect Parent
- Leader or Manager?
- Responsibilities of a “Big Cheese”
- The Worker
- What’s Needed Here?
- Power Tactics
- Follower Perceptions
- Follower Perceptions
- Misusing Authority
- Nurturing Your Followers
- Complimenting Your Followers
- Being a Kind Leader
- Flattery or Praise?
- Hanging the Hypocrite
- Trust and Honesty
- Being Fair and Impartial
- Speaking Well
- Listening to Yourself
Listening
The Listening Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 28 cognitive skills activities (538 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
We listen for many different reasons. We listen for enjoyment and relaxation. We listen with empathy to give support and to gain an understanding of the other person’s feelings. We listen to gather information. We listen with a discriminating ear to understand, evaluate, and discern truth. Activity Titles
- Testing Your Hearing
- What’s a Decibel?
- How Well Do You Listen?
- Riddle Me This
- Why Should I Listen?
- Listening at Work
- My Place in the Family
- A Listening Trip
- What Am I Hearing?
- Panning for Gold
- What Does That Mean?
- Movie Preview Voice
- Interpreting the Message
- Slanted Viewpoints
- The Power of Talk Radio
- How Are You?
- Too Much Effort
- Listening Attitudes and Behaviors
- A Tolerant Ear
- Reflective Listening
- Talk Less, Listen More
- Eliminating Distractions
- Evaluating Eye Contact
- Poor Eye Contact
- Just the Facts, Ma’am
- Forming a Response
- Responding Wisely
- Experiment in Listening
Logical Fallacies
The Logical Fallacies Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 26 cognitive skills activities (379 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
The point of a logical argument is to give reasons in support of a conclusion. An argument commits a fallacy when the reasons offered do not support the conclusion. When arguing with someone in an attempt to get at an answer or an explanation to a theory, you may come across a person who makes logical fallacies. Such discussions may prove futile. You might try asking for evidence and independent confirmation or provide another hypothesis that gives a better or simpler explanation. If this fails, try to pinpoint the problem of your arguer’s position. You might spot the problem of logic that prevents further exploration and attempt to inform your arguer of his or her fallacy. Activity Titles
- Fallacies in Over-Generalizations
- Jumping to Conclusions
- Questionable Conclusions
- Give ‘Em An Inch and They’ll Take a Mile
- The Domino Effect
- Fallacies in Superstitions
- Sidestepping the Issue
- Red Herrings
- Name Calling
- Popular Opinion Argument
- Appealing to Tradition
- False Authority
- Oversimplification: There’s More to the Problem
- False Dilemmas
- Circular Argument
- Appealing to the Crowd
- Get on the Bandwagon
- Absolving Yourself
- Two Wrong Do Not Make a Right
- What Is True for the Whole Is Not Necessarily True for the Parts
- Speculation
- Fear Affects Our Logic
- Fear as a Tool
- Straw Man Position
- Analogies
- Exaggerated Analogies
Logical Reasoning
The Logical Reasoning Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 20 cognitive skills activities (293 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Knowledge is extracted from what you observe, experience, infer, and read. When you try to understand and make sense of information, you use reason. The right side of the brain seeks patterns. The left side of the brain uses the patterns (sequence of events) to predict the likelihood of something happening. This prediction is called a probability. For example, you might reason that if little Johnny has played the same wrong note in his piano piece the last two times he has performed it, there is a good probability that he will play the wrong note again the next time he performs the piece. Scientists and mathematicians use logical reasoning to prove conclusions. Policemen, detectives, and attorneys use logical reasoning to prove criminal cases. You use logical reasoning every day of your life to make and prove conclusions. If you know the structure of an argument you will be able to recognize the point of it, recognize the role that words and phrases play, and be able to evaluate the argument’s validity. Activity Titles
- Logic and Reason
- Are You A Logical Thinker?
- Accuracy of Probabilities
- Making Predictions
- Thinking of Possibilities
- Begin a Mystery
- Games of Thought
- Mind-Set
- Stereotypes
- A Mental Trap
- Off On a Tangent
- Premises and Conclusions
- Inductive Reasoning
- Deductive Reasoning
- Deductive Reasoning Practice
- Critical Thinkers
- A Critical Eye
- Fact or Opinion
- Inference Doesn’t Make It Fact
- Statistics Scrutinized
Love
The Love Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 26 family skills activities (700 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- Who Likes to Clean?
- Preferred Chores
- What’s the Big Deal?
- How Dirty is “Dirty”?
- It Looks Okay to Me
- Housekeeping Standards
- Self-Respect
- Basic Equipment
- Edible Cleaning Products
- Old and New Ways of Cleaning
- Substitutes for Commercial Products
- Controlling Pests
- What Is Dust?
