New Horizons Wellness Services offers groups and clubs for individuals from preschool age through young adults to build skills that are essential for strong relationships, success at school, self management, and developing independence.
Meet and Greet Group focuses on providing a forum to discuss concerns and identify possible solutions. Facilitated topics may include how to handle increased independence, bullying, and peer pressure. Individual concerns and questions will also be addressed. Groups are held weekly and built around a snack, activity, or restaurant outing to create a relaxed environment to encourage open discussion of topics and to build on manners and age appropriate behaviors.
Sensory Play Group is geared towards children who need support with peer interaction, focusing on pro-social behavior and social communication skills. Areas of focus include strengthening verbal and non-verbal communication, recognizing and labeling emotions, body awareness, and self regulation. This group combines movement, sensory based strategies, social games and play to increase social skills. Emphasis is placed on playing with peers, learning how to enter and exit play, problem solving and negotiation, taking turns, sharing, and cooperation.
Budding Writers Group teaches basic prewriting skills to younger children to assist them in forming good habits that will carry over into their ability to color, draw, count, and later as they begin to write letters and numbers. Activities are used to improve visual, motor and sensory skills needed for writing
Handwriting Highlights Group addresses skills necessary for functional and legible handwriting including; posture, grasp, upper extremity strength and core stability. This group focuses on the details of handwriting including; formation, size, alignment, and spacing. Fun and creative activities will be utilized to improve handwriting skills.
Calm, Alert, and Learning Group utilizes techniques from the Alert Program of Self-Regulation to teach children sensory strategies to get themselves to a “just right place” – that calm, alert state that facilitates learning, sustained attention, completion of tasks and smooth transitions. This group focuses on helping children develop self regulation strategies. This group also provides parents with strategies and language to help their children recognize and regulate their level of alertness.
Transition & Life Skills Group is designed for young people preparing for the transition to increased independence. This may be the transition to college, the workforce, or a combination of both. This group covers life skills necessary for a successful transition to independence, such as goal setting, money management, budgeting, banking, accountability, time management, and social skills. This group meets within the clinic and various community settings.
Middle School Study Skills Group is designed to teach organizational skills, time management, goal setting, and strategies to overcome procrastination. Participants develop homework completion strategies, relaxation skills for test anxiety, and goal-setting.
Let’s Play Group offers opportunities for young children to enjoy focused play with their peers with the benefits of fun and stimulating shared experiences. This group provides a sensory rich environment focused on building social interactions, language and communication, fine motor and gross motor developmental skills.
Team Sports Group covers the basic and fundamental skills of sports such as soccer, baseball, badminton, volleyball, basketball, tennis and many other sports. The group focuses on motor planning, coordination, and endurance. This group has a coach and team relationship. The coach will teach the team the fundamental rules of the sport and each player will be expected to play by the rules. The group concentrates on sportsmanship and the importance of working together as a team.
Articulation Group is for children who need help with improving articulation of a few sounds. This group uses peer interactions and feedback to target specific needs of each child. The group uses games and activities as a means to practice articulation and language skills.
Kindergarten Kickoff Group is ideal for children who are preparing to enter kindergarten, or whose parents are trying to decide if they are ready. This group provides a jumpstart into the world of kindergarten, including a focus on each of the following areas: participating in classroom routines, expressive and receptive language skills, fine motor skills, early academic skills, social skills, and using appropriate classroom behavior.
Social Skills Group focuses on helping children gain greater acceptance, make friends, strengthen their communication skills, reduce anxiety, increase frustration tolerance, and build confidence so they succeed socially. This group uses a combination of educational and hands on activities that are fun and designed to help participants practice self reflection, sensory management, and social skills. The group’s curriculum incorporates Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking© approach. Social Thinking is a form of intelligence that is key to learning concepts and integrating information across settings: academic, social, home, and community.
Creative Building Club provides an unique setting for children to develop their creativity and learning skills through constructive play. Through the process of building Lego® structures in this non-competitive environment, participants practice working collaboratively with others, peer problem solving, sharing, turn taking, frustration tolerance, and other skills necessary for positive peer interactions. This club is not intended for children with cognitive delays or disruptive behavior.
Fine Motor Skills Club teaches foundational skills to assist children with developing good habits that carry over into writing, cutting and other daily activities. The club utilizes fun, multi-sensory approaches including crafts, games and projects to help children strengthen their skills and confidence for pre-handwriting and handwriting skills. This club is not intended for children with disruptive behavior.
Game Club uses board and card games to provide children with rich learning opportunities that promote good sportsmanship, fair play, flexibility, open mindedness, patience, communication, and social skills development. Through the process of playing games children work cooperatively and have the opportunity to learn and practice boundaries, problem solving, organization and planning, perspective taking, and other skills necessary for healthy and positive peer interaction. This club is not intended for children with cognitive delays or disruptive behavior.