Hi parents,

I'm happy to say, after struggling to fix the synchronization on the website, the blog is back up and working again for all groups. As you may have noticed, Stasi, one of the primary counselors, has been keeping the blog going for the past few months. By the way, if you're interested, check out her blog on Psychology Today: A View From Venus.

Tonight's tween group was great, with some new twists and turns. At the start of the session, with only two members missing, we talked about how there were four sessions left, including tonight's meeting. The group then discussed our next planned community outing, which will occur the first session in May. We are planning to go for miniature golf over at Castle Park and then walk to the Galleria where they will be able to choose dinner from one of three restaurants and eat together outdoors. Oh, did I forget to mention that they will also be able to play in the video arcade?

We also made a shopping list for our barbecue, which will occur during our final meeting in May. Finally, dinner for tonight was chosen via “persuasive argument.” I asked each group member, who had an opinion about where we go tonight, to use up to 20 seconds letting the other group members know why they thought their choice should be selected. I/we critiqued their reasons and also rated how close they came to using the full 20 seconds. The shortest time recorded was 2 seconds and the longest time was about 15 seconds. In the end, we chose Chinese food because one group member presented a case that we had not yet been for Chinese food, which was accurate.

Only one group member did not wish to go for Chinese food, and we talked about how sometimes you wind up trying to make the best of it. He had some difficulty finding something to eat, but in the end was able to try different things, even though I'm certain that he got something else to eat once he left group.

All but two members present tonight had one or more LUNCH Points certificates. Rather than doing a raffle, we awarded five dollars to each group member who brought in at least one certificate. Later in the session, toward the end of dinner, we held a bonus round where group members can earn an additional five dollars for being able to state at least one behavior that they earned the certificate for. I didn't expect to award bonuses to all group members, but each of them legitimately recalled at least one behavior on their certificates. Frankly, it was impressive, click here to listen to how they sounded.

Remember that we have switched our raffle prizes to Amazon gift certificates. You will be receiving them as e-mails and can “stack” certificate amounts so your child can buy a larger prize if they wish.

You mentioned that the group was visited by three police officers during the meal? Don't worry, all for the good. I happened to see about the police officers having dinner nearby and asked the lieutenant if it might be possible for the kids to ask them some questions. The officers were great once they got past the advice “listen to your parents,” and I think it was good practice for the kids just ask questions and to see officers up close acting friendly towards them.

We had planned to do one short animation this evening, but that proved to be a bit too ambitious. Next week will have our parent dinner on Wednesday from 5:30 to 7 PM. Watch your e-mails for details.

Also, some of you have asked about the upcoming summer program which begins right after the July 4 holiday. We will be sending out your paperwork in the next couple of days. Currently the team program will be for mornings on Tuesdays and Thursdays and if there is sufficient demand we will hold a second session Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. The 8 to 12-year-old program will be running as usual on Monday Wednesday and Friday during the month of July.

One final note: because the group in two weeks coincides with spring break for many students, we will be sending out a survey to confirm that this works for most of you. If it looks like many of the participants will be absent, we will move it to the fourth week for this month only, meaning that there'll be a group the fourth week of April and again the first week in May. Questions comments etc.? Please e-mail me.

Bruce

Hi Parents,

Tonight was a full group, just one child missing.  Four group members had LUNCH Points and we held a "surprise" raffle at the end of group, giving away one $15 gift card.  The entire group participated in our continuing project, "The Awesomest Pet Contest. Go to http://lunchgroups.com/group_projects/group_projects_main1.html to view.  Last session they selected several different kinds of animals they liked and named some of the characteristics for them.  Tonight different members offered YouTube videos they had seen for their "pets" and the group watched, and voted.  We will plan to finish this up next session.

Dinner occurred at Rosti's, which is just down the street.  They serve a pretty good kid's meal and it gave the kids a chance to practice everything from manners and conversations to ordering politely and how to pass things to others.  They seemed to have a pretty good time.  In keeping with our soda rules, we did allow them to have a soda tonight, but after one glass, they switched to water.  Similarly, the restaurant gave cookies, but they were packed up and one of the counselors broke them in half (they were largish) for the kids and had them practice taking the one that was closest to them, not evaluating and trying to grab the bigger piece (we tried to make them as even as possible).