- Mildew Concerns
- Moldy Bathrooms
- Clean Bathrooms
- Nursery Odor
- Speed Cleaning
- A Clean Kitchen
- Smelly Dog and Cat
- Work to Get Out of Work
- Good Use of Time
- Car Interiors
- Sorting, Washing, Drying
- Stain Masters
Management
The Management Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 31 employment skills activities (675 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
The position of Manager can be divided into two parts: Leadership and the mechanics of getting the job done. Leadership skills shape the behavior and attitudes of the workers. Building team spirit, creating enthusiasm, sharing vision for the future, and developing camaraderie are all leadership skills necessary for building morale and excitement within a group. The mechanics of getting the job done include organizing, planning, providing, coordinating, distributing materials, training, making assignments and meeting deadlines. Activity Titles
- A Position of Responsibility
- Too Marvelous for Words
- Noting Your Leadership Style
- Leadership Styles that Boomerang
- Important Criteria
- Organizing Things
- Concepts of Time
- Mismanaging Time
- Meetings, Meetings, Meetings
- Bored to Tears
- Planning a Meeting
- Making an Agenda
- Other Points of View
- Friday Afternoon at 4:00
- Enjoyable Meetings
- Conducting a Meeting
- Skillfully Handling Conflict
- Reprimands
- Praise and Encouragement
- Here’s the Door
- Employee Gripes
- Hiring Retired Folks
- Motivators
- Motivating Employees
- Satisfy Personality Style Needs
- Voice Inflection
- Evidence of Job Dissatisfaction
- The Company Owes Me
- Alarming Facts
- Employee Theft
- Whistleblowers
Marital Conflict
The Marital Conflict Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 33 family skills activities (1030 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- Communication Styles
- Communication Patterns
- Listening to Understand
- Empathetic Listening
- I’m Sorry
- Communicate Your Feelings
- Recognizing Verbal Abuse
- Contemptuous Behavior
- Counter-Productive Words
- Nit-picking
- Conflict Styles
- Conflict: Good or Bad?
- Six Sources of Conflict
- Cultural Influences
- Traditions
- The Appearance of Mr. Hyde
- Jealous Feelings
- The Green-Eyed Monster
- Incompetence
- The Rat Race
- Wanting Control
- Getting Control
- Gaining Compliance
- Fighting Fairly
- Hitting Below the Belt
- Seeking Revenge
- Love Should Not Be War
- Steps to Resolving Conflicts
- 50/50
- Violence in Marriage
- Violent Behavior
- Physical Abuse
- Acknowledging a Problem
Marriage
The Marriage Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 29 family skills activities (835 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- The Purpose of Marriage
- A Sacred/Revered Institution
- Expectations of the First Year
- A Balancing Act
- Giving More, Taking Less
- What I Like About Being Married
- Rejoice in the Differences
- Worshipping Together
- The Newlywed Game
- A Solid Foundation
- Cutting the Umbilical Cord
- Secrets of a Successful Marriage
- Interfering In-Laws
- Generous In-Laws
- An Aging Parent Moves In
- A Dilemma
- I Hate Doing That
- That’s Just the Way I Am
- Inflexible Rules
- Changing A Spouse
- Newness Wears Off
- Lifestyle Changes
- Dividing Up Chores
- Working Together
- Making Work Fun
- Doing Chores
- Warning Signs
- Time Alone
- Privacy and Secrecy
Moral Reasoning
The Moral Reasoning Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 29 personal skills activities (530 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
“What should I do?” is a question we frequently ask. How do we know what is morally right or wrong? On what do we base our values? Can we decide what is morally right using only logic? Are moral principles invented by human beings alone? Philosophers have debated the origin of ethical principles for centuries. Values are important because they define who we are. They are responsible for our being helpful to our neighbors and community or our being burdens on society. They determine if we are religious or atheistic, honest or deceitful, empathetic or insensitive, brave or cowardly or if we conduct ourselves in the gray areas of right and wrong.
- Where Values Come From
- Universal Truths
- Coat of Arms
- Drawing the Line
- Things I Would Never Do
- Values Analysis
- Regarding Values
- How I Express My Values
- Promoting Your Values
- Wearing Your Values
- Expressing Your Values
- Political Correctness
- Create a Definition
- What’s Wrong With That?
- Ethics Assessment
- Ethics in Current Events
- Ethical Foundations
- Attitudes and Values
- A Moral Dilemma
- Using Your Values
- Who’s Telling the Truth?
- Conscience Synonyms
- What’s A Conscience?
- Should I or Should I Not?
- The Cowbell Conscience
- Dull or Sharp?
- Working Out Your Conscience
- Better Than Animals
- Dealing With Dilemmas
Negotiation
The Negotiation Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 15 social skills activities (300 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Negotiation is a way of getting what is wanted from another party. Negotiation is utilized when purchasing a home, a car and other expensive items to get the lowest price possible. Negotiation is also utilized at garage sales and flea markets for purchasing inexpensive items even cheaper. The seller has a price he wants for an item and knows how low he is willing to go. The buyer wants to buy the item at the lowest price he can get. The two haggle over price and eventually come to an agreement. Both parties usually compromise but once in awhile one party stands firm and the other gives in. For many workers, salary and benefits are negotiated with employers in simple ways. Other people negotiate complicated contracts with an employer for salary, benefits, and working conditions. Parents negotiate with their children. Spouses who sue for divorce negotiate alimony, child support, and visitation rights. Nations negotiate peace treaties, boundary disputes and hostage situations. Police negotiate with criminals. Negotiation takes place every day all over the world.
- When to Make Deals
- Fight or Negotiate
- Everybody Can Win
- Tug-of-war or Negotiation?
- Win, Lose or Draw
- Negotiate or Not
- Plan or Lose
- Losing Opportunities
- Work It Out
- Peacemaker
- Striking a Bargain
- I Want, He Wants
- Let’s Make a Deal
- Let’s Bargain
- Negotiating Mistakes
Nutrition
The Nutrition Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 42 family skills activities (1065 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- Good Nutrition
- Fuel for the Body
- The Food Guide Pyramid
- What Is a Serving?
