Ideas for Implementing

1. In literature and stories, talk about how the characters were feeling, what choices they made and how those choices affected future outcomes, whether they resolved disputes in a healthy or unhealthy way, and how if the character had made different choices, the result might have been different.
2. Use events in social studies, history and economics to discuss how rulers and nations have used or abused their power and control, and how peace or violence has affected previous societies. Examine the history of prejudice, discrimination, violence and peace. Discuss how nations or famous people negotiated peace settlements.
3. Use the teachable moment. When something comes up in the media, at school, or in the community, talk about what happened, why it happened, how it might have been prevented, and how different available choices might have produced different consequences.
4. Model and promote social skills and peace in your classroom. Develop a class code of conduct, recognize and praise friendly behaviors, and have consistent consequences for negative behaviors.
5. Accept and model divergent ways of arriving at an answer. Support students in their mistakes and lead them to discover what they need to correct and why. As mentioned in the cognitive section, many of these students have rigid, black and white thinking. They need to be challenged to see that there are multiple ways of finding an answer and that there are multiple right answers.
6. Use the problem solving method discussed in the cognitive section for both academic and social difficulties. It teaches students that they are capable of solving their own problems as well as that there are multiple ways to solve a problem.
7. Use creative dramatics to re-enact a story or play so students can experience how the characters felt, how they mediated conflict, etc. This gives them supported, fun experiences in understanding how others might feel in a situation.
8. Use cooperative learning activities by allowing students to work in pairs or small groups. You may need to take an active role in matching groups so students can learn from each other and practice positive social skills. Science experiments, art projects, group research projects, etc. all fit well with cooperative learning experiences.
9. Use activities in the curriculum that expand into the community like cross-age tutoring, community service projects, peer mentoring, etc. Students take great pride in helping the community, doing academically-based projects such as cleaning up a stream, planting a garden for the food bank, etc. One project both our kindergarten and second grade teachers do at our school is collecting cans of food for the food bank. First, they use the cans in the math curriculum to learn about counting, classification, weight, volume, etc. The students then get to help load up my car and a few chosen students accompany me to the food bank. Also, during their curriculum on drug prevention, the first grade students make drug prevention posters that are hung up in the community.  Parents are encouraged to take their child into the community business to view their poster. Activities such as these are important with these students because they are often disconnected from their community.This is a great way to build community pride and learn responsibility for caring for your neighbors.
10. “Feeling” words can be taught in spelling and vocabulary. Students can be challenged to use social skills in their writing. They can use feeling words in their writing or they can write about how they solved a conflict with a friend. It is the role of the teacher to decide what behaviors the student needs to have in order to be successful and to find strategies for teaching those behaviors.There are many resources available for teaching social skills and behavioral strategies. Your job is to examine whether the student has the resources necessary to develop the new behavior, what other choices the student could be making, and what you need to do to provide support so the student can repeat successful behaviors.
11. Activities such as music making, movement to music, dance, playing in sand or water, playing house with small doll families, nature activities, art with a variety of materials, writing, storytelling and drama all provide rich, creative, fun experiences at school that help maltreated children heal. When an adult participates in the activity with them, they benefit not only from the exposure to the “healing arts,” but also from the relationship that develops with the adult. “Healing arts” help children develop a mastery over an activity (thereby increasing their self-esteem and view of the world), help them develop social skills, and let them have an appropriate and creative outlet for self-expression. In addition, these activities can have a positive effect on their brain development and overall functioning. For angry children, I often use art, especially drawing or sand play, to calm a child.
12. Provide plenty of physical exercise and movement.  Maltreated children often are under stress. The opportunity to expend energy when getting frustrated or stressed often prevents negative behaviors from surfacing.
    
    

Dr. Bruce Perry, a noted researcher on brain development and children in crisis, notes that there are six basic core strengths that children need to have.  These core strengths are:

1. Attachment: the capacity to form and maintain healthy emotional bonds with other people.
2. Self-regulation:  the ability to control primary urges such as hunger and sleep as well as feelings like frustration, anger and fear.
3. Affiliation: the capacity to join others and contribute to a group.
4. Awareness: the ability to recognize the needs, feelings, interests, strengths and values of others.
5. Tolerance: the capacity to understand and accept how others are different than you.
6. Respect: appreciating the worth in yourself and in others.