Vernon, A. (2006). Thinking, feeling, behaving: An emotional education curriculum for children, revised. Champaign, IL: Research Press.

Reviewer:
Jeffrey Warren

Curricular Areas:
Group Work, Human Development

Subject Headings:
Anger, Anxiety disorders, Elementary school, Middle school

Review:
Children today are faced with more obstacles to success than ever before. Divorce, peer pressure, domestic violence, and academic rigor are just a few hurdles children may begin to overcome at very early ages. Exposure to these adverse events, may lead children to cope in ways that are unhelpful. Children react to these events based on instinct as well as past observations from home, school, and the community. They are likely to base their experience on faulty assumptions and illogical thinking, develop strong negative emotions and behave in unhelpful ways.

Ann Vernon addresses these cognitive, emotional, and behavioral issues with Thinking, Feeling, and Behaving: An Emotional Education Curriculum for Children, revised edition. This book, designed for children in grades 1-6, provides an abundance of lessons and activities designed to help children explore the connections between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The lessons, based largely on a Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) framework, focus on 5 domains titled self-acceptance, feelings, beliefs and behavior, problem solving/decision making, and interpersonal relationships. Each section comprises seven lessons for grades 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6, respectively. Titles, of the over 100 lessons, include, "Feeling Finders,” "I Have to Have My Way,” It's OK to Goof Up,” and "Changing Thoughts, Changing Feelings.”

Throughout this curriculum, Vernon details each lesson with its objective/s, materials required, procedure, discussion questions, and important notes for the facilitator. Many of the activities can be implemented with little or no preparation or materials. Other lessons include worksheets or reproducible templates and may require crayons, markers, glue, or tag board.

The lessons maintained in this book can be utilized in individual counseling sessions, small groups, or classroom guidance. Vernon provides a flexible design of this emotional education curriculum which can be used in numerous settings. The curriculum, in part or whole, is a valuable tool that can be easily implemented by teachers, school counselors, and other mental health clinicians working with children. Children experiencing teasing, low self esteem, test anxiety and other childhood obstacles can all potentially benefit from the lessons Vernon has developed.

This resource can be extremely helpful to the novice professional by providing immediate access to theory-based lessons and activities. The seasoned professional can utilize this compilation to spark ideas for intervention and to develop alternate activities and methods of treatments. Additionally, this book is invaluable, not only to the professionals utilizing its contents, but to the children impacted by its use as a counseling resource.

Originally posted on 5/5/2009 at csi-net.org