- Serving Size and Calories
- Fiber Content
- Today’s Big Health Problem
- Fiber Supplements
- Overweight?
- How Did It Happen?
- Overweight Children
- Eat Sensibly
- Eat Slowly
- Diets
- Veggies
- A Salute to Yellow Fruits and Vegetables
- Fruit Juice
- Kicking the Unhealthy Snack Food Habit
- Brain Food
- Meal Planning for Optimum Brainpower
- Vitamins and Minerals
- Don’t Overcook
- Labelese
- Additives Part 1
- Additives Part 2
- Good and Bad Additives
- Sugar Is Sweet
- Curing Picky Eaters
- Food Preferences
- Good Food For Kids
- Subtle Encouragement
- What the Experts Say
- Small Portions
- Starting the Day on a Full Tank
- Breakfast for Little Buckaroos
- Moooo
- Fast Food
- Good and Bad Fat
- New Eating Habits
- Pyramids
- Reviewing Facts About Nutrition
- Diet of the Future
Optimism
The Optimism Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 18 personal skills activities (388 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Some people believe that life is wonderful. Others believe that life stinks. Optimism and pessimism are attitudes that are self-fulfilling. Those who think life is hard and unsatisfying will find that it is, and those who think life is wonderful and rewarding will find that it has much to offer. Martin Seligman, Ph.D., author of Learned Optimism, states that the difference between an optimist and a pessimist is how each regards success and failure. The optimist sees success as lasting, meaningful and a result of hard work. The pessimist sees success as temporary, not meaningful and happening by accident. The optimist sees failure as temporary, not meaningful and caused by a lack of hard work. The pessimist sees failure as permanent, personal and caused by others. Optimism is looking on the bright side, finding the silver lining, seeing a glass as being half full instead of half empty. It is looking to the future with hope and finding good aspects in the bad things that happen. Worrying over insignificant things will only cause us to miss life’s happiness.
- Optimism vs. Pessimism
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
- Happy Attitude
- Happy or Sad
- Pollyanna
- Esteem Boosters and Putdowns
- Healing Wounds
- Exoneration
- Acid Eats Away
- A Winning Attitude
- Quit or Try Again
- Diet, Exercise and Rest
- You Can If You Think You Can
- Optimistic Personalities
- Having an Attitude
- Popularity
- Negative Perfection
- The Right Stuff
Parenting
The Parenting Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 58 family skills activities (1330 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- What is a Parent?
- Gold, Silver or Bronze Parents
- What is a Good Mother?
- A Good Mother
- A Good Father
- Fatherhood Quiz
- Super Parent Syndrome
- Preparing for Parenthood
- A Monument to Parenting Skills
- A Job Description
- Who Is Responsible?
- Good Parenting Starts Early
- My Little Samu
- The Blessed Event
- Shared Responsibilities
- Death of a Child
- Accepting Stepchildren
- Worries
- Bills of Rights
- A Stay-at-Home Parent
- Children Come First
- Willing to Sacrifice
- Speaking With a Forked Tongue
- Quarreling Parents
- Building Family Unity
- A Family Mission Statement
- Establishing a Family Identity
- Seven Parenting Standards
- Families Are Important
- My Family Tree
- A Good Home
- Family Strength Self-Quiz
- How Well Do You Know Your Child?
- Words That Build Self-Esteem
- Decades of Respect and Disrespect
- Being Respectful
- Respect Builds a Foundation
- Respect for Your Children
- Speaking Respectfully to Children
- Never Belittle or Embarrass
- Family Meetings
- Household Chores by Personality Style
- Household Chores
- Overprotecting
- Emulsifying Personality Styles
- Typical Behavior by Age
- Getting Their Way
- Owning Up
- Teaching Accountability
- Sitting Quietly
- The “Third Parent”
- The Birds and the Bees
- The Arts
- Spiritual Needs
- Giving Service to Others
- Earning Money
- Children Employed
- Scarcity
Perception
The Perception Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 16 cognitive skills activities (268 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Perception is your ability to perceive your environment, to pick up clues and minutiae, including the emotions of others. It is also your native intelligence and wit and how fast you are on the uptake. Poor perception means you are oblivious to your surroundings; you are like an absent-minded professor constantly bumping into things and missing details. Average perception assumes you are capable of noticing fairly obvious details such as expressions, things lying around in plain sight, partially closed drawers, badly fitted secret doors. Good perception means you notice little things such as something odd about an expression or a glance passing between people, faint marks, hurriedly hidden objects, and unskillfully design secret doors or compartments. Great perception assumes you are aware enough to notice all but the smallest details such as a smudge, a place where a well-hidden secret door probably ought to be, or a change in expression that would escape most people. Excellent perception means that almost nothing escapes your eye such as faint scratches, fingerprints, the smallest change in expressions, places where even the most skillfully hidden objects or hiding place might be. Extraordinary perception means nothing evades your eagle eye. Activity Titles
- Seeing Things Differently
- Different Perspectives
- Individual Perspectives
- Individual Points of View
- Perception Influenced by Attitude
- Attitude Affects Perception
- Perception Influenced by Attitude
- Perception and Objectivity
- Perception and Emotions
- Observation Affects Perceptions
- Perception Influenced by Observation
- Perception and Close Observation
- Perception Influenced by Culture
- Cultural Points of View
- Perception Influenced by Experience
- New Perspectives
Personal Responsibility
The Personal Responsibility Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 25 personal skills activities (515 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
According to the dictionary, responsibility is “the state of being legally or morally accountable for the discharge of a duty, trust or debt.” Responsible people accept the consequences of their behaviors, even if the consequences are extremely undesirable. They meet their obligations, regardless of how inconvenient or oppressive. They can be trusted to act appropriately without supervision or guidance.
