The Project CLASS core competency is Training.

Many children and adults have relationship problems because they never learned the foundational social skills when they were young in order NOT to have problems. Without a solid initial foundation of interpersonal skills, relationship connections and benefits are lacking. Accordingly, relationship difficulties follow.

Project CLASS Training builds the essential platform for compassionate and effective relationships. Children develop functional social skills. Caring adults experience strengthened social skills teaching abilities.

Project CLASS Training is hands-on, experiential training focused on acquiring specific skills for social skills development in children 3-5 years old and 6-10 years old. Project CLASS Training is structured around two areas of practical content: specific social skills for children & specific social skills teaching abilities for adult care-providers. Both sets of skills are clear, organized and designed for immediate implementation. The skills focused on are “best practices.”

Project CLASS Training teaches both sets of skills, children’s and adults’. Integrated into the Training are teaching-learning tools and resources (music, songs, movements, stories) designed to capture the attention of the children and make learning social skills FUN! In addition, the teaching-learning tools amplify adult teaching effectiveness.

The Project CLASS Training experience and process, designed for skills development, involves skills demonstration and skills practice. Project CLASS Training typically occurs in groups of 30 to 50 attendees, with a 5:1 ratio of attendees for each trainer. By staffing Project CLASS Training with a high number of trainers and a comparatively small number of attendees, there is the opportunity for individual and small group attention that are ideal for skill acquisition in a compressed amount of time.

Importantly, Project CLASS Training is designed to be easily put into practice and is likely to result in immediately positive results with children. Trainees receive a set of Project CLASS posters and two CDs. These support materials are invaluable teaching-learning tools, and are designed for practical and motivational benefits. Parents and teachers routinely report that children ask to listen to the social skills songs and want to do the social skills movements as preferred activities.

Project CLASS offers a variety of training experiences, from the full-day Workshop Training for elementary school staff to half-day Workshop Training for families and day-care staff to Public Informational Presentations.

What will you gain from Project CLASS Training?

In your relationships with children, you will strengthen your ability to:

• Concentrate your teaching on important, simple, clear, defined, user-friendly social skills
• Notice and communicate what your children are doing and not doing in their social behavior
• Communicate with language and intention that help children implement social skills
• Respond in a consistent and effective way to your children’s appropriate and inappropriate social skills behavior, facilitating their social skills development
• Effectively “set expectations” for social skills behavior
• Effectively use “praise and positive attention” directly linked to social skills behaviors
• Effectively use “reminder prompts” directly linked to social skills behaviors
• Effectively make use of “consequences” directly linked to social skills behaviors
• Make social skills teaching FUN by using music, songs, movements and stories
• Avoid a number of pitfalls that lead to power struggles with your children
• Feel confident that you know what to teach and how to teach social skills effectively
• Teach social skills positively with positive results
  

To learn more about upcoming Project CLASS Trainings for you or your group, contact kchance@hapkids.org or call 713.868.1943 ext. 242.