Kelso's Choice For Families

As many of you know, we have been using Kelso's Choice at school for almost a decade to equip and empower our learners with the skills and confidence to solve their small {bothersome but not threatening} problems on their own.

We've got a special spot set aside in each room at school for

Kelso's Choice;

in heavily trafficked areas, we've made the nine problem-solving choices from the Kelso conflict-resolution wheel available as engaging visual displays.

Today I'm over-the-moon to announce that now there's a Kelso kit to support the work of parents, guardians, and caregivers in the home. Introducing ...

Kelso's Choice For Families!

I was chatting with Nicole Terzic, Product Development Manager at Cerebellum, and she graciously agreed to give us a little intel

on this new conflict-management empowerment tool for families.

I'm so excited about the new Kelso's Choice For Families parenting kit. Can you tell us about it?

Nicole: Yes, we are very excited about it too! Kelso’s Choice for Families is a fun, easy-to-use kit that will help your young children learn how to solve small, kid-sized problems on their own! It is modeled after the Kelso’s Choice Conflict Management curriculum kit that has been loved by child specialists and educators for over 20 years. In a nutshell, this kit is for parents to use with their young children (recommended for ages 5+) to teach them 1) how to identify a problem as being safe for them to solve on their own and 2) how to select and use one of Kelso the Frog’s nine problem-solving “choices” to bring peace to a situation – all without the intervention of an adult. What parents will see after using the kit is that a problem between siblings will no longer end in tears, physical fighting, or tattling, and children will be equipped to handle internal frustration if a conflict happens between themselves and an adult, like a parent.

Children will also be given tools to handle a BIG problem that must always be taken to a trusted adult to resolve. This kit is also a really effective tool for children with learning or developmental disabilities. The secret to its success with all children is presenting seemingly complex information in an easy, fun, concrete way that young minds can grasp onto.

The Kelso’s Choice for Families kit comes with:

· 1 Workbook with instruction and plenty of crafts. Is accompanied by a CD-Rom with printable materials.

· 1 Reward Chart to encourage your kids to use each of Kelso’s Choices (printed front and back with two different designs)

· 2 Posters of the Choices Wheel, a clear, colorful visual tool to help your child learn each of Kelso’s Choices

· DVD with two short vignettes of real children using Kelso’s Choice to solve common at-home problems

Go {here} to download a free Kelso’s Choice for Families craft. It’s my absolute favorite!

How does this kit differ from and/or complement the Kelso’s Choice Conflict Management curriculum kit that many schools use?

Nicole: The essence of the two kits are the same – and by essence, I mean that the Kelso’s Choice for Families kit will teach the same core values as the Kelso’s Choice Conflict Management curriculum kit. Both kits will teach children the difference between small and Big problems, and will teach children each of Kelso’s nine choices. The difference is HOW the information is taught, and the depth at which the lessons are taught. A home setting is somewhat spontaneous, and instruction happens during sporadic moments of opportunity whereas a curriculum is much more structured, and each lesson follows specific goals. At first glance, it may seem like the home kit is an abbreviated version of the curriculum kit, but the overall method used to instruct the children is very specific to the respective settings.

Why parenting?

Nicole: For years we’ve been getting requests from parents to come out with a Kelso’s Choice kit that was specific to their needs, and at a price point that they could afford. Parents would find out about Kelso’s Choice from their children who learned it in their classrooms, or school counselors and teachers (who were also parents) would bring Kelso’s Choice lessons they learned on the job into their homes. But there was never a comprehensive resource to bring the Kelso’s Choice lessons into the home – until now!

Plus, knowing how to solve small problems is not at all a school-specific skill. It affects almost every aspect of a person’s life, in all stages of their lives, and what parent wouldn’t want to help their child along in learning how to navigate that aspect of the world?

Why now?

Nicole: We always knew we wanted to create a kit specifically for families, but it took a while to figure out how to properly execute it. The authors, Diane Lee and Barbara Clark, have a very high standard for the Kelso resources, and wanted to make sure it was clear, had quick instruction, and would be effective in a completely different environment than that of a classroom.

One of the biggest challenges was to make sure that the instruction was clear enough for any parent or guardian to teach, without having to have professional training. Part of that process was having parents without any prior experience with Kelso’s Choice review the workbook of lessons and activities. We had to really make sure we weren’t using language that was foreign to someone outside of the education profession, and we had to make sure there was clear value in every activity we included in the book.

After we felt confident in being able to effectively translate a full curriculum into a quick, yet comprehensive tool for home, we had to figure out how to make it affordable, which was its own challenge. But after years of having a home kit on our wish list, we were finally able to create something we know lives up to the Kelso standard of quality, and one that we know will live up to parents’ expectations!

How do you anticipate this product helping or changing families?

Nicole: I’ve spoken to several school counselors and teachers over the years and the feedback I always get is that the Kelso’s Choice methodology works to significantly reduce tattling and conflict among children, as well as improve communication skills and build the confidence in children to resolve small problems. Friends end up having better friendships, children are able to move on from conflicts quicker – making more time for the important stuff in life - and adults get to see children become more independent. These have all been consistent results from children learning Kelso’s Choice. Plus, I also know that kids flat out, unequivocally LOVE Kelso the Frog and are so responsive to his lessons. I think parents are going to have no problem getting children excited about learning Kelso’s Choice, because, let’s face it, that’s half the battle. The rock-solid methodology that Diane Lee and Barbara Clark have created will be a sure-fire way for kids to be problem solvers on their own in no time! I really, truly think this kit will make a big, positive impact on families' lives!

I know you're always creating. Can you give us a sneak peek at what's next?

Nicole: We don’t have any immediate plans for new Kelso resources, but we always love to hear what our customers and followers want. We take your feedback very seriously! Please leave a comment on this blog, on our Facebook page or email us (kelsoschoice@cerebellum.com) with suggestions. We’ll keep a lookout!

Thank you, Nicole. We appreciate you.

And now, more hoppy news; we're giving away a

Kelso's Choice for Families kit to one lucky reader!