One of the things we did tonight was to more uniquely target behaviors that were individualized for each child.  Liberal use of raffle tickets (blue tickets for routine prosocial behaviors and red "Hero" tickets for more challenging behaviors).  The kids are starting to understand the system better and the power of this portion of the program is beginning to become more meaningful for them.

Then, it was back to the office for a quick LUNCH Points raffle; we gave away one prize, some of the kids played the Wii for a few minutes, and the others either talked or looked at magazines.

Parent pickup went pretty smoothly.  All of the families, except one picked up the kids within 10 minutes.  Not yet as good as the Tuesday group parents, who did it in five minutes, but improving.


Interesting moment:  One child asked me if I could call him mother to pick him up early, saying he didn't feel well.  Since the regularly scheduled pickup was only 20 minutes away, there did not seem to be much point, which I explained.  Whether or not he was sick, I don't know.  I like to believe kids when they say that, but I am also away it is often an "escape tactic."  I mentioned to the child that we advise parents, when their children are sick, to make certain they get lots of rest later that evening and not to watch TV or use the computer.  He then shared with them that usually when he goes home sick from school, he spends the rest of the day laying in bed, watching TV.  I reminded him that, if a child is truly ill, getting sleep and rest is probably best.  I also suggested that maybe he says he is sick when he isn't, to which he smiled and nodded his head.  So, the lesson to be learned here is that you can usually tell when your child is ill, but if you can't, expressing great concern over their health and advising them it will be a "no TV, no computer" time for most or all of the day may help you figure out whether or not your child is ill or trying to escape from something else.

Important Notice:

We are meeting again next week (due to my being away at a conference the following week) and we will hold our parent meeting.  The kids come at the regular time, 4:15pm, but the parents come to the office at 6pm for the meeting which lasts until 7pm.  This is a "mandatory meeting."  It is where you will learn more about how your kids are doing in detail, hear exactly what techniques we are using, and have opportunities to ask questions.  Please come and be on time.  We begin at 6pm sharp.  Your kids will be having dinner and participating in two raffles while you are in the meeting.  Also, please, please please.... no siblings!  It makes things very chaotic and disruptive.  Questions?  Contact me please.

Thanks!

Bruce

Tonight was our first session of the new 11-13 year old "Tween" Group.  We had 13 kids (two families needed to cancel at the last minute).  We will likely have 15 kids by November.  The simple fact is, YOUR KIDS WERE GREAT TONIGHT.  Most of them had never met one another and yet, nearly all of them were conversing by the evening's end.  It was truly wonderful to watch.

We began the evening by heading over to the office.  It had been raining and I was concerned about whether we would get caught up in that. kids  piled into the waiting room and found seats, I talked with them about how the group would work, introduced the counselors, and facilitated them introducing themselves to one another. By a wide majority, the group voted to go to  Numero Uno for dinner this evening. Nobody reacted negatively to this decision. I decided to have a group go to dinner a little early so they can get to know one another in a more casual environment. This worked out even better than I had imagined. We walked over, with a few comments about pedestrian safety as we went along, and settled in at the restaurant. Eight of the group members sat at one large table, four sat at another table, leaving one member to either sit by himself or with one adult. This wasn't how I wanted to see things, but logistically it was difficult to move around kids would already begun talking to one another. As it turned out the student who sat with me briefly (AB), went over to the table where the three counselors were seated and wound up joining them. (I didn't take it personally). He started telling them jokes, and have an opportunity to practice not laughing before he got to the punch line. He went up saying at that table and appeared to enjoy himself immensely.

The other students were equally engaged in conversations, gentle horsing around, and pretty much everyone appeared to be having a good time. One child, who had brought a cell phone with him, was having difficulty leaving it in his pocket. After a few times of reminding him, I asked him if he would mind living in adult hold it until the end of group. He willingly gave it up, but then later asked if he could use it or make a phone call. Yet another child, who is bidding group before and rarely misbehaves, wound up putting ice down the shirt of the kid next to him. On the one hand we have a no touching rule and on the other hand it's sometimes nice to see kids acting silly in ways that are pretty harmless. I chose to go the latter and will monitor and watch whether this approach appears successful. Sometimes I have different rules for different children, depending upon what the target behaviors are identified by their parents and how they behave in group.

