Social Skills Workshop for Homeschooled Adolescents

Katelyn (Skinner) Janvrin

February 3, 2019

Rationale

At my practicum site, a private practice, I have encountered a handful of homeschooled

adolescents who experienced decreased opportunities for peer socialization. Some of these adolescents
are there in the office to be evaluated as a part of state-wide standardized testing while others are there
for therapy. A common theme that emerged in my work and observation of these adolescents is an
overall absence of interactions with their peers and an increased presence of social anxiety, low self-
esteem, and poor communication skills. I pretty quickly realized that these adolescents spent a great
deal if not all of their time with adults whether their parents or tutors. For some of these adolescents
they may live their lives completely absent of peer interactions and may only interact with other kids in
their relationships with siblings- if they happen to have any at all.

The following workshop is designed to address the socialization piece that is missing from the
homeschool environment as well as improve social skills and communication with peers. The hope is
that this workshop will not only instill a sense of comfort and confidence in future social situations but
improve communication overall. In the first session we will collaborate as a group to define appropriate
social skills and the cues that go along with them. In the second session adolescents will access
individually their own social skills in order to determine their deficits and impairments to look forward to
what they personally need to improve upon. In the third session the group facilitator will model
appropriate social skills and then the group members will rotate through stations rehearsing the
behaviors they have seen modeled in hopes of eventually mastery. In the fourth session group
participants will use what they have learned thus far to engage in cooperative game play; putting their
skills to use in a less controlled environment; taking off the training wheels so to speak.

While this workshop is primarily designed to improve social skills amongst homeschooled
adolescents it could be adapted for anyone who has social communication difficulties which can include
diagnoses such as autism spectrum disorders, anxiety, ADD, ADHD, and even learning disabilities.
Ultimately this group can aid in adolescents learning conversational, friendship and problem-solving
skills which can directly be applied to interactions with their peers. The websites attached to the
workshop plan will provide both adolescents and parents additional resources throughout the course of
the group as well as for continued support at it comes to its conclusion.

Social Skills Workshop Plan

Session 1: What are Social Skills?

o Goal:
 To understand what social skills are
 To form a foundation of social skills, their cues, and why they are of importance
o Objectives:
 Adolescents will define social skills
 Adolescents will more fully understand how to interact and engage with peers
o Methods:
 Adolescents will work together as a group to brainstorm how/what it is social skills are
  We will go around the group taking turns listing social skills and the group facilitator will
transcribe a running list on a white board so that it is visible to all
 Once a list has been transcribed on the whiteboard we will then have an open dialogue
as a group the need for these social skills

Session 2: Assessments of skill deficits and impairments

o Goal:
 To Identify areas of social skills which need Improvement
 To build insight into social skills deficits in order to determine what changes need to be
made going forward
o Objectives:
 Adolescents will access their own social skills
 Adolescents will identify the social skills deficits and impairments they may have
 Adolescents will determine which social skills they need to improve upon
o Methods:
 “How are my Social Skills? CHECKLIST” (Appendix A)
 Adolescents will go through the social skills checklist and rank their skills
 After everyone has had enough time to complete their checklist (appropriately fifteen to
twenty minutes or so) we will then reconvene as a group and go around the circle giving
everyone a chance to share one or two skills which they feel they need to improve upon

Session 3: Modeling & Behavioral Rehearsal

o Goal:
 To be able to not only see modeled social skills but recognize when to employ these
skills appropriately in social interactions
o Objectives:
 Adolescents will learn to recognized appropriate social behaviors when modeled
 Adolescents will rehearse modeled behavior
o Methods:
 The group facilitator will model a series of behavior and then the group will break off
into pairs to rehearse the modeled behavior
 Station One: Introductions
 Station Two: Making small talk
 Station Three: Leaving a conversation
 Station Four: Giving a compliment
 Station Five: Listening
 The pairs will rotate stations counter clockwise practicing each behavior set spending
three minutes at each station
 The pairs will rotate stations clockwise practicing each behavior set spending three
minutes at each station
 The group facilitator will float around the room as stations are being conducted and
provide corrective feedback on the behaviors being modeled
  At the end of the group members will reconvene for a five-minute cool down to reflect
and process the activity overall

Session 4: Cooperative Game Play

o Goal:
 Model behavior within a social context with peers
 Work together in a group to problem solve and complete a task
o Objectives:
 Adolescents will work together on the same team to play a board game modeling on
their own the skills they practiced in the last activity
 Adolescents will interact with peers in a social context requrieing the use of problem-
solving skills

o Methods:
 Adolescents will engage in a board game in small groups of three to four for twenty
minutes at a time
 In contrast, this activity the group facilitator will take a back seat allowing natural
interactions to take place without providing corrective feedback
 We will come back together at the end of the group to discuss what did and did not
work in each group and how to improve future interactions as we take these skills out
into the real world
Comprehensive list of resources for Adolescents and their Parents

https://searchcenter.ucr.edu/social_skills_resources_for_adolescents.pdf

Skills to Practice with Teens

https://nobelcoaching.com/emotional-skills/

Social skills Evidence-based games and exercises

https://www.parentingscience.com/social-skills-activities.html

Activities to do with Adolescents in Social Skill Groups

http://www.educationandbehavior.com/social-skills-activities-for-teens/