Counseling Program Components

Canton R-V Elementary offers a comprehensive guidance counseling program. The program
consists of four components: a guidance and counseling curriculum, individual student planning,
responsive services, and system support.
Guidance and Counseling Curriculum: Kindergarten through fourth grade students receive a
weekly guidance lesson, while fifth and sixth grade students receive a guidance lesson every
other week for an extended time. The guidance curriculum provides students with preventative
ideals and coping strategies. The content of the lessons provide students with knowledge, skills,
and attitudes that will assist them in their daily lives. Content can be broken down into three
large areas: personal and social development, academic development, and career development.
The Grade Level Expectations set by DESE guide the content to be taught to students. Below is a
list of the concepts taught in each area.
Personal and Social Development: self-concept, balancing life roles, being a contributive
member of a diverse global community, quality relationships, respect for self and others,
personal responsibility in relationships, safe and healthy choices, personal safety of self and
pothers, and coping skills.
Academic Development: improvement of academic self-concept leading to life-long learning,
self-management for life-long learning, transitions, and a personal plan of study for life-long
learning.
Career Development: Integration of self-knowledge into life and career plans, adaptations to
world of work and technology changes, respect for all work, career decision making, education
and career requirements, personal skills for job success, and job seeking skills.
Students learn the guidance and counseling concepts through discussions and activities.
Individual Planning: Self-confidence development, interpersonal relationship skill
development, decision making skill building, and the awareness and exploration of educational
and occupational possibilities are addressed in the guidance and counseling curriculum, but can
be addressed more in-depth with the student individually. Students can discuss and make plans
on an individual basis with the counselor. Students can set academic and career goals, and select
courses that are in line with these goals. Individual student planning is implemented through 3
main strategies:
Appraisal: The school counselor helps students in recognizing their abilities, interests, skills, and
achievements. This information is used in individual goal setting.
Educational and Career Planning: Students are exposed to a wide variety of careers. Students are
then assisted in the process of matching up their abilities, interests, skills, and achievements with
careers that might best suit their needs and desires in the future. Students are asked to start
considering what career they might like. They will also set academic goals that might assist them
in meeting their career goals.

Transition: The counselor assists students transitioning from grade to grade or from elementary
to junior high.
Responsive Services: The purpose of responsive services is to work with students whose
personal circumstances, concerns, or problems are threatening to interfere or are interfering with
their healthy academic, career, and personal/social development. In such cases individual
counseling, small group counseling, consultation, and referrals may occur.
Individual Counseling: School counselors provide one on one individual counseling for students
who are experiencing educational difficulties, personal concerns, or normal developmental tasks.
Individual counseling assists students in identifying problems, causes, alternatives, and possible
consequences so that appropriate action can be taken.
Small Group Counseling: The small group setting is for students to practice and learn new skills
that will benefit them in their academic and personal lives.
Consultation: Consultation is an interactive process in which the counselor provides help for
parents/guardians, teachers, and students.
Referral: School counselors may provide a list of referral sources to parents/guardians wishing to
seek additional services for their children.
System Support: The system support component of the comprehensive guidance and counseling
program includes making sure all components of the comprehensive guidance model are in place
and being implemented, attending professional development opportunities to grow knowledge
and skills, consulting with other counselors, teachers, etc. to best meet the needs of students, and
being an active member of the school community by participating in committees.