The kids did just fine in ordering pizzas and other food for themselves, with some ordering appetizers which they shared with others. This always provides a nice opportunity to explain that you don't use your “personal” fork to get food and pop in your mouth. Instead I worked with the kids to use a fork that they're not eating from, transferring it to a plate in front of them and then eating. For some of the kids we worked on holding utensils properly and JF for example, immediately began holding his fork differently, in a more age appropriate manner. Several of the group members decided to share a large Caesar salad and we also ordered extra pizza. Some of them wanted to know if we were having dessert tonight and I informed him that since we decided to have soda, that counted as our dessert. I also let them know that we don't always have dessert and we don't always order soda. Some nights will have soda and our rule is that the kids can have a one half refill, then switch to water. Other times the only drink we permit is water.

After finishing up in group, and thank goodness we had no rain during our travels, we headed back to the office. During meal time to the counselors, Carli and Stasi ( not to be confused with the “Stacy” who you have spoken to and had e-mail correspondence with from the office) Went around to the different kids and tried to have them think of nicknames. As you may recall from the parent orientation, we never put identifying child information on the Internet, but we will use nicknames and/or initials. Seven of the 13 group members came up with nick names the first time around, and all of them were able to come up with one mighty and the group. We encourage them not to use just their own initials or something easily identifying and they will have opportunities to make changes over the next couple of sessions.

Having completed this, the kids decorated envelopes that they will use for keeping the raffle tickets and they were introduced to the LUNCH Points online computer program for generalizing behaviors in the home environment. That's a mouthful, huh? What that means is that you, as parents, will be able to login and report on your child's behavior from a choice of nearly 50 behaviors. You will print out a LUNCH Points certificate which your child then needs to take responsibility for and bring to group. Please do not take responsibility for them. It is fine to remind them and asked them if they remembered it, but if you see that they have forgotten it, do not make a trip back home and please do not ask me if they can have a special exemption “just this one time.” this is a reasonably harmless way for them to learn that being organized and responsible for their possessions matters. I have already informed them that we will have a “ surprise raffle” next time for LUNCH Points.

In the few remaining minutes of group, I showed them a video that has become very popular on YouTube. We will often show select music movies or animations that I previously screened or shown to other groups.

Perhaps however, the most amazing thing of all that occurred tonight was how prompt all of the parents, and I mean all of the parents, were in picking your children up. We were out there at  6:45 PM, and by 6:48 PM all 13 children have been picked up. Let's hope this the beginning of a consistent trend.

Our next group meeting will be the third week in October, to be held on October 20. We will be having a parent dinner during the fourth week in October and you will receive an announcement regarding the shortly.

Thanks for sending such a great group of kids and I look forward to seeing everyone in two weeks. If you have any questions please call the office or e-mail me.

Bruce

Today started off in the office we headed off for our community outing, Laser Tag.  The day started with a surprise LUNCH Points Raffle.  Interestingly, JW had a certificate in his hand but wasn't attending until we rehearsed it a few times.  AC responded right away.  However, both wound up participating.  This session, it's the teens who have taken more interest in LUNCH Points, overall.  Other times it's reversed.  As we prepared to watch some short animations, it created an opportunity to review how to check and not block others' view when selecting a seat.  We've also been working on simple social skills, such as not standing right up against the door while someone else is in the restroom.  MM had a chance to ask others to move their seat rather than crawling under the table to get past.  ND appeared very tired (9:35am) and was reminded that he couldn't earn tickets when his head was on the table.  Several of the group members earned tickets for quickly and accurately summarizing the videos they saw.  Little opportunities for helping them with social language occurred, for example when SW said, "Can I please have the pen there, please?"  He was prompted via positive practice to restate and did so successfully.  We had the group describe the last animation they saw by summarizing in 30 seconds (DG did it successfully), 15 seconds (MM and SW did it successfully), and then within 10 seconds (EJ, AC did so more succesfully, SG and AJ had more difficulty summarizing).  We also worked on what happens when someone tries to answer a question by interrupting or responds too quickly.  AJ found the exercise humorous, where, as SW asked for a pen, I responded by quickly handing it to him before he was done, by saying "Now, that's service!"  So, that was the first 75 minutes of group today.  Time to head off for Laser Tag.

