Friendship difficulties package – teacher and parent resources to help students make and keep friends

Psych4Schools offers a library of ebooklets dedicated to enhancing the wellbeing, teaching and learning of children and young adolescents. Topics include emotional regulation, challenging behaviours, general childhood development and disabilities and disorders.

To complement the ebooklets, Members can access eight resource packages. One of these is our Friendship difficulties package which offers five additional teacher and parent resources to assist children to make and keep friends.

Children and adolescents who find it difficult to make and/or keep friends frequently feel lonely and unhappy. They are also at risk of poorer outcomes at school. However, a sound friendship can provide a buffer against everyday stressors and stressful life events. Just having one friend can play a protective role in managing relationships with a difficult peer or peer group, or instances of teasing and bullying. Hence, assisting children to develop and maintain at least one close friend is an important part of school life.

The Psych4Schools ebooklet Working with children who have difficulty making friends describes practical classroom, group and individual strategies that address social inclusion, classroom and group organisation and activities, lunch and break times, social skills, conflict resolution, toxic friendships/frenemies, playground support plans and more.

The following five Member resources are included in the Friendship difficulties package:

• Social skills for children with additional friendship needs.  This guide offers practical advice, activities and strategies across 10 skill areas to support children who require additional friendship assistance.
• Social skills dice. Printable templates to use with groups as a social skills activity.
• Behaviour support strategies – helping children with no or few friends. Strategies can be used as part of general teacher practice or more formally by establishing individual plans.
• Making friends questionnaire (Year 3 – Year 8). This resource helps individual students identify areas they need to work on, assisting teachers to talk with the child about the skills they might need to develop.
• What parents can do to help their child with friendships. A parent/carer handout, with frank guidance across twelve key areas, including actions to assist with change.

Access to Psych4Schools resources

Psych4Schools Members Log in to access all resources including the above ebooklet and package.

Non-members access excerpts of Psych4Schools ebooklets  or  Join now to access all complete resources (1 year subscription).

Still thinking about joining? Check out our Free Resources or Shop to buy an ebooklet.

Kind regards,

Murray

Murray Evely, Psych4Schools Psychologist/Guidance Officer

You can contact me via email at: info@psych4schools.com.au