Written by Wood Creek Academy. One of the most effective choices for parents of troubled teens is to send them to a wilderness therapeutic boarding school. Find out more about the types of lessons that students learn while attending one of these schools. Teenagers who have emotional, academic or social challenges can often struggle with traditional methods of education or discipline. Sending many teens to a harsh juvenile boot camp can often lead to them rebelling or increasing their feelings of anger. In addition, their current social environment – such as being around a group of destructive friends – can make it difficult to change their habits. For these teens, a new approach in a different location is often necessary in order to put them on the road to making a positive change in their lives. One solution to this is to have a troubled teen attend a wilderness therapeutic boarding school. These programs offer students a place to go for nine to 12 months and work on their behavioral and emotional issues in an outdoor setting. Through a mixture of group and individual therapy, academic counseling and wilderness adventures, participants raise their self-esteem and begin to cope with the issues that have previously stunted their emotional growth. A major difference between a wilderness therapy program and a boot camp for teenagers is in the level of life skills that teens learn. At a therapeutic boarding school, students take daily educational classes as well as performing tasks that can help them grow as a person and acquire necessary skills for their rest of their lives. Some examples of this include: Outdoor Skills: Being in nature is a major component in the process at wilderness therapeutic boarding schools. It gives students the chance to contemplate in a peaceful setting. It also gives them a chance to learn how to work and communicate with other students to complete tasks in an outdoor setting. This can include survival camping, fishing or kayaking expeditions. Coping Mechanisms: One of the challenges that troubled teens face is learning how to deal with complex emotions such as anger and disappointment. Developing healthy coping mechanisms can help them to better navigate difficult moments in their life. One approach taken by many therapeutic boarding schools is to have students engage in regular group therapy sessions where they can hear what other students are going through, understand they are not alone and help each other develop better ways to communicate and deal with tough situations. Life Skills: Attending a wilderness therapeutic boarding school helps students develop skills they can use for the rest of their lives. Students learn how to perform basic chores such...
Read MoreTeens Learn Valuable Life Skills at Wilderness Therapeutic Boarding Schools
Preparing Your Child for Therapeutic Boarding School
Written by Wood Creek Academy. Making the decision to send your child to a boarding school for troubled teens is never easy. Therapeutic boarding schools such as Wood Creek Academy require students to attend for 10 to 12 months, which means that students will be spending a long time away from home. This can be particularly difficult for parents when they realize their children are struggling emotionally and can’t be there with them. However, in many cases therapeutic boot camps are the best option for getting kids back on track and prepared to becoming high functioning members of society. Unlike a boot camp for teenagers, a therapeutic boarding school is built around a holistic approach that addresses student’s issues with kindness and compassion. Still, your child might be angry or resentful about being sent to a therapeutic boarding school. This is perfectly natural, but you’ll want to make sure they are in a good place emotionally before they leave on their journey. Here are a few tips for preparing your son or daughter to leave for a therapeutic boarding school,: Explain What a Therapeutic Boarding School Is — and Isn’t When a teen hears that they are going to a therapeutic boarding school, it’s natural to equate it with a juvenile boot camp where discipline is used to instill respect into kids. You’ll want to dispel this notion to get your child in the right frame of mind for their journey. Show them as much information as possible about the boarding school to let them understand where they are going. Visit the Boarding School If you can, it’s a great idea to schedule a visit with your teenager to the boarding school before they start. Doing this will allow them to ask questions about the school and feel comfortable before they leave home. It will help lessen the shock in the transition when first attending the school if they have already had a chance to meet the faculty and understand the program. Leave Lines of Communication Open Even if your child is upset that they are going to a therapeutic boarding school, you want to make sure that you leave lines of communication open so that they can express their frustration, anger or fears in a constructive manner. Make sure you reinforce that this isn’t a punishment and get them to see the potential benefits that their attendance at the therapeutic boarding school can have on their lives. ————————————————————————————————————————— Based in Montana, the Wood Creek Academy is a therapeutic boarding school that gives troubled teens the life skills needed to deal with their challenges. Unlike a teen boot camp, Wood Creek Academy uses a...
Read More3 Ways to Find a Work-From-Home Job
Difficulties relating to commuting and changing family lives have triggered the need for more and more professionals to work from home. Indeed, public transportation and sometimes overpacked cubicles might be reasons to switch to a work-from-home schedule. The following tips might come handy if you are seeking do that. Negotiate With Your Boss Most of modern jobs would only be requiring an internet connection and perhaps a phone. If your company is already offering the option to work from home or if you think that you would be able to perform well from home, you might consider talking to your manager. The work from home schedule might either be on a part-time or full-time basis depending on your company policy. Some companies require a minimal office presence. Look Online If you are already on the lookout for a new job, you might want to consider online job boards that allow you to filter your search by work-from-home opportunities. Some specialty job sites also work exclusively with freelancers and you might be able to start looking for projects, depending on your field of specialization. Before signing up on a freelance site, you might want to check the authenticity of the page by reading reviews online and seeking advice from other freelancers. Focus on Companies or Specific Jobs If you absolutely need to seek work-from-home opportunities exclusively, you might want to apply with companies that have large number of telecommuting jobs. Alternatively, you might also consider orienting your career path towards a job that would allow for flexible schedules and work-from-home...