Catching the bus was uneventful, except that ND became upset when asked to sit rather than stand on the bus.  This was uncharacteristic for him.  Once we figured out that he wanted to sit next to SG and accommodated him, things improved.  At Laser Tag, all of the kids were heavily rewarded for "playing together" or just "hanging out" while we waited the short time before the first game began.  This was a great example of social modeling working successfully.  First EJ and AC were rewarded, then SG and DG.  AJ finally noticed that everyone else getting tickets and spontaneously searched for someone to play with, picking JW, who was also rewarded for walking and keeping his arms down.  The two games passed quickly and it was impressive to see how they formed teams and strategies and as they played.

We finished up Laser Tag around 12:15pm and headed over to In-'n-Out for lunch.  NR was anxious about her food and had a chance to practice asking for things in a calm and polite manner.  A truck passed, producing someone loud, but typical, noises and those who were able to state they were not afraid of the truck noise were rewarded.  Additionally, JW, ND, and SG all earned tickets for having conversations during lunch, as did SG for spontaneously opening a door as someone passed through and NR for waiting patiently for a water cup from one of the In 'n Out workers.

An example of how many group members need to work on pragmatics were inadvertently demonstrated when I mentioned there would be a surprise visitor coming next Friday.  One of the kids asked if it was Kobe Bryant, and I off-handedly replied, "Sure, and President Obama is coming too."  To my surprise, several of them began asking if this was true.  Such behavior unfortunately will make them ripe targets for merciless teasing or even bullying at school.

Shortly after 1:00pm we waited to catch the bus to return to the office.  JW was rewarded for standing next to other kids and also for eye contact while interacting with one of the counselors.  AJ spoke in an excessive insulting manner to SW and SW was rewarded for not reacting.  Unfortunately AJ escalated by kicking him and was physically removed from the others for a brief period until he could demonstrate that he had regained control.  AC and EJ became engrossed in discussing park rides, but also switched when asked by a counselor by their weekend, maintaining this conversation for about five minutes.  The bus didn't arrive until nearly 1:20pm and we made it back with just a short amount of time to spare.  Full day!

Los Encinos State Park

Today was our visit to Los Encinos State Park where (most of them) were videotaped as typical students on a tour, given by Jennifer, the Park Interpretive Specialist.  She's really great with the kids, very patient, prompts them to make eye contact, helps them with asking relevant questions.  I view it as good practice for taking them on a tour, going to a museum, or similar cultural activities.

Afterwards, she offered the group food to feed the ducks and geese.  It was interesting that some of the group members insisted that we pay for it, because it said "25 cents" on the box.  Those same members had trouble with the idea that she was giving it to them.  It strikes me as an honorable intention on their park... somehow gone wrong, since it creates an opportunity for them to receive something gratis, thank the person, and again, "move on" (I'm a big fan of "moving on" over little things).

One of the group members isolated himself from others and began to play with his Pokmon pedometer.  He appeared startled when one of the counselors approached him, saying "Hi ___ come and join the others," he responded by walking away.  This sometimes happens with kids who are having trouble figuring out what to say to others or become preoccupied by a gadget.  It is also why we request that your kids not bring toys or other objects with them, since they often use it as a vehicle for disconnecting from others.

I had a chance to flex my frisbee skills (which have clearly improved over the course of groups!) and worked with several kids on throwing accurately.  This primary involved MM, ND, EJ, and SG and they seemed to have a good time of it.

