PARENT TESTIMONIALS
“I noticed a positive change of behavior in my son…”
“My daughter wanted to come back the next week, very excited.”
“…We hope there’s a second round to this”
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The fourth and last session of “Practical and Interactive Life Skills Training for Children” took place on Saturday, April 2nd, 2022.
The afternoon took off with Salpi Nercessian, the Program Director. The kids were all gathered. They participated in a series of seated exercises, followed by some deep breathing periods. Now that everyone was 100% focused, it was time to share about their week, particularly in regards to how well they were able to put in practice the concept of “active listening”.
The topic of the day, COOPERATION, was then presented by Mrs. Nercessian. Simply put, in life, it is very important to cooperate with others. Nobody can do it all alone, especially to achieve a common goal. Interestingly enough, the verses of Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 from the Bible states this also: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”
Next, the children practiced cooperating, while being part of the production line of their arts and crafts project. They all made and decorated pencil holders. Seeing as every attendee signed every pencil holder, the children also got to take home with them a piece of memory from each of their new friends and leaders.
Afterwards, the kids were very excited, to finally get to hear, the last part of the Pollyanna story. She was a person filled with positivity and was able to build good and healthy relationships with people around her in spite of the fact that she has hardships.
Finally, it was time for very interesting and exciting games. Obviously, the children had to cooperate with each other to be able to participate, and even more, to help their team win. After dividing the kids in 2 groups, the games took off. The kids played a few games, such as the lineup game, forming letters/shapes/numbers, hula hoop pass, making a puzzle, keeping the balloon up, airplane game, as well as the egg race, just in time for Easter season.
The parents started gathering. It was time to give them a glimpse into our last 4 weeks, in regards to what the children had learned and practiced. One of the Moms present mentioned, that “the program was very resourceful, and my daughter was coming home every week very educated, and wanting to come back the next week, very excited”.
Another Mom stated “I noticed a positive change of behavior in my son, already as of week 1. He was also sharing with his school friends, all about the concept of positivity.”
The parents all proudly witnessed their children receiving certificates of participation and were all eagerly taking photos to capture the moment. Along with their certificates, the children also received a folder of material outlining the four skills that they learned. These help the parents better understand the skills that their children learned and will serve as long-term reminders to the children.
Mrs. Nercessian made it a point to also congratulate the parents, for having taken the initiative to enroll their kids into “Successful Children – Happy Parents” program.
The feedback from the parents was incredible and seems like there’s demand for Part 2… As one parent mentioned, “we hope there’s a second round to this”.
All in all, even as leaders, we enjoyed every minute spent with the kids, all while learning with them, about these amazing life skills.
Lara Kassarjian