Read MorePost-Interview Thank You Letters
Some recruiters would be expecting a thank you letter after the interview. Generally, the thank you letter serves as an indication of the interest of the candidate. It is also an opportunity for the candidate to reiterate an interest in the open position and to enable hiring managers to remember their application and interview. The tips below might come handy if you are seeing to write a thank you letter. Customize Each Letter Even though you might be relying on a template to send your thank you email or letter, it is recommended that the letter be customized to include details on the interview and the name of the interviewer. Even in the case that you are considering to withdraw your application, the thank you letter would be an ideal way to do it. This is allow you to construct positive relations with the company. Sales Letter The thank you email or letter is the perfect occasion to “sell” your qualities one more time before the interviewer comes to a final decision. Therefore, you might include details such as your qualifications and reiterate your genuine interest in the opening. You might also elaborate on the conversation held with the interviewer, pointing out how this has further sharpened your interest in joining the company. Promptness Ideally, the thank you note should be sent within 24 hours of the interview. This will ensure that the interviewer would still remember your conversation and application. However, should you find that you are in a rush, in most cases a simple thank you note would be...
Read MoreTips to Include Accomplishments in your Resume
Writing a resume is quite subjective and each document would vary from person to person. An ideal resume needs to provide insights on the candidate’s career path while focusing on measurable achievements. Candidates often make the common mistake of listing down their role and responsibilities with every position without highlighting their contributions. The tips below might be helpful in successfully including accomplishments in your resume. Determine how success was measured The bottom line of each department and business unit would need to be identified. This will enable the accurate measurement of success. For instance, a recruitment department’s success would revolve around sourcing the right candidates. For a purchasing department, budget management and savings would constitute of measurable success metrics. For people working directly with customers, customer satisfaction rate would be an index to measure their success. Your Impact on Success Once you have identified how success was measured, you would have to connect them with your experiences. The key is to provide examples to show how you have directly impacted on achieving this success. For instance, a purchasing agent will have identified best vendors for products which resulted in better budget management and savings. Your impact on bottomline is what would make your resume more striking and showcase your accomplishments. Qualify and Quantify Accomplishments Percentages help to show the extent of your contribution. For instance, if you have contributed to increase customer satisfaction rate by 20%, including that in a resume would have more impact. Qualitative terms can also be used in situations where accomplishments cannot be...
Read MoreHow to Get a Great Summer Job
When undertaking a search for a summer job, it might be worthwhile to start early. Applying early would imply that you would be having more choices and this increases your chances of finding a job that matches your interests. Check on Working Papers If you are below the age of 18, in some states, you might be required to have working papers in order to legally get a job. The sooner you apply for the working paper, the earlier you would be able to get aboard. Generally, your school guidance office would be able to provide information regarding working papers. The school counselors could have the relevant forms or the person would be able to advise on where to get them. Prepare a Resume The resume is important as it will provide all information on your past activities and your interest in the particular summer job. If you are applying for a position relevant to your field of studies, you could include details on projects and explain why this particular field is of interest to you. Even if you have not worked before, focusing on academic achievements and extracurricular activities could be beneficial to a summer job application. Get References Ready Right before you start with summer jobs applications, you might want to compile a list of at least three references to provide interviewers. In case you have never worked before, you could consider asking neighbors, acquaintances or professionals with whom you are in contact to write a personal reference. Teachers, academic advisors and coaches could also provide a...
Read More3 Interview Tips To Boost Confidence
Every single interview that you would be attending would be different in itself. It might be because the job itself is different, but most of the time it will be because each organizational context has its own specifications. As such, the best general advice for any interview would be to come prepared. The tips below might come handy in boosting your confidence on your next interview. Research It is important that the candidates display signs that they know about the organization, its main line of business and regarding the job itself. It is therefore crucial to step in the interview with a prior notion about the company. Normally the interviewer would be explaining about the business and it constitutes of a plus when the candidate understands the specific job and the company’s history well. Dress Appropriately and Be Punctual Even though some environments might be require more casual outfit, you might want to strike the balance between casual and formal for the interview. The attire worn during the interview also needs to be neat and preferably in neutral colors. Punctuality is another key aspect of a successful interview. It might be considered rude to keep the interviewer waiting and on the other hand you would feel more confident when you get to the office on time for the interview. Ask Questions Asking questions shows genuine interest in the position and the company and this is considered a good sign by interviewers. You might want to keep the questions relevant to the specific...
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