Connecting with Others

Getting Started

• The Me’s
• Aggressive, Nonassertive, and Assertive Behavior
• The Thinking Steps: Stop, Think, Plan, Check

LESSONS

Skill Area 1: Concept of Self and Others

1. I Know I Can
2. Let Me Do It Myself
3. Let’s Be Friends
4. Please Accept Me
5. Someone Else Made Me Do It

Skill Area 2: Socialization

1. Hello, Hello
2. Right Time, Right Place
3. Together We Stand
4. Funny Ha, Ha
5. Lighten Up

Skill Area 3: Problem Solving and Conflict Resolution

1. I’ve Got a Problem
2. Think Ahead
3. Not Me
4. Disagreeing Is OK
5. Making Up, Not Breaking Up

Skill Area 4: Communication

1. Listen Up
2. Talking Without Speaking
3. Talking and Touching
4. Active Listening
5. Clear Talk

Skill Area 5: Sharing

1. To Share or Not to Share
2. Two Heads Are Better Than One
3. Sharing Our Time and Skills
4. It’s Only Fair to Share
5. Sharing Feelings

Skill Area 6: Empathy and Caring

1. Loving Is Caring
2. You Can Count on Me
3. Loyalty
4. Comfort and Support
5. Helping Out

Appendices
A: Selected Bibliography of Children’s Literature
B: Parent Newsletters

FIGURES

Getting Started

1. The Me’s
2. Enthusiastic Me
3. Impulsive Me
4. Bossy Me
5. Caring Me
6. Thinking Me
7. Find the Me’s
8. Aggressive Behavior
9. Nonassertive Behavior
10. Assertive Behavior
11. Traffic Signal
12. STOP
13. THINK
14. PLAN
15. CHECK

Skill Area 1: Concept of Self and Others

16. Self-Recording Chart
17. What’s Happening in These Pictures?
18. Word Search Puzzle

Skill Area 2: Socialization

19. Conversation Puzzles
20. Calendar Organizer
21. Behaviors and Consequences
22. Journal Form
23. Daily Schedule Sheet
24. Cartoon Story
25. Limericks
26. Knock, Knock
27. Lighten Up, Kenisha

Skill Area 3: Problem Solving and Conflict Resolution

28. Feelings Wheel
29. Feelings and Responses
30. Yes and No Cards
31. Problem Dialogues
32. Young Lady or Old Lady?
33. Rules for Mediators
34. It’s My Glove
35. Steps to Making Up

Skill Area 4: Communication

36. Word Sets
37. Understanding Body Language
38. Body Language Quiz
39. Communication Checklist
40. Nursery Rhyme Lines
41. Talking and Touching Quiz
42. Active Listening Quiz
43. Tangled Proverbs
44. Clear Talk Quiz
45. Using Idioms

Skill Area 5: Sharing

46. Sharing Ideas and Opinions
47. Fair Shopping Quiz

Skill Area 6: Caring and Empathy

48. Love Is Caring Questions
49. Loyalty Quiz
50. Word Search Puzzle
51. Comfort and Support Quiz
52. Asking for Help Quiz

The Connecting with Others program is an evidence-based curricular approach for developing children’s self-awareness and awareness of others. Each lesson in the four volume series follows a specific lesson cycle and includes instructional materials for each activity. The theoretical underpinnings of the program include Transactional Analysis, Positive Assertion Training, and Cognitive Behavior Modification.

A study utilizing the Connecting with Others Grades K-2 and Grades 3-5 was implemented in five Louisiana public elementary classrooms containing general education and special education students. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether this social skills program would enable students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms to develop skills that would facilitate socialization with peers with and without disabilities. The research question addressed the students’ acquisition of social skills as a result of the training. The results of the study indicated with reasonable assurance that the students did grow in the skill areas identified in the program (Coombs-Richardson et al 2009).

In another study, the program was implemented in two early childhood classrooms located on the campus of a state university in Virginia. This study evaluated the impact of the social skills training on the social behaviors of the children. Participating were 30 students with an average age of four-years ten-months. The income levels of the families varied from low social economic status to high middle economic status. To assess the socio emotional skills level of each child, two examiners independently completed the Social Skills and Attitude Scale (SSAS) which is a component of the Connecting with Others program. The examiners observed the children and recorded children’s pre and post intervention behaviors on a checklist. The study yielded positive evidence that the social skills instruction and activities did make a meaningful difference in increasing targeted social skills of the children (Coombs-Richardson, Myran, and Tonelson 2009).

Two master’s thesis studies were conducted at Wayne State College in Nebraska to study the impact of social skills instruction using the Connecting with Others: Lessons for Teaching Social and Emotional Competence (Richardson 1996a). Hurner (2006) implemented the training in an after school program to determine if it would impact students’ behaviors on their return to their early childhood formal school setting. The general educators filled out rating scales on each of the students before and after the social skills instruction. Twelve of the 18 participating students showed improvement in all five categories. This study provided support for the use of a school-based social skills program to increase the social skills of students with behavior problems and/or difficulties with social interactions. Based on the results of the teachers’ responses, the researchers concluded that the social skills learned in the after-school program were generalized in the school environment.

Social skills training in early childhood sets the stage for students’ future behaviors in schools. Larson (2008) examined the effects of the Connecting with Others curriculum on the behavior of students in an early childhood program. The children received instruction taught by the researcher. Pre and post scales of the BASC-2 Rating Scale (Reynolds and Kamphaus 2005) and the Connecting with Others Rating Scale were used to determine if each child demonstrated progress in their behaviors and/or in their social-emotional skills as a result of the intervention. The instruction had a positive impact on the behaviors of the early childhood students who participated in this study. All 18 participants showed improvement in at least two categories derived from Connecting with Others (Richardson 1996) and improvement in at least one category from the BASC-2. Twelve of the 18 participating students showed improvement in all six of the Connecting with Others (Richardson 1996) categories. Additionally, 13 out of 18 students demonstrated improvement in at least seven of the 13 BASC-2 categories.

• Sample Lesson: Let’s Be Friends