While still at the park AJ, at one point, said he was surrounded by "idiots."  Carli, one of the counselors, immediately gave blue raffle tickets to all of those who did not react to his comment, and did not say anything to AJ.  Moments later, they became involved in a discussion about aliens, which AJ seemed to be taking a bit too seriously.  However, both AJ and NR worked on problem solving and received raffle tickets for their efforts.  AC had problems with body boundaries, appearing to inadvertently push JW over a bit so he could sit down.  When JW did not react, he received a blue ticket and AC spontaneously apologized to him.

We went to Octopus, Japanese food, for lunch and it was well-organized, with most kids enjoying what they ordered.  Lunch there usually takes a long time, so we are constantly looking out for who is engaged in conversation versus who is isolating.  We also had a chance to practice appropriate requesting from the wait staff.  Fortunately, most of them were engaged in conversations throughout, plus they either enjoyed their meals or found portions of them that they could eat.  We headed back to the office briefly for a little "down time" where we viewed videos of them that would be shown to the parents.

Today we a continuation of what we worked on last Friday -- conversational skills and social pragmatics.  Typically the kids who more closely match our internalizer profile need assistance with the former (conversational turns, facial expressions, voice volume clarity, and intonation), while those with more externalizer characteristics benefit from the latter (behavioral inhibition, controlling reactions to peers' behavior).

One of the group members was selected to run a "vote" to determine what restaurant we would be going to on Wednesday, when we visit Los Encinos again, this time with video taping for their public service announcement for the California State Parks system.  Jennifer, who has been our interpretive specialist guide for the past four year, will be conducting it.  Your child will be on camera only if you have signed a release for them to participate.  This is not included in our standard release that all parents signed as part of registering their child for the group.

The group also decided they wanted to try Maria's Kitchen today for lunch.  One of the things I like about this little exercise is that is involves listening, cooperation, accepting a choice that was not one of their first, and just "moving on."  We also discussed the upcoming "surprise raffle" for LUNCH Points, which I told them would be for this upcoming Wednesday or Friday.  Yes, by telling them when the "surprise" is, I'm sending a mixed message -- on purpose.  Those kids who figured it out earned raffle tickets for doing so.  We reviewed LUNCH Points again and all of your kids reviewed their original choices for their main target behavior.  This is important!  Your job is to log in and give them a certificate or two in between groups.  If you select their main target behavior, they receive an additional bonus, which shows up on the certificate.  It only takes a couple of minutes to complete the LUNCH Point certificate.  If your printer is broken, you can request a receipt, which we will accept or you can use the "Vacation" form.  If you have questions, email me.  I am also reviewing this during each of the Tuesday night Teleconferences.  If you did not respond to our original invitation, contact Stacy and she will re-send it to you.  We cannot post this because it is confidential and only for families of group members.  Telemeetings will continue until the first Tuesday in August.

We had an early snack today.... they just seemed hungry!  Also, we brought it back to the office for them to eat, which gives them a different way to practice neatness, manners, and transitioning.  We did more interviews, which we will publish at a future date plus we watched a YouTube video called "Unwelcoming Lunch Groups." It's by a female teen who has apparently produced quite a few of these... some more humorous than others, but she tries to tell a story and it helps me highlight certain conversational principles.



We talked some more about conversations and practiced what makes for interesting speaking.  I know I haven't been mentioning specific kids as much, and I'm sorry about that.  We're doing so many things with them, that it's almost hard to keep track on an individual basis that I can convert to writing.

After lunch, SG and JW finished up their avatar interview.  Also, I took 5 group members into my office along with Sophie, who had been present throughout the day to have them practice making her say "yes" and "no" by offering her a treat.  We're trying to create a "library" of her responses to use in a different project.

Wednesday, we're spending the morning at the state park, then head off to Octopus.  As always, contact me with any questions or comments.

We had a full group today and everyone seems to be starting off in a calm, organized, and natural manner.  I am sorry that the LUNCH Points program has been delayed -- there was some additional programming necessary to complete it.  It will be up and running by the weekend.  If you haven’t already signed up to receive automatic blogs of groups, go to www.lunchgroups.com, select blogs, and enter your email address.