- Important Successes
- Visiting Experience
- Flat Broke and Successful
- Keys to Success
- Try or Give Up
- “It’s a Slip and Not a Fall.”
- Never Give Up
- Trying Again
- Excuses for Failure
- Challenging or Devastating
- The Buck Stops Here
- Full Responsibility
- Excusing Behavior
- The Devil Made Me Do It
- Irresponsible Acts
- Understanding Each Other
- Aging Parents Ignored
- Worthy Parents
- The Follow Through
- Keeping Your Word
- I Can’t Get the Job Done
- Dodging a Problem
- Facing the Truth
- Borrowing From a Friend
- The Decent Thing to Do
Persuasion
The Persuasion Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 24 social skills activities (440 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Persuasion helps you get what you want. It is the ability to move someone to adopt a new attitude, belief or action. Persuasion is achieved through manipulative techniques that focus attention on what will motivate the targeted person into doing what is desired. Some of these mediums of manipulation are propaganda, indoctrination, morale, argument, motivation, temptation, requests, exhortation, and charm. Your ability to learn to use persuasion and resist it is directly related to your success in life. Think about how much persuasion you have used today. Did you try to persuade your children to hurry and get ready to go to school? Did you try to persuade members of your family what breakfast food they should eat? If you are a single person living at home, did you try to persuade your parents to give their permission? How successful were you in persuading each of these individuals?
- What’s Persuasion?
- Make Me Do It
- Persuasion Techniques
- Ethical Advertising
- Make Me Laugh
- Why I’m Great
- What Works for Me
- Persuading Personalities
- Honey or Vinegar?
- The Job Interview
- You’re Wrong
- Saving Face
- Friendly Persuasion
- Gentle Persuasion
- Yes-Yes Persuasion Techniques
- Keep Them Saying “Yes”
- Bargaining Commitments
- Threats and Intimidation
- You’re Chicken
- Slick Salespeople
- Hazing and Harassment
- Temporary or Permanent Change?
- Changing Attitudes
- When Persuasion Fails
Problem Solving
The Problem Solving Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 33 cognitive skills activities (625 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
The air conditioner’s condensation pipe is clogged with mineral deposits causing water to drip from the overflow pan located inside the fan assembly in the garage. A bucket is used to catch the water, but that doesn’t work. The water runs down the wall and not into the bucket. How can the water be channeled into the bucket until a repairman comes? There are all kinds of problems to solve. Some problems are out of our control such as war, some disease, and natural disasters. Some problems can be avoided or lessened if there is adequate forethought and preparation. For example, if we live in an area that is prone to tornadoes, we can ensure our safety if we build a storm cellar. Some problems are of a personal nature. Perhaps there is a breakdown in communication resulting in a misunderstanding. Maybe one of the individuals involved is confused due to stress or illness, or one feels overwhelmed or inadequate. There may be a difference of opinion. There may not be enough information or the information may be wrong. Perhaps hidden feelings are revealed after the situation is looked at more closely and there is a change in perspective after thinking about something for awhile. Maybe there is a dilemma and no one can be a winner. Other problems, such as the clogged air conditioner pipe, are mechanical, scientific or mathematical. Activity Titles
- Monster Problems
- Personal Problem Collage
- Characteristics of a Problem
- Swatting Flies
- Seeing the Whole Picture
- Word Association
- Stop and Think
- What’s Wrong Here?
- Problem Sources
- Making Accurate Observations
- Dealing with Details
- What’s Different Here?
- What Did I See?
- Cops and Robbers
- Brainstorming Solutions
- Thinking of Possibilities
- Educated Decisions
- Gathering Information
- Not Enough Information
- Is It Reliable?
- Where Information Comes From
- Is It True or False?
- The Three Goblets Mystery
- Anagrams
- Kaleidoscope
- What Are My Choices?
- Problem Solving Steps
- Your Mind’s Eye
- Visual Attention
- Sprouting Spatial Ability
- Left Brain: Describing Objects
- Right Brain: Stimulating Spatial Neurons
- Finding Solutions
Remembering
The Remembering Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 30 cognitive skills activities (535 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Memory is the stepping-stone to thinking, because without remembering facts, you cannot think, conceptualize, reason, make decisions, create or contribute. There is no learning without memory. This section will enable you to remember anything you want to remember in less time than it takes you now. It will discuss some valuable principles that are vital to improving your ability to remember. Activity Titles
- Why Have a Good Memory?
- Causes of Poor Memory
- What Causes Poor Memory?
