Elementary School Counseling

Elementary school counselors are becoming more essential to the development of America’s youth and the future of our country with every passing year. Strengthening conceptual skills such as reinforcing the foundations of learning and adapting to varying environments is trumping the archaic ideas of teaching particular skills and tricks to develop behaviors that work in a static environment.

The goal of elementary school counseling is to lay the foundation for our youth to grow and fill the positions of next generation citizens, parents and business leaders.

Our strategies need to keep pace with a rapidly evolving economy and social networks. It is becoming more and more obvious that predicting the future is not only difficult, but impossible. Elementary school counselors have already begun to adjust their methodoligies and curriculum to adapt to America’s future demands of a more flexible and confident citizen.

Role of an Elementary School Counselor

Elementary school is a time of accelerated change and development for students. They are in a constant process of assessing their concept of self and competence as learners in relation to their peers.

Elementary school counselors need to have the skills and education to be able to observe and recognize the needs of students coming from all types of diverse backgrounds. Difficulties can arise from a long list of issues ranging from home life, lack of basic necessities (both emotional and physical), learning difficulties and much more.

It is the job of the elementary school counselor to provide the knowledge and support that helps students who are dealing with diverse issues to develop positive decision-making skills, communication skills and to develop positive attitudes toward school, their peers and, most importantly, themselves.

Elementary School Counseling Services

Counseling in elementary school is different than that of high school in that elementary school counseling involves more of a mental health perspective when developing strategies.

The goals of counselors working with elementary age students is to help students develop healthy perceptions of themselves, to believe in their competence and abilities to learn.

Therefore, the services of elementary school counselors will lean toward such things as making sure parents understand what kind of home environment will best help their child(children) succeed, using intervention tactics, individual and small-group counseling, collaboration with teachers and other various educators, and creation of individual plans for students needing more assistance with development.

Life in the Field

If you are someone who enjoys working with elementary age students, possesses an analytical mind when addressing problems, and have the ability to cleverly and frequently adapt to changing environments, a career in elementary school counseling may be for you. The skills of elementary school counselors are constantly becoming more valuable. Teachers are finding the expertise of counselors to be vital toward helping students excel and to meet the rising demands on teachers in terms of their own accountability.

Each year it seems funding in this area is rising. As more educators realize the vital importance of establishing the fundamental concepts behind elementary school counseling, this trend will only accelerate.