Mindful Play Leaders’ Lead to Succeed Program
When we speak of education, we often discuss curriculum, tests, homework, and how teachers present educational material to students. We focus on technology in the classroom, grades on a report card, and whether one school is providing the same opportunities as the next school. We want to know how many hours of instruction students get, what art projects they are doing, and how many of their hours are filled with STEM-based activities. But we seem to have completely lost sight of one of the most important aspects of being a child—playtime.
In-classroom instruction is important, but equally important is what happens outside of the classroom environment: on the playground. Free time for play is just as much a learning experience as a formal lesson, maybe more so. This unstructured time is critical to a child’s development and gives kids a chance to learn how to resolve conflicts, how to manage emotions, how to build communication skills, and how to use their imaginations. While the teachers’ realm is inside the classroom, it’s the campus supervisors (otherwise known as “yard duties”) who are responsible for the students while they are outdoors. With no prerequisites for the job, campus supervisors receive only safety training (provided by the insurance company). They get no training, instructions, or tools to manage children or, more importantly, to manage children’s emotions. Until now.
Seeing a need for this, the Saugus Union School District, in Santa Clarita, California, is piloting a unique program called The Mindful Play Leaders’ Lead to Succeed Program, specially designed for the campus supervisors at all 15 of their school sites. The creator of this grass-roots 4-part workshop is Roma Khetarpal, founder of Tools of Growth and author of the award-winning book, The “Perfect” Parent: 5 Tools for Using Your Inner Perfection to Connect With Your Kids.
Roma has taken the tools she describes in her book and customized them to the schoolyard. Being mindful, she points out, isn’t just for parents. It’s also critical for campus supervisors, who are the ones teaching children about emotional management, dealing with bullies, how to share, conflicts with friends, taking turns, and so many other aspects of a child’s playtime.
Roma has empowered the campus supervisors, emphasizing the importance of their role and giving them the tools to effectively talk to the kids and to help children learn to:
Be emotionally intelligent
Build character
Develop social skills
Make good decisions
Amazingly the average time on the job for a campus supervisor is 9½ years. That’s a long time to be at a job with no training or recognition. Says Roma, “Everyone has a desire to grow. It’s critical for happiness in your job.” And, she adds, “Even though these tools are designed to be used with children during play, these Tools of Growth are applicable to every aspect of our lives: at home, in our job, in our friendships, and especially when we relate to children.”
Here’s what some campus supervisors have said:
“I relate better to the kids.”
“The communication is better.”
“Thank you for telling us how valuable we are.”
“The Toolbox helped me with the everyday things too.”
This program is designed for any school—at a district workshop or on an individual site basis.
To learn more about this Mindful Play Leader, Lead to Succeed program, please contact us at Roma@ToolsofGrowth.com or Carolyn@toolsofgrowth.com.
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