- Why Memory is Poor
- Hobbies Enhance Memory
- Hobbies That Enhance Memory
- Activities That Enhance Memory
- Concentration Enhances Memory
- Not Listening
- Not Concentrating
- Remembering by Association
- Using the Five Senses
- Organizing Material
- Organize to Remember
- Get Organized
- Remembering the Sequence
- Sequence of Events
- Categorize
- Organize and Categorize
- Mental Mapping
- Remembering Numbers
- Exaggeration and Absurdity
- Ridiculous and Absurd
- Using Acronyms
- Baroque Music and Memory
- Quiet Reflection
- Memory Cement
- Practice Makes Perfect
- Repetition Makes It Easier
- Write It Down
Resource Management
The Resource Management Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 40 personal skills activities (740 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
The general philosophy of American society today is stated in the quote from the writer, Artemus Ward, “Let us all be happy, and live within our means, even if we have to borrow the money to do it.” Debt is one of our society’s biggest problems. Because of credit cards, mortgages, car payments, and loans, the average American teeters on a financial high wire that too often ends in disaster. Credit card debt alone amounts to billions of dollars. People want things now and don’t have the patience to save and wait for them. Buy now and pay later is the popular philosophy of today. Many times the items bought are worn out and have little value before the last payment is made. The money paid in interest added to the original cost makes purchases even more costly. Debt has a high price tag but most Americans don’t seem to care.
- Taking Care of Your Clothes
- Maintaining Your Stuff
- Wants vs. Needs
- Prioritizing Wants and Needs
- Changing Your Wants and Needs
- Focusing on Needs
- Buying What You Need
- The Price is Right
- My Actual Money
- Credit Card Addict
- When Should I Use Credit?
- Waste Not, Want Not
- How Much Food Do You Waste?
- Waste Inventory
- Making More Money
- Living Under Budget
- Creating a Budget
- Budgeting for Charity
- Sweet Savings
- Saving for Stability
- A Penny Saved
- Saving is Not a Sacrifice
- Winning the Lottery
- Pennies in a Jar
- Preparing for an Emergency
- Stocking Your Supply
- Cutting Back
- Cutting Coupons
- Comparison Shopping
- Balancing Act
- Checkbook Mess
- Checkbook Register Evaluation
- Should I Loan That?
- Interest Rate Facts
- Cut Up Your Credit Cards
- Being In Debt
- Planning for Retirement
- $1 Million Retirement
- Social Security Benefits
- Being Resourceful at Home
Self Concept
The Self Concept Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 44 personal skills activities (980 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Self-worth and self-esteem are often confused. Self-worth is the sense of one’s own importance, or worth, as a human being. This can be described as the spiritual self or inner self. Individuals who believe they have worth feel they are unique, They matter and make a difference in the world, just as everyone else does, because they have a purpose in being. They feel deserving of respect regardless of their circumstances. Individuals who have a strong sense of self-worth understand that their worth as a human being is not based on external criteria. They believe they their lives are worthwhile no matter what happens or what anyone says about them. They may feel disappointed when things go wrong but their self-worth stays in tact. They take failure in stride and learn from their mistakes. Self-respect is based on a sense of self-worth. If an individual does anything that is disrespectful to others he/she can loose self-respect and then doubt his/her worth. However, self-respect can be regained by doing whatever it takes to put things right. By living in the world, everyone has the opportunity to contribute. Individuals who have a strong sense of self-worth allow themselves to be creative, do their best and make mistakes without doubting their abilities.
- Self Esteem Evaluation
- I Feel Good
- Nothing But The Truth
- Not Quite a Talent Show
- It’s a Talent Show!
- Magic Tricks
- A Thimble Full of Water Game
- A Gift to the World
- Kudos
- I’m the Greatest
- It’s a Wonderful Life
- These Are My Fears
- Overcoming Fears
- I Frighten Myself When…
- Self Evaluation
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
- Tests of Strength
- “I Wish,” “If Only”
- High Esteem
- A Great Day
- A Positive Attitude
- A Source of Negative Behavior
- No Esteem Here
- Lack of Esteem
- What Is The Trait?
- Ransom Notes
- A Reminder In My Wallet
- Exchanging Compliments
- You Idiot!
- Self Evaluation Quiz
- Trains and Planes
- Be Confident and Not Stupid
- Celebrity Impersonations
- Panel of Advisors
- Overcoming Weaknesses
- Conquering Weaknesses
- I Would Like To, But…
- I’m Average
- Masks
- More Masks
- Vanity
- Do I Have “The Look?”
- What’s Anorexia Nervosa?
- What’s Bulimia?
Self Management
The Self Management Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 18 personal skills activities (430 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Understanding yourself is the first step toward self-management. It is important to understand your feelings and emotions in relation to your thoughts and interpretations of the world. Appius Claudius wrote, “Every man is the architect of his own fortune.” Our thoughts, feelings, decisions and actions construct our lives. Every individual needs to set his or her own limits. Decide what you will and will not allow yourself to do and stand by that decision to control your own destiny.
- The Influence of the Media
- Power of Suggestion
- Mind Over Matter
- Troubled Thoughts
- What You Think About
- Choices to Make
- Positive and Negative Control
- Gaining Better Control
- To Thine Own Self Be True
- Reacting Positively
- What Would You Do?
