The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Our group lesson this week was a continuation of problem solving with a touch of "accepting consequences," and once again, I dipped into Skillstreaming for my outline and ideas. The lesson was almost torn asunder by the fact that our library didn't have the picture book I needed, but my social worker came through in the 7th hour like a trooper.

I read The Tale of Peter Rabbit to prime the lesson, which, side note, I had no idea was written over 100 years ago. The more you know. Also, I really need to use bibliotherapy more in my counseling endeavours. Anyway, the boys were a little squirmy (surprised?), but it's amazing how fast the wiggliest of kiddos calms when a story is being read to them. Peter Rabbit is a great story about what happens when we make poor decisions. Peter's mother tells him not to go in Mr. MacGregor's garden, but that rascally rabbit does it anyway, and gets the fright of his life as a consequence.

After we finished the story, I took the opportunity to practice some reading comprehension with the boys. We reviewed that story in sequence and also answered literal "wh" questions, to make sure they had a grasp on the details. We also discussed the choice that Peter made (going into Mr. MacGregor's garden), why it was a poor choice, and what the consequences were for his decision. We talked about the choices he could have made instead that would have been better (i.e. going only where his mom said, playing with his three siblings, staying home, etc) and what the consequences of those might have been. Not a lot of "text to self" connections, but in this isolated story, the boys were spot on!

This was out last "teaching" session of group. Next time, we'll have a little party, but of course I'll bring some skills into it as well. The plan is, amongst our popcorn chomping and cupcake licking, to play some board games to work on social skills, turn-taking, sharing, and good sportsmanship. Every opportunity is one to learn something!

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