Today is our first in-office parent meeting, where I will reviewed how kids are doing, plus the general kinds of techniques we are using with them.  Next Wednesday will be our first parent dinner, to be held at John O’Groats (check the calendar).
After the initial time today, some of the kids played on the Wii while the rest of the group went into the other room to do an avatar project.  One child was the “interviewer” and the other chose an avatar character to become the “interviewee.”  I consider this to be one of the most powerful activities we do to help with basic conversational skills.  Conversation isn’t just a single skill.  You have to think of what you are going to say, say it clearly and with sufficient voice volume for your audience to hear you, adjust the level of informality/formality to fit your listener’s level and the kind of setting you are in, and say it in a straight-forward manner, while avoiding excessive talking.



The first project took the longest because the two students involved (AJ and SW) were having trouble formulating responses “on the spot.”  We took a break a little later today, around 10:45am, because we would be having lunch slightly later, due to the parent meeting between 1-2pm.  After the break, we returned and completed two more projects prior to heading back over to Gelsons for lunch.  This is rare, but it was most convenient given what was planned for today.

Below are three examples of projects involving a total of six group members. They were been edited to emphasize conversational fluidity, clarity, and reciprocal flow.  This is a form of video modeling, also known as “feed-forward,” where student hear themselves engaged in more age-appropriate and engaging conversation.

Afterwards, it was off to lunch back over at Gelsons today.  We had lunch a bit later than usual, around 12:30pm to have lunch and the Blue and Hero ticket raffles that followed, coincide with the parent meeting.  No problems occurred and, judging by the kids’ reactions and behavior following the parent meeting, everyone seemed satisfied with their raffle prize choices.

During the parent meeting, we review the kids’ progress in general, I spoke about specific students and their behavior.  Of note, and this may be a first.... WE HAD 100% PARENT ATTENDANCE TODAY!  Wow.  We reviewed how the web site is organized and where to find information to maximize progress during the program.

The behaviors selected by the kids was reviewed and approved by parents, so this will go live over the weekend.  We also reviewed the events next week, including the request from the California State Parks to video-tape the group members as “students” taking a tour at Los Encinos.  This will shown to school districts and others who may wish to view and learn about the tours and history at the park (it was nearly closed down in 2008).

We're in full swing now!  Today was more of an "office" day.  That meant your kids came in, worked as a single group evaluating their third scene of their animation from Monday, then revised and enhanced it.  During such activities, I take special care to ensure that each of them adds dialogue, sound effects, participates in reciprocal conversation, or is involved in  other elements.  Also, it's a wonderful opportunity to help kids who tend to "shout out" responses when others are called upon have multiple opportunities to practice inhibiting and waiting.

We also targeted specific group members, generally following our modeling in externalizers and internalizers (more about that at the upcoming parent meeting).  That meant we look for fuller sentences, more emotional expressiveness and higher levels of interaction for some while helping others minimize perceived "slights" from others, accidents, and inhibit impulsive responses.

Lunch was a special event at Tony Romas and we let the kids get dessert, provided they stayed calm and didn't make a big deal out of it.  One child was offered fruit as an alternative.  Just as the kids were leaving, some adults at the next table stopped me to comment.  Here is the video of their statements (edited for brevity only).



Not much else to report.  The kids seem pretty comfortable with each other and we're in the process of figuring out what specific behaviors to target for each child.

Today was clearly action-packed. The kids and teens were excited about going on our first community outing for laser tag at Ultra Zone.  However, before we did that, we continued work on our first animation project, which has been going very smoothly.  Meeting in the front room, the group members have been actively involved in creating a three scene animation, which they will see in final form on Wednesday and do a little post-production editing.  They also split into two groups, older and younger to "brain-storm," then came back together to share their ideas.  It worked surprisingly well. 
 
After the animation is finished, it will go up on YouTube under our channel, "Lunchgroups."  Don't worry, as per our policy, no identifying information ever goes up.  The credits will consist of their "nicknames" only.