- Expressing Emotions
- Visiting a Jail
- Mistaken Messages
- Feeling Jealous
- Provoking Jealousy
- A Dangerous Emotion
- Control Those Feelings
Self-Employment
The Self-Employment Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 47 employment skills activities (1205 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, an entrepreneur is “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.” An entrepreneur also can be described as someone who is self-employed, creates his/her own earnings and opportunities in the form of a business, contract or freelance work. You’ve probably heard stories of someone starting a business and becoming filthy rich. These stories are exceptional cases, not the norm. Starting up a business and making it a success is hard work. It usually takes three to five years before a business reaches cruising speed. The business owner works like a dog before this happens. Not everyone is suited for self-employment. Some people are happy working for others. They don’t have to worry about the responsibilities of business ownership and all that goes with it. They are perfectly satisfied to let someone else deal with the stress. Those who like being their own bosses prefer the freedom of working at their own pace and making their own decisions. They find risk exciting and challenging. What is your preference? Do you have the right stuff to be your own boss? Do you think it would be easy to work for yourself? Activity Titles
- Are You Orange Enough?
- Are You Gold and Green Enough?
- Dream Chasers
- Weigh the Good and the Bad
- Bad Breaks
- From the Horse’s Mouth
- Freedom or Bondage
- Motives for Going Into Business
- In the Right Business
- Get Rid of Self-Doubts
- Entrepreneurial Spirit
- Business Terms
- The Product’s Future
- Research and Prepare
- A Trip to the Library
- A Prototype
- Test the Water
- A Business Plan
- Pricing
- Deception Doesn’t Pay
- Recordkeeping
- Play It Safe
- Protected by Laws
- Find Capital
- Where to Find Money
- Setting Up Shop
- Make a Trade
- Money Grows on Trees
- Working Out of Your Home
- Incubators
- Expenses of Hiring
- Effective Personnel Management
- A Target Market
- Advertising is an Investment
- Create Publicity
- Promoting Your Business
- Global Marketing
- Personality Styles of Countries
- Repetition in Advertising
- Indirect Advertising
- Reach the Target Market
- Golden Arches to Golden Crowns
- Buying an Existing Business
- Failing Businesses
- Rescue a Sinking Business
- Taking Stock – Failures
Selling Strategies
The Selling Strategies Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 51 employment skills activities (905 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Selling effectively is the art of persuasion and helping customers get what they want. Selling skills incorporate many techniques that must be practiced and experimented with until they become fined tuned. Below are some basic selling strategies for effective selling. * Get revved up. * Assume the customer will buy. * Never prejudge a customer. * Develop rapport with the customer. * Establish eye contact. * Listen to the customer and do less talking. * Develop a sales pitch. * Ask questions that require a “yes” answer. * Use credentials and testimonials. * Give good service. * Give free samples. * Prepare for customer objections. * Fearlessly close the sale. * Never annoy or embarrass the customer. * Observe the customer’s body language. * Be careful of hand gestures. * Be persistent. * Use simple language. Activity Titles
- Establish Rapport
- Listening Techniques
- Show Empathy
- Accept Hospitality
- The Customer Is a Person
- Get Revved Up
- Put Your Heart Into It
- Confidence
- Making Appointments
- Rev Up The Customer
- Use the Five Senses
- The Customer’s Eyes
- Walking and Sitting
- Hand Gestures
- Good Eye Contact
- How Do You Sound?
- Mirroring Body Language
- Good Timing
- Be Perceptive
- Too Much Information
- Customer Wants and Needs
- Create a Desire
- Be a Good Neighbor
- Over Promising
- Why a Sales Script?
- A Sales Script Outline
- Opening Lines
- Use Metaphors
- Close the Sale
- The Power of a Good Joke
- Magical Words
- Rehearse Your Sales Pitch
- Visualize the Sale
- Customer Objections
- The Customer Objects
- The Real Objection
- Quickly Fix the Problem
- The-price-is-too-high Trap
- Accepting “No” for an Answer
- Objection Logs
- Empathize
- In the Face of Fear
- Hook the Customer
- Watch for Signs
- Know When to Fold
- Facial Expressions
- Assume the Customer Will Buy
- Recommend
- Review the Benefits
- Never Do
- Closing Too Early
Serving Others
The Serving Others Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 17 social skills activities (305 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
A graduating high school senior endured terminal cancer for many months. He could not attend graduation ceremonies to receive his diploma so his school arranged a small graduation ceremony for him in his hospital room complete with cap and gown. A few weeks later the young man died. His friends organized a car wash to raise money for his burial. Frequently there are stories like this in the news about people helping people. Throughout our lives we struggle to overcome our innate self-centeredness. Somewhere around our first birthday we begin to learn that the needs of others sometimes come before our own. Over time we learn to share our toys, wait our turn, be considerate, and do things for others. We understand that our purpose in life is more than just taking up space and looking out for ourselves. Each time we willingly give service we elevate ourselves to a higher plane of virtue and nobleness. The more service we give the more our hearts are softened so that we are able to empathize with others and more clearly see their needs.
- Simple Gestures
- Bringing Joy to Others
- Dangerous Excesses
- Why Serve Others?
- Giving Anonymously
- Cooperative Effort
- Acts of Service
- Community Service
- Service Preferences
- A Pure Heart
- Ulterior Motive
- After All I’ve Done For You
- Secret Deeds
- Sacrifice to Give
- Uninvolved
- Do I Need to Help?
- My Safety
Sexual Intimacy
The Sexual Intimacy Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 13 family skills activities (350 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
- Attitudes
- Personality Styles and Sexual Attitudes
- How Well Do You Know Your Spouse?
- How Well Do You Know Your Spouse?
- Balancing Marriage and Family
- Hollywood Role Models
- Affection vs. Sex
- Fidelity
- Remaining Faithful
- Faithfulness
- Unfaithfulness
- Trust
- What Should You Do?
