First Choices: Teaching Children Aged 4-8 to Make Positive Decisions about Their Own Lives
Includes CD-Rom Visit the author's own website here!
'Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so
futile' - Bertrand Russell .. and teachers, parents and carers
worry that the decisions that children and young people make might
be unwise or dangerous. Decision making is a skill involving both a
cognitive and an affective process. The ability to: "
recognize the thoughts and feelings; " consider the
consequences; " choose the best outcome; is a highly valued
facility leading to resilience, achievement and responsibility. The
skill can be taught and in these three volumes the authors provide
all the materials needed to teach a course on decision making at
each age level. The programme provides a menu of stories related to
the real life experiences of the young people. Topics are selected
to be age appropriate and the series includes: " Stealing;
" Lying; " Social behaviours; " Risks; "
Justice; " Loss,Grief and Bereavement; " Prejudice;
" First love; " Disability; " Leaving home; "
Family relationships. The teacher notes indicate 'stopping
points' where reflection and discussion is encouraged. A choice
of endings is offered or the young people can develop their own
ideas about what might happen next. The course can be introduced at
any age or used to develop the skills through school life from
early years to the teens. 'The need to work with children to
help them understand the complexity of the place and the
relationships within which they are growing up is greater than
ever. This programme of stories, developed through Circle Time,
gives a clear and challenging context for this work to develop'
- Support For Learning 'You'd be hard pushed to find a
better decision making programme than this excellent set of
books... This series will undoubtedly kick-start conversation, prod
thinking and stimulate classroom debate' - Times Educational
Supplement Magazine Margaret Collins is a former headteacher of
infant and first schools. She is now Senior Visiting Fellow in the
School of Education at the University of Southampton. She
researches children's perceptions of health education topics,
writes teaching materials for children, books and articles on PSHE.
Other books in the series include Tina Rae's Good Choices and
Phil Carradice's Life Choices
Main description:
'Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so
futile' - Bertrand Russell
.. and teachers, parents and carers worry that the decisions that
children and young people make might be unwise or dangerous.
Decision making is a skill involving both a cognitive and an
affective process. The ability to:
recognize the thoughts and feelings;
consider the consequences;
choose the best outcome;
is a highly valued facility leading to resilience, achievement and
responsibility. The skill can be taught and in these three volumes
the authors provide all the materials needed to teach a course on
decision making at each age level.
The programme provides a menu of stories related to the real life
experiences of the young people. Topics are selected to be age
appropriate and the series includes:
Stealing;
Lying;
Social behaviours;
Risks;
Justice;
Loss,Grief and Bereavement;
Prejudice;
First love;
Disability;
Leaving home;
Family relationships.
The teacher notes indicate 'stopping points' where
reflection and discussion is encouraged. A choice of endings is
offered or the young people can develop their own ideas about what
might happen next.
The course can be introduced at any age or used to develop the
skills through school life from early years to the teens.
'The need to work with children to help them understand the
complexity of the place and the relationships within which they are
growing up is greater than ever. This programme of stories,
developed through Circle Time, gives a clear and challenging
context for this work to develop' - Support For Learning
'You'd be hard pushed to find a better decision making
programme than this excellent set of books... This series will
undoubtedly kick-start conversation, prod thinking and stimulate
classroom debate' - Times Educational Supplement Magazine