We left the office around 10:30am and headed over to Gelsons for a snack.  Our bus came shortly after 11am and we headed into Sherman Oaks to Ultra Zone.  The group members were well-behaved on the bus and several conversations ensued.  At Ultra Zone, they played two rounds of Laser Tag.  All of the kids participated except one, who was reluctant to play.  We explained that he did not have to play and he walked around with the Game Master and also with a counselor during both games, looking and seeming more comfortable as time passed.  Perhaps he'll play next time, but either way, giving him a chance to observe the other kids having fun and playing seemed more productive that trying to "coax" him into it.

We had also promised the group that they could play in the arcade, but this didn't work out.  The first game started a little late and that ran us right into our second scheduled time.  Because Ultra Zone typically deals with larger camps at this time of day, we needed to go along with what they had set up.  The kids all handled this disappointment quite well and we told them we'd make certain they had a chance to use the arcade next time.

Lunch occurred at The Habit, just a few doors away.  We were able to get five tables side-by-side, no easy feat during lunch time, but luck was on our side.  Everyone seemed to find something they wanted.  By now, it was nearly 1:20pm.  We just missed a bus to head back and everyone waited in a patient and orderly manner.  By the time our bus arrived, about 1:35pm, everyone poured themselves into their seats.  Four group members fell asleep during the ride, an indication of a full day.
This coming Friday will be a parent meeting from 1pm-2pm during which time your kids will eat outdoors and participate in their first raffle.  There is NO TELEMEETING THIS WEEK ON TUES.  THIS IS A SCHEDULING ERROR.


The LUNCH Points program goes live tomorrow.  Be sure to watch the video (see the message on the home page at www.lunchgroups.com.  If you have any questions, be sure to be in touch.

Bruce

Hard to believe this is only the 2nd meeting.  So well-behaved.... who are these kids?  Sophie showed up today and clearly was a hit with the kids.  In fact, she came along to the local Rancho Los Encinos Park, near Balboa and Ventura.  We brought frisbees, horseshoes, badminton, some kind of superball, and a velcro target catch game.  We purchased duck and geese food for the group; they shared bags of food in three's, which worked out well.

However, before going we began an animation project.  First the group brain-stormed about story ideas, which took a little while.  Once we moved them away from explosions, aliens, and other interesting but complicated ideas, they settled upon two people trying to figure out what they wished to have for lunch (no, I didn't suggest adding the name).  They put together the better part of a couple of scenes, then we headed out after a short stop at Gelsons to pick up snacks to take with us.

Also, we'll be returning to the park in about a week in a half for a park ranger-led tour of the historic adobe structures.  "Jennifer" first began giving tours to our group three years ago -- in fact we were her very first tour.  Now she has asked if the kids who come would be interested in being filmed as part of a documentary to be shown to schools in an attempt to increase interest and attendance (the park was slated for closure back in 2008 and fortunately survived the "chopping block.")  I told her we would be interested, but of course, this requires a separate release beyond what you have already signed.  I should be receiving information from the park soon and will forward it on to you.  Don't worry, whether or not you sign the release, your child will still be able to participate.  We're going to break them up into two groups, those who will be followed by the videographer during the tour and those who will not appear on film.  I'll let you know more as I learn about it.

After a little over an hour at the park, we headed out and had lunch at The Stand, just west of Balboa.  It was nice because we were able latch onto tables that were at least partially shaded (you are putting sunscreen on your kids, right?), and judging by the lunchtime crowd, this is a pretty popular place to eat.  It was enjoyable seeing them conversing and, even now, we're starting to see kids express a preference for sitting next to select peers.  Sometimes we'll help facilitate this and other time we'll ask them to stay where they are.  After lunch, it was a 15 minute walk back to the office, where they continued working on the animation.  Frankly, I didn't plan to spend this much time on it today, but they seemed really interested in working on it and it's a great activity for promoting cooperation, listening, pragmatic language, and handling things if another group member's idea is used.  I try to go around and solicit equally from everyone.  Sometimes it's a story element, other times dialogue, a sound effect, or in this case, an action the character might do.

Soon it was time to call it a day.  I'm always amazed how quickly five hours can pass.  On Monday, we'll have  our first community outing, Laser Tag at Ultra Zone.

Have a great weekend!

Bruce