Showing Gratitude
The Showing Gratitude Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 22 social skills activities (405 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
It is easy to be grateful when life is humming along with little or no problems. Small trials are easily handled and life joyfully goes on. When we experience severe adversity we are humbled and often times we pity ourselves. Despair can be overcome and life can be better endured in the worst of times if we have grateful hearts. Melody Beattie wrote, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
- What is Gratitude?
- Understanding Gratitude
- Gratitude Journal
- Being Ungrateful
- Thanks Giving
- Taking Stock
- Thank You
- Saying Thank You
- Who to Thank
- 20 Ways to Say Thank You
- Proper Thank You’s
- Writing Thank You Notes
- Thank You For The…
- When It’s Hard to Say Thanks
- Hard to Do
- Poor Me
- Coveting
- I Want That Too
- When Times Get Rough
- When Adversity Strikes
- Turning Lemons Into Lemonade
- Basic to All
Sociability
The Sociability Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 25 social skills activities (540 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Sociability can be described as standards of conduct, code of behavior, appropriate behavior, getting along with others, social graces, civilities, customs, manners, and etiquette. It is behavior that is appropriate and accepted in general society. When we are sociable we are pleasant and we get along with those around us. We fit into society well because we understand and behave in accordance with what society deems appropriate.
- With Whom Do You Associate?
- Getting to Know You
- Being Nice
- Antisocial Behavior
- Sniffing Out Antisocial Behavior
- Why Does He Act That Way?
- Positive Actions
- Meeting for the First Time
- Bad Impressions
- Vital Impressions
- Best Foot Forward
- Wishing for a Hole to Drop Through
- Sized Up
- Prim and Proper
- Proper Public Behavior
- Wise or Foolish?
- How Gross!
- Crude and Rude
- Hug, Handshake, Bow
- Handshaking
- Etiquette Savvy
- Socially Acceptable Behaviors
- How Do I Act?
- Offensive Profanity
- Changing Viewpoints
Stress Management
The Stress Management Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 46 personal skills activities (1079 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Stress! Everyone experiences it. There is no escape because it is a part of life. However, ninety percent of the stress we feel is created in our own minds. There is good and bad stress. Good stress, called eustress, is essential for optimum performance. It stimulates and makes us alert and provides the motivation and drive for us to meet life’s challenges. For example, when taking a test in school, students may not do their best if they are too relaxed. Feeling a little stress makes them more alert. Their recall is improved and they do better. If good stress is managed, it is helpful and not a problem. However, there can be too much of a good thing. An excessive amount of eustress, as a result of too many challenges all at once, can cause distress. If students experience too much stress, called distress, their bodies become alarmed. They do poorly because they cannot concentrate and recall what they studied. As a result they feel anxious and panicky. Too much distress can create a stress overload and become unmanageable resulting in physical and mental problems.
- The Nightly News
- What is Stress?
- Am I Stressed-Out?
- Natural Disasters
- Man-made Catastrophes
- The Most Stressful Things
- Causes of Stress
- Group Pressure
- That Stresses Me Out
- Effects of Stress
- Stress Overload
- Responses to Stress
- What Stresses Me Most
- Responding to Stress
- Who Copes With Stress?
- Your Worst Enemy
- Defense Mechanisms
- Warning Signs
- Variable-Length Stress
- Preparing For Big Changes
- Handling Major Upsets
- Massage Away Your Troubles
- 100 Suggestions
- Name a Tune
- Tension and Release
- Deep Breathing
- Meditation
- Visualization
- Memory Recall
- You’re Getting Heavy and Warm
- A Daily Dose of Stress
- Productive Stress
- Stressful Occupations
- Laugh Away Your Stress
- Unhealthy Coping Strategies
- Unhealthy Escape Mechanisms
- Stress Initiated Habits
- What is Depression?
- Are You Depressed?
- Feeling Suicidal
- Suicide Facts
- Suicide Triggers
- I’d Like to Know…
- Learning More About Suicide
- Handling Grief
- What If…
Student Dilemmas
The Student Dilemmas Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 51 cognitive skills activities (765 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
This document will help participants understand how to solve some of the dilemmas they may face as students. Activity Titles
- Your Teacher is Moving
- Teacher’s Pet
- Potential
- Underachieving
- Your Teacher Hates You
- Embarrassed Beyond Belief
- Too Much Homework in One Class
- Your Dog Ate Your Homework
- Negligent Teacher
- Infatuated With the Teacher
- The Teacher Is Too Personal
- The Problem with Friends
- You Hate Your Name
- Being Average
- Being Tutored
- Being Separated From Friends
- Not Much Money
- Shunned by Friends
- A Friend Goes Wayward
- Can’t Get a Girlfriend
- Keeping Up an Image
- Teased About Not Having a Girlfriend
- Teased in the Locker Room
- Teased About Being in Orchestra
- Breaking Up
- Breaking with the Wrong Crowd
- Cheating
- Could I Copy Off of Your Paper?
- Accused of Cheating on a Test
- Caught Cheating on a Test
- Seeing Others Cheat
- Plagiarizing
- Why Have Grades?
- Graded Unfairly
- Being in Special Ed
- Accelerated Classes
- The Test Was Too Hard
- Pressured To Do What You’d Rather Not
- Pressured by Your Peers
- Living in Your Brother’s Shadow
- Not Athletic
- Competitive Girl
- Emphasis on Sports
- Parents Getting a Divorce
- High Expectations of Parents
- Giving Oral Reports
- Test Nervousness
- Memory Blackout at Test Time
- Embarrassing Good Grades
- Required Subjects
- Mother Volunteers Too Much at School
Studying
The Studying Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 34 cognitive skills activities (766 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Knowing how to study is a fundamental skill that will dramatically increase your effectiveness as a student. The activities in this document will explore some of the principles that will increase your skill in this area, such as building study habits, avoiding the ten traps of studying, building effective study habits, avoiding procrastination, and concentrating. Activity Titles
- How Do I Learn?
- Classroom Styles
- Teacher Attitudes
- Teaching Strategies
- Teaching Strategy Quiz
- My Favorite Subjects
- Blessing or Curse?
- Problem Areas
- Rewards
- Available Study Times
- Smarter Study
- Homework Killers
- Get Organized
- Note Taking Styles
- Types of “Shorthand”
- Making It Brief
- Making It More Brief
- Innovative Notes
- Memory Maps
- Highlighting
- Computer Nerds
- What’s Important
- Reading for Raisins
- Being a Critic
- Surviving the Classics
- Two Heads May Be Better Than One
- Motivation to Study
- 5 W’s and How
- Technical Material
- Bad Reading Habits
- Watch Your Speed
- Speedier Reading
- Reading WPM
- Scanning the Page
Teamwork
The Teamwork Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 14 social skills activities (240 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
True teamwork is the rarest, most exhilarating, and most productive human activity possible. Every business wants to harness this incredible energy, but achieving such a level of motivation and cooperation is not always easy. Teamwork happens quickly and naturally when: 1) everyone on the team knows what needs to be done (they share a common vision), 2) they have the skills and ability to do it, 3) there are no barriers to prevent them from doing it, and 4) they are willing to work together to get it done. A team is not just people who work at the same time in the same place. A real team is a group of very different individuals who share a commitment to working together to achieve common goals. Most likely they are not all equal in experience, talent or education, but they are equal in one vitally important way, their commitment to the good of the organization. Any group of people – your family, your workplace or your community – gets the best results by working as a team.
- Advantages of Working Together
- Who’s the Winning Team?
- Synchronicity
- Pulling Your Own Weight
- Responsibilities of Team Members
- Solving Problems as a Group
- The Importance of a Leader
- Mission Statements
- Winning Attitudes
- Strengths and Weaknesses
- Being Part of a Team
- Good Sportsmanship
- Being a Good Sport
- The Family Team
Test Taking
The Test Taking Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 15 cognitive skills activities (255 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Tests measure how you are doing in a course. Usually test scores are the key determinants of your course grade. Doing well on tests requires test-taking skills, a purposeful positive attitude, strategic thinking and planning, and, naturally, a solid grasp of the course content. This group of activities contain tips that apply to all types of tests. Activity Titles
- Creating Tests
- Testing Style Preferences
- The Ideal Test
- Discovery
- Calm, Cool and Collected
- Visualizing
- Preparation
- Smart Strategies
- Mental Strength Tested
- Self Fulfilling Prophecies
- Self Talk
- Death of a Problem
- A, B, C, or None of the Above
- Snares and Clues
- Post Test Analysis
Time Management
The Time Management Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 25 personal skills activities (400 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
Time management is a set of related common-sense skills that help you manage your time effectively and productively. By using time management skills you can learn to:
- Prioritize the things that need to be done
- Use your time in the most effective way possible
- Increase the time in which you can work
- Control the distractions that waste your time and break your flow
- Increase your effectiveness and reduce stress
- Time Estimations
- My Free Time Chart
- Three-Way Tug-of-War
- Prioritizing Project
- Peak Performance
- Who’s Punctual
- 9 O’clock Sharp
- The Sleepyhead
- Beat the Clock
- Establishing Routines
- No Need For Excuses
- It’s Filed Away
- How Hot Can It Get?
- The Shoebox
- Filing Do’s and Don’ts
- 31 Folders
- File It Away
- Interruption Evaluation
- When Do You Procrastinate?
- Should I Redo It?
- Mail Assessment
- Messy Room
- The Bathroom
- Bathroom Ratings
Work Relationships
The Work Relationships Skills Facilitator Guide is a collection of step-by-step instructions for teaching 18 employment skills activities (350 minutes) to groups of youth and adults.
You probably spend more time with the people you work with than you do with your family. Since you spend eight or more hours a day with your coworkers, it is best to have good relationships with them. You want to be able to get along with everyone you work with regardless of his personality type. You also want to establish a good reputation for yourself. In order to accomplish all of this it is helpful to understand personality styles and out-of-esteem behavior to know how to handle difficult individuals. It is also helpful to understand some ethical and unethical office practices. Activity Titles
- Out of Esteem
- Work for the Boss, Not Against Him
- How to Please the Boss
- What to Expect from the Boss
- A Difficult Boss
- Varieties of Bosses
- Building Relationships
- Communicating With Others
- Offending Another Personality
- Conflict at Work
- Ethical Office Politics
- Good Office Politics
- Listen to the Company Grapevine
- Bad Office Politics
- Prejudice and Discrimination
- New “Friends” at the Office
- Dirty Office Politics
- Romance in the Office